Educators must take into account the changing social, cultural, and economic trends contributing to high absenteeism and dropout rates. No curriculum can succeed if students are not in attendance to learn, develop, and advance in society. This paper evaluates the researcher's computerized system to track student attendance and prevent unexcused…

The Truants' Alternative and Optional Education Program was developed to provide preventative, interventive, and remedial services to keep students from becoming chronic truants, and as an educational option for students who had dropped out or who were at risk of dropping out of school due to academic deficiencies. The program, implemented in the…

This paper describes the implementation of an innovative integrated approach to the delivery of services for disadvantaged youth in Massachusetts, and examines the fiscal, political, and organizational factors that led to its subsequent demise. Massachusetts was one of the first states to envision and implement a statewide system of coordinated…

The word "miftan" means "threshold" in Hebrew. The Miftan as an educational framework was conceived in Israel as a response to the needs of marginal male youth who are about to drop out or who have dropped out of the regular school system. Currently 42 Miftanim are operating in that country. This report presents ethnographic…

Three off campus private alternative schools have been supported, in part, by the Portland, Oregon, Public Schools. The students, mostly high school age, are largely dropouts or on the verge of dropping out of school. Many were referred because of behavior, attendance, or other discipline problems. At least half of the students in each school have…

Describes an experimental dropout prevention program in which selected high school students are assigned to a "homeroom" teacher who gives each student extra personal attention and works with each student and his parents to develop the best educational plan for the student. (JG)

This report summarizes the key findings, conclusions, and recommendations of an analysis of 1985-86 outcomes of New York City's state-funded Attendance Improvement-Prevention (AI/DP) program and the city-funded Dropout Prevention Program. The central goal of the evaluation was to understand conditions which encouraged success in middle school…

The Volusia County (Florida) Single Parents Program was developed to identify single parents who are potential dropouts because of a lack of financial support for day care and to provide them with approved day care services. The program also features (1) cooperation between teachers and school guidance counselors to identify and counsel pregnant…

This document, the first part of a two-part evaluation of the third-year implementation of New York City's 3-year Dropout Prevention Initiative (DPI), is the final evaluation report of implementation of the DPI middle school component, called the Dropout Prevention Program (DPP), conducted in 29 schools. Case-management services and some…

This document comprises the proceedings of a conference that brought together administrators, researchers, and faculty from historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) to address the growing problem of retaining black students. Activities were structured into 5 general sessions, 16 concurrent sessions, and 2 special sessions. Principal…

The Attendance Improvement Dropout Prevention program (A.I.D.P.) is a state-funded, multi-faceted program designed to provide services to students considered to be at risk of dropping out of school. The elementary school A.I.D.P. program is comprised of six components: facilitation, attendance outreach, guidance, health, school-level linkage, and…

Understanding why students drop out is important in developing effective dropout prevention strategies. Traditional research has focused on high school dropouts; recent interest uses a developmental approach and examines possibilities for earlier intervention. Each section of this report analyzes dropout prevention at the preschool, elementary,…

The problem of ill prepared college freshmen in remedial/developmental classes across the nation has significantly increased. At the same time, colleges and universities are increasingly concerned about college student retention. The study compared the belief structures of two groups: those enrolled in two remedial reading classes, and those…

South Carolina's first major dropout prevention initiative began two decades ago when leaders became more interested in the industrial development of the State. A 1966 study found that black youths were experiencing a dropout rate of 72%, while that of white youth was 48%. Statewide efforts taken in the early 1970's to alleviate this problem were…

A study of minority youth dropouts in the Pikes Peak region identified the following traits that characterize this group in contrast to their dominant group counterparts: (1) lower socioeconomic status; (2) parents with lower level of educational achievement; (3) parents' greater emphasis on the importance of education; (4) slightly larger…