Most large and mid-size cities suffer from alarming numbers of high school drop-outs. One man decided to do something about his city's high drop-out rate: He started the Urban Collaborative Accelerated Program (UCAP), an independent, public, middle school for teenagers at risk of dropping out. The details of that program are outlined here. The…

Based on the assertion that punitive programs for at-risk students are ineffective, this book describes in detail how to start an effective alternative program to redirect the lives of at-risk youth. Following the preface, chapter 1 presents a historical background and an overview of alternative education. The second chapter describes strategies…

One of the six national goals in the United States is to achieve a 90 percent graduation rate by the year 2000. In the last 50 years, high school graduation has become the norm. Concurrent with the new expectation of high school graduation came the dominance of the word "dropout" to describe those without diplomas. Many Americans view…

This book offers profiles of 30 high school students at Oak Park and River Forest (OPRF) High School, in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park, Illinois. Located in a neighborhood characterized by great disparity among residents' incomes, the school is one of the country's premier secondary schools. The book was written by the school dean, who taught a…

Faced with alarming dropout rates, educators must find ways to encourage students at risk of dropping out to remain in school. This book describes a variety of prevention programs based on partnerships between universities and local elementary and secondary schools. Among the innovative approaches were combining education and social services in…

This book examines the thesis that teacher burnout and student dropout stem from the same source, a process of alienation causing students and teachers to "give up on school." The first chapter outlines the size of the problem and some of the specific conditions that contribute to it. The second chapter examines the context of cultural…

This is the third and final year-end report on the START program in Alberta (Canada). START was a dropout prevention project funded by Alberta Education and Alberta/NWT Region Human Resources Development Canada, successor to Employment and Immigration Canada. START addressed dropout prevention through a variety of school and community initiatives…

The multiple causes and complex nature of the dropout problem require a variety of program approaches to help both at-risk students and dropouts. Twelve-Together (Detroit, Michigan), Adopt-a-Student (Atlanta, Georgia), and the Summer Youth Employment Program (New Bedford, Massachusetts) are supplemental services providing counseling and job…

This book presents essays from educational reformers who examine efforts aimed at students at risk for failure in U.S. schools. It is divided into four parts. Part 1 considers the factors that place children at risk for educational failure. Part 2 describes the dangers for students of a system that fails to recognize and appreciate their…

This book collects articles that examine the patterns of dropping out evident among American youth, and the policies developed and implemented to reduce the incidence of dropping out. The following chapters (and their authors) are included: (1) Introduction (G. Natriello); (2) Can We Help Dropouts? Thinking about the Undoable (D. Mann); (3) Large…

This report, which is the eighth in a series, presents data for 1995 on high school dropout and retention rates, and examines high school completion and graduation rates. In addition to extending time series data from earlier reports, this report focuses on three specific subpopulations that are at particular risk of dropping out of school: (1)…

The New Zealand Technical Correspondence Institute studied the internal and external factors influencing adult students enrolled in a tertiary-level distance education management course to abandon their studies. A literature review afforded definitions of: (1) distance education; (2) educational technology; and (3) drop out. Although research has…

This book reports on the first stages of a project to increase understanding about why some young people have difficulty making transitions to productive adulthood and how to help them make more successful transitions. Contents include an introduction, 10 chapters, and an epilogue. "Introduction: Preventing Youthful Disconnectedness"…