An instructional plan to rescue at-risk students must be based on a curriculum intended to serve all students. The creation of a functional curriculum, the promotion of employability skills, and an emphasis on improving study skills are instructional patterns that seem to be effective in reducing the number of student dropouts. Two alternatives…

This report describes and evaluates nine Chapter 2-funded programs in the Austin (Texas) Independent School District. The major positive findings were the following: (1) disciplinary actions have decreased since the implementation of Project ASSIST (Assisting Special Students in Stress Times); (2) extra transportation has allowed some reassigned…

(A division of labor model was applied in a study of the efforts to minimize health crises and maximize benefits of medical protocols in eight families, each with a hemophilic school-age boy. Subject families were studied for a 5-year period through participant-observer techniques including interviews with the children in their homes, with the…

Students considered at-risk are defined as students who lack a sense of identity, personal connectedness, and personal power. Another characteristic of at-risk students is the role parents play or fail to play in the at-risk behavior. A case is made for all students being at risk at some point in their lives. Four programs were designed and…

In response to a federal mandate stating that a drug program must be in place at institutions receiving federal funds, several representatives from Mission College attended a privately sponsored 2-day substance abuse workshop in which the Student Assistance Program (SAP) model was presented. The SAP model provides confidential, professional, and…

This paper is one component of a collaborative research project being conducted by the National Commission for Employment Policy to explore the education, training, and employment issues that affect at-risk youth, aged 9-15 years old. The paper begins with a description of the dropout problem in the United States, noting that although the dropout…

This report describes an experimental program developed by the RAND Corporation to prevent or reduce the use of alcohol, cigarettes and marijuana by adolescents. Section 1 introduces Project ALERT and presents major findings and conclusions from a study which assessed the program's effects at several points over a period of 15 months in 30…

A supplemental reading intervention program was designed and implemented to increase the reading comprehension for at-risk students. Subjects, 11 fourth graders in two different classes, were chosen on the basis of below grade reading level as evidenced by both classroom performance and national achievement tests' score. The 10-week reading…

This report, the first of two volumes, identifies effective practices used in 16 successful migrant education programs. On the basis of student outcome data, the projects were selected from 153 programs nominated by state directors of migrant education. Observation of project services; review of project records; and interviews with project staff,…

This module identifies the at-risk student and addresses strategies and effective programs for dealing with the at-risk population. The guide includes a list of definitions and uses a question-and-answer format to define at-risk students, discuss reasons for dropout, and provide information on early identification of risk, the effect of dropping…

The Oral Communication Program at Radford University (Virginia) is designed to: (1) provide programming, facilities, and professional expertise to help students and faculty improve oral communication skills; and (2) support and facilitate the incorporation of oral communication into the undergraduate curriculum throughout the university, using the…

The Supplemental Instruction (SI) program of the University of Missouri-Kansas City addresses attrition by providing academic support in courses that are high risk for students. The program contains a number of innovative features, for example: high risk courses are identified instead of high risk students, and everyone in those courses is offered…

Abuse of alcohol and other drugs causes a variety of problems in a community. Accordingly, this is a manual for use by groups of citizens working to build a broadly based community alcohol and drug abuse prevention program. It includes both a systematic framework which a coalition can apply to its community, and a detailed case study of one…

This report on at-risk students presents a general overview of the extent of the problem in the State of New York and current responses to it. Pupils-at-risk are defined as those whose school achievement and/or social behavior is negatively and seriously affected by educational, family, societal, or personal problems. These pupils are not…

This sourcebook provides information for educators and community leaders involved in dropout prevention planning. The indexed, looseleaf notebook places boldface keywords in each entry's upper right-hand corner. Thirteen sections contain summaries of sources and ordering procedures. Section A deals with general reports and literature reviews;…