Black men and women have different levels of average educational attainment, yet few studies have focused on explaining how and why these patterns develop. One explanation may be inequality in experiences with institutional punishment through exclusionary school discipline and criminal justice exposure. Drawing on intersectional frameworks and…

Research: The goal of this study is to understand the experiences of Black and Latino former high school students who dropped out, or were pushed out, of a large urban school district in Southern California. Specifically, this paper examines the barriers students faced that contributed to them leaving high school and their journey afterward.…

Researchers and others in the education community are concerned about over-reliance on exclusionary discipline such as out-of-school suspension (OSS) and expulsion. Exclusionary discipline is associated with lower student achievement, higher risk of drop-out or grade retention, and involvement in the juvenile justice system. In response, many…

Dropout is a major issue facing our country's schools; however, many students who drop out of school later go on to finish their degree either by returning to high school or by earning a General Education Development (GED) credential. Despite this, there has been relatively little research on these students who "stopout" of high school.…

The term and construct "school-to-prison" pipeline has been widely used by advocates, researchers, and policymakers to describe the relationship between school disciplinary practices and increased risk of juvenile justice contact. It has been unclear whether the construct is a useful heuristic or a descriptor of empirically validated…

Since 2003, Ontario, Canada's high school graduation rates have increased 13% while suspensions and expulsion rates have simultaneously decreased. This article examines relationships between the province's safe school policy and Student Success/Learning to 18 (SS/L18), a policy designed to increase graduation rates. Analyses of teachers'…

This article discusses the significance of adult connections for adolescents' sense of school belonging and identifies areas for future research and practice by (a) exploring the influence of adult connections on adolescents' sense of school belonging; (b) reviewing the literature regarding school belonging outcomes; (c) identifying…

Long-term suspended (LTS) students are barred from the school system for lengthy periods, leaving them at risk of academic failure and vulnerable from lack of services. A program in a North Carolina public school system provided counselors to work with each LTS student. Outcome data were analyzed to determine the effectiveness of counseling…

A six-week remedial summer school program for potential dropouts in a Wisconsin high school is described. The key factor was an attendance clause that limited students to three absences lest they be withdrawn from the program. (TE)

Describes the improved learning environment at Orangeburg-Wilkinson High School in South Carolina and gives credit to Principal Melvin Smoak. Discusses such topics as discipline policy, teacher evaluation, and remedial programs. States that, although more students are acquiring basic skills, the school has no resources to challenge the brightest…

Four institutional/school value conflicts or dilemmas which educators face in confronting the dropout problem in high schools are analyzed: (1) public accountability vs. professional autonomy; (2) subjective vs. objective authority structure; (3) extended vs. specialized educational responsibility; and (4) diverse vs. common student work and…