Presents sociological perspectives on the relationship of education to employment. Specifically examined are the relationship of educational qualifications to occupational status, education's effect on worker productivity, and the schools' role in creating desirable employees. The discussion incorporates data from the Youth Opportunities Programme…

Describes a pilot mentoring program that involved 19 college students working with preadolescent and adolescent at-risk Hispanic youth in a Texas border city. The program, which consisted of 10 weekly classes in citizenship awareness and community participation and involvement, focused on dropout prevention and preparation for citizenship. (SLD)

The City of Austin (Texas) provided funds for a supplementary educational activity to involve at-risk minority high school students in water quality issues. The program encourages at-risk students to remain in school by providing an interesting and authentic activity to use in the development of academic skills. Program activities included testing…

A project developed and implemented a plan to retain those adult basic education students who are likely to be successful if they stay enrolled in the program but who are likely to drop out if program staff do not intervene. The plan involved use of an assessment instrument to identify these at-risk students, development of an individualized…

State legislatures have become increasingly willing to experiment with school choice. Since 1985, more than half the states have passed school choice laws. This article reports on a survey conducted in the summer of 1991 and updated in the fall of that year that focuses on state choice statutes. Six categories of school choice laws are discussed:…

In fall 1993, the Austin (Texas) Independent School District (AISD) contracted with two community-based organizations to serve eligible AISD dropouts during the 1993-94 school year. The American Institute for Learning and Middle Earth Unlimited, Inc. provided services through the Creative Rapid Learning Center (CRLC) and the 78702 RAYS program,…

This paper describes the Summer Training and Education Program (STEP) for at-risk students that combines remedial reading and math instruction, education on responsible sexual attitudes and behavior, and work experience. During two consecutive summers, STEP participants receive 90 hours of remedial instruction in reading and math (Practical…

President Bush's National Education Goals for the year 2000 include increasing the percentage of students graduating from high school, increasing the percentage of dropouts who return later to complete a high school degree or its equivalent, and closing the gap in graduation rates between minority group students and White students. Census figures…

Project "FAIR" identified and evaluated alternative funding mechanisms for allocating state resources to support programs and services for at-risk youth. Information was gathered through the following activities: (1) two national surveys; (2) the development of a classification system for programs and the identification of prototype programs; (3)…

Project Dropout Reduction through Employment, Achievement, and Motivation (DREAM) provided 445 Spanish-speaking limited-English-proficient students with English-as-a-second-language (ESL), Native Language Arts (NLA), and bilingual content area courses at South Bronx High School (New York) during the 1989-90 school year. Project DREAM met its…

Problems with conducting randomized field experiments in education are explored. Focus is on problems encountered while evaluating a group of dropout prevention projects. Project planners were asked to manipulate the subject eligibility criteria until they identified as eligible three to four times as many students as they could serve. They were…

Although Florida law requires job placement and follow-up services for all students graduating or leaving the school system, there is a lack of understanding about contributing causes and possible solutions to the problem of high school dropouts. To gather information to develop an innovative program to reach dropouts and potential dropouts, 282…

The employability of secondary-level youth is considered by a youth employment company official in testimony to the National Commission on Excellence in Education. Attention is directed to ways in which young people, and particularly the economically disadvantaged, can acquire the necessary reading, writing, and math skills for on-the-job success.…

This document, a two-volume report, provides in volume 1 the final longitudinal evaluation of the New York City Dropout Prevention Initiative (DPI), 1985-86 through 1987-88. (The second volume comprises appendices containing summaries of each previous evaluation for this time period.) The DPI was implemented in 13 high schools and 29 feeder middle…

This compilation pulls together the most recent resources concerning students at risk, summarizing and displaying a number of sources dealing with this issue. The articles represent two major areas: (1) policy and studies and (2) programs and projects. This information includes summaries of studies done at a national level as well as programs…