The Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) and the Center on Education and Training for Employment (CETE) at Ohio State University worked with six schools (two comprehensive high schools, two high schools served by an area vocational center, an area vocational center, and a junior high school) in the SREB region to keep potential dropouts in school and help improve their academic achievement. Technical assistance and staff development services were provided to the schools for 3 years. Phone calls, site visits, and interviews were used to collect annual data on the numbers of dropouts, student characteristics, and the manner in which the schools implemented 23 general strategies addressing 9 key practices. School-, community-, and home-centered barriers to dropout prevention were identified. The key practices in helping prevent students from dropping out of school were as follows: identifying, targeting, and monitoring potential dropouts early in their high school careers; using an interdisciplinary team of vocational, nonvocational, and support personnel to plan and monitor curriculum and provide extra instructional support to targeted students; providing targeted potential dropouts with extra personal attention and extra instructional support; and involving business, the community, and parents in retaining students in school.(MN)