In the 2007 edition of "Diplomas Count", "Education Week" reported that nationally more than one-third of the students lost from the high school pipeline fail to make the transition from the ninth to the 10th grade. This explains why, for more than two decades, schools and districts across the country have struggled to develop freshman transition…

This article presents findings from the evaluation of the Caring Equation, a Department of Health and Human Services-funded project established in 2003 in Arlington County, Virginia, public schools. The program is a multifaceted intervention program and is one of about 20 programs currently operating in school districts around the United States.…

Communities In Schools (CIS) is the nation's fifth-largest youth-serving organization and the leading dropout prevention organization, delivering resources to nearly one million students in 3,250 schools across the country. To further their network-wide commitment to evidence-based practice, CIS collaborated with the National Dropout Prevention…

The "National Dropout Prevention Newsletter" is published quarterly by the National Dropout Prevention Center/Network. This issue contains the following articles: (1) Knowledge Is Power; (2) Individual Risk Factors; (3) Program Profiles; (4) 20th Annual At-Risk FORUM; and (5) Dropout Early Warning Systems (Jay Smink) Regular sections include: (1)…

This paper calculates the public savings (financial benefits) from greater public investments in the education of African-American males. Over one-fifth of each age cohort of black males in US is not a high school graduate. We identify five interventions that would--based on credible research--increase the graduation rate; we also report the…

This paper describes four key strategies to promote the strengthened classroom experiences that ultimately are requisite to both increased levels of college completion and deeper levels of learning. In this report, the term "classroom experiences" refers to any activity that takes place as part of a regularly scheduled course. The key strategies…

Latinos now constitute the largest minority group in the United States and the fastest growing segment of its school-age population. Yet they are the least educated of all major ethnic groups. Poverty, lack of access to high-quality preschool, low levels of parental education attainment, and hypersegregated schools all play a crucial role. The…

The State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) and the National Association of State Title I Directors (NASTID) drafted this paper to spark local discussions on the coordinated uses of funds to implement technology in the classroom. State and local Title I and Title IID directors can work together to ensure that these ideas are…

Despite decades of school improvement initiatives, many young people still do not cross the finish line of secondary education with the credential that signifies success--a high school diploma. Thousands of young people give up on school and on themselves, or schools give up on them. Without effective support from schools, communities, and…

There are hundreds of studies that address "no significant difference" in the quality of online versus on-ground instruction, yet it is clearly the instructor who makes the difference. While there is considerable research on student retention practices for university recruitment and enrollment departments, there seems to be little written on…

This study describes the results of a research evaluation of a school dropout prevention program and adolescents' self-reported perceptions of their motivations and role models. The program was a partnership between an urban university and an urban school district that was designed to prevent 9th grade students from dropping out of high school. It…

School dropout is a problem that has distressing personal and societal consequences. Not surprising, students who drop out are typically not academically motivated. This phenomenological study examined the meanings that students construct about academic motivation while participating in a dropout prevention program that primarily uses counseling.…

This case study explores how a community-based truancy prevention program mediates against absenteeism, truancy, and dropping out and positively transforms the lives of Black and Latina/Latino middle school youth. Findings suggest that community-school partnerships are critical in the quest to combat truancy and the alarming dropout rate among…

This booklet encourages potential high school dropouts to stay in school. It opens by claiming that the choice to drop out of school is the student's but lists negative potential outcomes of that choice. The next several sections discuss reasons why parents; the school; the community; businesses; federal, state, and local governments; and the…

This document presents witness testimony and prepared statements from the Congressional hearing. Statements are included from Representatives Claude Pepper, Carl Perkins, Charles Hayes, and Nick Rahall. Witnesses providing testimony include: (1) Joseph Fernandez, Superintendent of Dade County Public Schools, Florida; (2) Nan Rich, who describes…