Leaving school early has a dramatic impact on Hispanic girls, because Latinas face greater barriers than males when seeking high-wage jobs and opportunities in postsecondary education. This Digest examines how gender roles, families, schools, and friends influence Latinas in their education and career decisions, and outlines practical dropout…

The Ninth Grade Restructuring Program of the Detroit (Michigan) public schools was designed to restructure the ninth grade in ways that improve academic performance, develop positive attitudes toward learning, improve the school environment, reduce the dropout rate, and increase the graduation rate of students. Features of the program were…

GRADS (Graduation, Reality, and Dual-Role Skills) is an in-school instructional and intervention program for pregnant teens and young parents. Its objectives are to help these students remain in school through graduation, have healthy pregnancies and healthy babies, learn practical parenting and child-development skills, gain an orientation to…

This 1990 survey on American Indian education was conducted among 511 Native American tribal leaders, 227 (44.4%) of whom responded. The study found that 92% of Indian children attend state public schools. Fewer than 10% of Indian children attend Bureau of Indian Affairs Schools or tribally-operated schools. Only 52% of Indian students graduate…

This report summarizes two joint sessions held by the Indian Nations At Risk Task Force and the National Advisory Council on Indian Education to hear testimony on issues in Native American education at the middle school and high school levels. Issues and problems are: (1) factors contributing to high Native dropout rates, including teenage…

Summaries of 73 conference presentations dealing with youth at risk are divided into 6 sections, as was the conference. Section 1 "Understanding Students at Risk," identifies a variety of human services and insights along with suggested procedures for prediction and identification of youth at risk. Section 2, "Preventing and Reducing Incidents of…

This booklet, the third and last in a series of monographs on solutions to the problem of school dropouts, is designed to provide guidance for local organizations to address the needs of students at risk of dropping out. It sets forth the goals and objectives of a planning approach that illustrates how local communities could organize to increase…

Project Return, a dual-component dropout recovery program under the administration of the Program for Pregnant and Parenting Adolescents began operating in 1990 and by 1993 had expanded to 19 sites. The Community Education Initiative operated in seven elementary schools and one satellite site to target elementary school parents of all ages who had…

In a yearlong project, Britain's Business and Technology Education Council (BTEC) investigated why some students leave their educational programs before achieving their certificates or diplomas. The project drew information on completion rates from the BTEC database. Views of BTEC centers' staff were canvassed through a national survey covering…

This newsletter describes mentoring programs that have been successful in improving the academic achievement of at-risk Hispanic American youth. "Mentoring Programs Bring Results" (L. F. Cavazos) discusses how mentoring programs can help Hispanic American youth develop the skills needed for success while preserving their cultural…

This conference address discusses New York State programs for children and families, focusing on a mentoring program. New York State has 44 rural counties, which comprise 80% of the state's total area. Rural schools face limited financial resources and access to services. Rural school children are more likely to face failure than urban or suburban…

An alternative high school program was evaluated. In 1990 the Program for Alternative Comprehensive Education (PACE) enrolled 40 students in grades 9 through 12 from 20 school districts in Nassau County (New York). Students had been assessed as being at risk for dropping out. The curriculum emphasized self-paced learning in an individualized,…

New Futures, founded in 1987, is a multicity foundation-funded initiative designed to reduce the school dropout rate, teen pregnancies, and youth unemployment. The foundation's expectations for a 5-year agenda and program strategies are described in this implementation guide. Based on institutional change, the project utilizes community…

Although the emphasis on adult literacy/basic education is increasing, the high dropout rate from programs in these areas is a concern. Why learners choose to participate or not to participate in such programs can be understood in terms of three sets of factors. Learner-inherent factors include self-evaluation, goals, and capabilities. Life…

This collection of short articles, devoted to educational reform at the local level, addresses the issues of improving curricula, expanding educational resources, addressing dropout and discipline problems, and handling increased court involvement in school reform. "The Sceptre, the Rod and the Schoolhouse Gate," by Lawrence Friedman, traces the…