After questioning the credential value of the high school diploma at the present time and pointing out the need for considering the multiple psychological and social handicaps of the minority-group school dropout, this conference paper discusses (1) the rentention power of the schools, (2) youth employment, (3) equal job opportunities for Negroes, and (4) the environmental and psychoeducational correlates of school withdrawal. It also describes various school and extraschool dropout programs and strategies, and sets forth curriculum guidelines for teaching disadvantaged students to encourage them to remain in school. (EF)