A description of the focus and objectives of Project B.E.A.M. ("Behavioral Evolvement Through Achievement Management"), which utilized a combination of structured academic success through intensive tutoring and weekly counseling or "rap" sessions, using inexperienced college students from the same racial group as the children taught. Dramatic…

Despite many responses to the dropout problem, it remains unclear which school strategies are successful with at-risk students. State initiatives are well intentioned, but have certain limitations. Criteria such as local accountability, school-by-school regeneration and reform, longitudinal strategies, and horizontal coordination are needed. This…

This report compares dropout prevention programs in six cities. Questionnaires were completed by program coordinators, staff members, and students in order to determine what might make such a program succeed. The report includes a review of the literature, a description of methods employed in research, and summaries of survey responses in…

Following up on the work of a task force that studied the dropout problem in the Los Angeles Unified School District and developed recommendations for addressing that problem, this report describes current dropout prevention efforts and proposals for expansion and presents recommendations for new approaches. Six major categories of programs are…

The purpose of this report is to identify the use of North Carolina's dropout prevention funds by local school systems and to define the types of services provided to students. Part I of the report contains a summary of funding by program type. A chart lists the total amount of funds obligated from state dropout prevention and other program…

College dropout rate as a function of poor fit between institution and students has been studied extensively, but how this phenomenon operates for disadvantaged students is not adequately understood. This study examines the effects of a project that attempts to use peer relationships--tutoring and mentoring--to improve academic performance and…

This North Carolina handbook brings together the information needed by local school systems to plan, develop, and implement effective programs to keep students in school. These topics are included: (1) legislation and policy for the implementation of the State Dropout Prevention Fund; (2) program standards and performance indicators; (3) program…

City-as-School (CAS) is an alternative high school linking students to various out-of-school learning experiences throughout New York City. In 1985, the CAS was awarded a National Diffusion Network (NDN) four-year replication grant, given to exemplary programs to enable them to disseminate their model to other interested schools and districts…

This document reports on a study which examined the causes, manifestations, and prevention of the student dropout problem in Ontario's secondary schools. The methodology and analyses of the three-part study are briefly reviewed in the introduction. Data was gathered by means of focus group sessions plus a province-wide telephone survey using four…

Through the Innovative Approaches Research Project (IARP), four research and demonstration projects are being implemented as part of a single research effort in the following topic areas: (1) dropout prevention, (2) literacy instruction, (3) math and science instruction, and (4) education of exceptional limited-English-proficient (LEP) students.…

This handbook offers a variety of prevention and therapeutic services that can be tailored to meet the unique characteristics of a school and community. In section 1, an overview of the dropout problem and the comprehensive dropout prevention strategy are presented. In section 2, on needs assessment, data collection, objective selection, and…

This report describes a learning assistance program at Lamar University, Texas, designed to improve study skills and decrease attrition among college students through the use of peer counselors. The objectives of this two-credit, non-remedial course are discussed, and the material covered in the 18-week course is described, by week, in Table 1.…

The purpose of this study was to identify the factors and data that influenced the key implementation decisions of a ninth-grade dropout intervention program in a large urban high school in 1987-1988. The school district was composed of 12 high schools, 15 middle schools, and 48 elementary schools, and served approximately 40,000 students. Data…

The Education Commission of the States' (ECS) survey of state initiatives for at-risk youth was conducted during 1987. The goal was to identify programs and planning efforts in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the 3 ECS member territories addressing needs of at-risk youth from preschool through high school. Descriptions of over 650…