"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) FY 2005 Budget Released: President Opens Door to High School Initiatives, but Disappoints School Districts by…

Contains nine articles focusing on prevention programs and school counseling. Topics addressed include educational alternatives for potential dropouts, childhood depression, suicide, and school vandalism. Describes programs facilitating adolescent development and for the prevention of delinquent behavior. Discusses the counselor's role in failure…

A method of preventing attrition in high school and college therapy groups emphasizes realistic goals. A personal commitment form allows students to choose their own goals and suggests how the group could help. Records show that with this method, the attrition rate dropped from 25% to 3%. (JAC)

Examined teacher risk taking during the development of a school-within-a-school program in a Professional Development School, targeting sophomores at high risk for dropping out. Findings indicated that a psychology of risk-taking behavior provided a useful lens for understanding teacher risk-taking in this context and that the three essential…

The Urban Collaborative Accelerated Program is an alternative public school in Rhode Island for middle school students who are in danger of dropping out. Success in the program is credited to collaboration among three school districts, strong community support, and school-based decision making. Offers tips to keep alternative schools from…

Several programs started in Passaic, New Jersey are beginning to show evidence of success. Teen Institute of the Garden State is a program designed to help students build confidence by working in the community. Teen pregnancy and the drop-out rate are addressed in a program called Graduation, Reality, and Dual-Role Skills. (MLF)

The Teen Parenting Program, combining individualized academic and parenting instruction, has decreased future costs to society by reducing the dropout rate for expectant mothers from 80 percent to 38 percent and second pregnancy rates from 30-45 percent to 8 percent and by increasing birthweights of babies born to program mothers. Describes the…

A model of student progress and drop-out from postsecondary distance education courses includes components of background characteristics; motivation; academic environment; and the family, work, and social environment. The author recommends ways in which distance education courses might be formatted so as to reduce student drop-out. (Author/MLW)

Presents a case study of an innovative school-based health and mental-health project that prevents early school failure. Attributes program success to social work development of broad-based partnerships involving families, schools, communities, and public-policy officials. Describes school/family partnerships that form the core of the model. (RJM)

Implementation and impact findings from a large evaluation of federally funded dropout prevention programs suggest that alternative middle schools for younger students and GED programs for older students are promising. Striving to understand the nature of academic, social, and personal problems affecting students and tailoring services to address…

A recent study by Civic Enterprises for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation examined the views of diverse youth, ages 16-25, who had failed to complete high school. "The Silent Epidemic: Perspectives of High School Dropouts" lists students' reasons for leaving school and suggests actions that schools, states, and the federal government can take.…

The work the authors are going to describe in this paper is an account of the attempt to re-establish an educational relationship with adolescent drop-outs, for whom school often represented a cage from which they either escaped or were expelled. An experimental school scheme named the Chance Project has been operating in Naples for the past three…

The purpose of compensatory education is grounded in the history and practice of addressing the effects of poverty on teaching and learning. The intended purpose of compensatory education was to provide additional investment in human capital for low-income students to compensate for the higher investments in human capital afforded to more…

Originally presented in newspaper format, this report consists of 13 articles on American Indian education in Montana, written by journalism students at the University of Montana. The articles include: (1) "The Relentless Killing of a Culture" (David Zelio) which discusses the cultural genocide committed at boarding schools with the aim…

Recent statistics indicate an increase in the rate of teen pregnancy and parenthood, which in turn indicates a need for increasing services at school sites. The younger the teen is at the time of the first pregnancy, the greater the likelihood that she will drop out of high school due to the barriers of child care, family dysfunctions, and lack of…