Low completion rate in upper secondary education is seen as a big problem in the Nordic countries. School failure has shown to dramatically increase the risks for unemployment and labour market exclusion with severe consequences for both society and the young person. This paper analyses national policy measures to combat low upper secondary…

This article presents a critical policy historiography of how Early School Leaving has been understood as a social problem and what policy responses have been enacted to tackle it in the Italian context, devoting a specific attention to the analysis of the translation of EU policy ideas, tools and recipes to reduce ESL. It shows how the…

The phenomenon of school dropout is perceived as a process that is caused by a variety of factors. Through a questionnaire, teachers in different academic functions (teaching and management) are surveyed to study their perception of school dropout factors at the secondary education level. Factors related to the student, school, family and…

Despite registering positive results, Uganda's Universal Primary Education plan (UPE) faces significant unresolved challenges instigated by widespread corruption in the school system, ghost teachers and ghost schools, lack of enough infrastructure, the lack of schooling materials such as pens, pencils, lunch, and books. Ascribed to the validity of…

Purpose: This paper is one of seven in this volume, each elaborating different approaches to quality improvement in education. The purpose of this paper is to delineate a methodology called positive deviance. Design/methodology/approach: The paper presents the origins, theoretical foundations, core principles and a case study demonstrating an…

The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (ESE) is focused on supporting educators in the use of data; to this end, ESE developed an Early Warning Indicator System (EWIS) that rolls many student data variables into a single indicator that provides educators with information about which students are at low, moderate, or…

Purpose: Given the prevalence of mental health issues among young adolescents and its detrimental effects on academic functioning, Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) interventions are becoming extremely valuable. The current study aims to investigate the effectiveness of two types of SEL interventions delivered by two different types of teachers to…

The study is framed by critical race theory to explore the intersection of cultural and institutional factors that influence Latino students' completion of high school. The purpose of this study is to determine the extent to which factors related to students' background, culture, socioeconomic status, and institutional-support such as…

Early school leaving is a real social emergency across Europe. Literature and field experience show that the factors leading to the decision to drop out of school are different: family problems, economic distress, territorial discomfort. In addition, there are individual characteristics such as: psychological dimensions, ease/difficulty of…

Male minority students with disabilities drop out at higher rates than their white peers. Approximately 33% of American Indian or Alaskan Native, 19% of Asian or Pacific Islander, 32% of African-American, and 27% of Latino students with disabilities dropped out compared to 15.5% of White students with a disability (Grady & Bost, 2014).…

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, dropping out is a persistent problem among 15- to 24-year-olds. Researchers have noted school districts that have been able to improve graduation rates have often done so through the "development of innovative models and pathways that help young people get back on track to…

What leads young people to disengage and leave school early? This paper focuses on young adults' educational trajectories, with the objective of identifying useful insights for improving school measures and strategies against early school leaving and school disengagement. Specifically, it draws upon an empirical study with young adults from the…

Through a mixed methods approach, this article explores young people's perceptions about critical issues in secondary school and the improvements being made to prevent dropout risk. The empirical data were gathered from a representative sample of young people (14-24) in a socioeconomically disadvantaged region in the European Union. A principal…

Prior studies have noted several risk and protective factors for school dropout; however, only a few have examined longer-term vulnerabilities alongside temporary risk and protective factors. Consequently, we focused on the role that both stable and time-varying psychosocial risk and protective factors play in dropout intentions and actual…

The Lighthouse Community School (LCS) is located in Cincinnati, Ohio, and is a unique charter school operated through the collaborative effort of Lighthouse Youth Services and the Cincinnati Public Schools. LCS has been in operations since 2000 and serves at-risk students from Grades 6 to 12, ages 13-21 years. Teachers and support staff…