A study surveyed 132 adult students at a small, rural community college who had dropped out of school. The purpose of the study was to assess the reasons leading to their withdrawal from school so the data collected could be used to design dropout prevention programs for adult students. Data were gathered through a 21-item questionnaire. The study…

Cincinnati (Ohio) has established a collaborative effort between the private sector, the Cincinnati Public Schools, and public elected officials for the purpose of reducing dropouts and reducing youth unemployment. Started in 1986, the Cincinnati Youth Collaborative (CYC) immediately began to study relevant data from the schools, defined at-risk…

Youth Opportunities Unlimited is a summer residential program for Arkansas high school students at risk of dropping out of school. During 1989-91, 517 14- and 15-year-old students completed the program, which consisted of two academic classes, a job skills class, and paid employment during 60 days residence on a university campus. Additional…

This guide was designed to help local educators develop and implement a comprehensive program to support pregnant and parenting teenagers and assure them access to the resources and models they need to complete their education. Section I includes an overview of the demands faced by these young people and reviews the available research on…

School psychologists as consultants can provide valuable services to the school organization by developing interventions for truancy. Traditionally, truancy has been viewed as a discipline referral rather than a psychological referral, with the consequences predominantly punitive in nature and ineffectual. A variety of approaches to improving…

The Center for the Study and Teaching of At-Risk Students (C-STARS) is a demonstration and validation program which addresses the needs of at-risk children. This model is school referenced, yet designed to enhance the ability of educators to take into account non-school factors which impinge on their ability to provide adequate educational…

The 1983 North Carolina Dropout Study and the 1988 North Carolina Follow-Up Dropout Study were conducted to provide baseline dropout data for North Carolina public high schools, to provide estimates of dropout rates, and to explore possible factors contributing to a student's decision to leave high school. The results of the 1983 study indicated…

Even though middle schools are important in retaining at-risk students, the organization and curriculum of most of them do not meet the developmental needs of young adolescents. Improvements should focus on making middle and junior high schools function less like large, impersonal high schools and more like caring, nurturing elementary schools,…

As a response to legislative demands, the Texas School Dropout Survey described in this document attempted to identify the magnitude of the dropout problem, regional characteristics or causes of the problem, costs associated with dropping out, and programs currently available for serving the dropout population. Twenty-four major findings of the…

Many students who enter public schools leave without achieving what has become the expected minimum level of educational attainment, a high school diploma. The purpose of this study was to contribute to existing dropout-prevention research by identifying and validating reliable decision rules for differentiating actual dropouts from high school…

The PAISC program provides support to schools enabling them to successfully implement discipline and early intervention dropout prevention programs. Selected characteristics of 15 sites in which the PAISC program has been implemented are described. This report details the way in which staff divided its time between implementing the components that…

Operation Rescue is a teacher-initiated and -managed early intervention program to identify and help potential dropouts. The program relies upon establishing one-to-one friendships between at-risk children and volunteers. Cooperation with community groups promotes the goal of "local groups solving local problems." Operation Rescue…

The goals of this study of early school leavers from 12 Los Angeles high schools were the following: (1) to discover whether the students were true dropouts or whether they were enrolled in some alternative educational program that might lead to a high school diploma; (2) to determine the reasons the students left school before graduating; (3) to…

An effective academic advising system can assist in the retention of two-year college students; however, the institution and its faculty must be committed to providing such a system. Establishing a successful advising system would require the following: (1) a clear distinction must be made between academic advising and course scheduling; (2)…