In 2014, the state of Georgia's budget supported a University System of Georgia (USG) initiative: Affordable Learning Georgia (ALG). The initiative was implemented via Textbook Transformation Grants, which provided grants to USG faculty, libraries and librarians, and institutions to "transform their use of textbooks and other learning…

The goal of this study was to identify meaningful groups of sixth graders with common characteristics based on teacher ratings of assets and maladaptive behaviors, describe dropout rates for each group, and examine the validity of these groups using students' self-reports. The sample consisted of racially diverse students (n = 675) attending sixth…

Transitions into and out of the middle grades can be challenging for many reasons. Students need to acclimate to new policies, practices, and buildings; teachers require accurate data about their new students' capacities; and families must navigate relationships with new personnel. All school transitions present different and, at times, puzzling…

There is excitement in the air at Clarke Central High School in anticipation of a $28 million renovation planned on its 27-acre, urban campus located just minutes from the University of Georgia in Athens. This extensive construction aims to fulfill a board of education mandate to provide equity among the Clarke County school facilities and will…

Serious social and economic consequences affect the local and national levels when students drop out of school. Research has shown that collaboration among schools, families, and communities in the academic progression of students can decrease their drop out probability. The author presents findings related to a qualitative study conducted in…

Data on the attendance and dropout rates of the Inmate Education Program at Brewer-Parker College, which provides higher education for eight correctional institutes in Georgia, were analyzed. Reasons for the high dropout rate included lack of motivation, lack of resource materials, students' lack of educational preparation, and attitude and…

Georgia's drop-out rate is among the highest in the nation. Relying on statistics to design programs can be misleading. An in-depth study of South Georgia high schools shows the importance of developing drop-out programs for specific situations and students. The six schools helping to develop "Danny Dropout" and "Pine County High…

Given the surging growth in the U.S. Latino population in recent years, nowhere have those increases been occurring faster than in the southeast. North Carolina, Arkansas and Georgia, for example, have seen population increases between 300 and 400 percent since the early 1990s. Naturally, Latino community leaders and state officials have been…

A survey of 97 Florida and Georgia middle schools and their receiving high schools revealed that schools with two or fewer transition practices had significantly higher attrition and dropout rates than schools implementing three or more practices. Sample programs include the ninth-grade house, parent nights, advisory/mentoring programs, and…

Describes how the Carrollton School District (Georgia) mapped out a strategy to ensure it would be able to acquire new classroom technology and successfully integrate it into the curriculum. It explains how proper planning for technology in the classroom reduced dropout rates and increased academic success among all its students, particularly…

In 5 years, the schools and community of Carrollton, Georgia, created a school systemwide network of 1,400 computers and 70 CD-ROMs connected by a fiber wide-area network to other city institutions and the Internet with grants from local, state, and national industry. After incorporating the new technologies into the curriculum, the dropout rate…