Dropout prevention programs are school- and community-based initiatives that aim to keep students in school and encourage them to complete their high school education. To be included in the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) review, programs have to operate within the United States and include dropout prevention as one of their primary objectives.…

Evaluates recent literature regarding schools' parental involvement efforts, chronicling programs describing diverse rationales and benefits for parent participation and presenting a taxonomy for classifying underlying reasons for low parent-school involvement. School-parent communications are the key to any intervention effort. Parent-involvement…

Staff at a Baton Rouge (Louisiana) elementary school devised an innovative program to introduce disadvantaged children to opportunities outside their ghetto neighborhood. The Discovery Expeditions plan attempted to address dropout prevention by increasing student awareness of resources and vocational opportunities in Baton Rouge and other areas,…

This article presents reflections on the high dropout rate at distance education universities in general and at the FernUniversitat in particular. The introduction outlines four reasons why the dropout rate should not be as high as it is. The first chapter--on general aspects--addresses problems of definition of dropout, the astounding differences…

Dropping out of school before high school graduation has re-emerged as a priority issue for professional and public debate and concern. Dropping out of school is viewed as a gradual process as the bond between student and school weakens, representing the final step that occurs after opportunities for intervention at earlier stages have been…

Project Intervention is an innovative dropout prevention program developed by the Corpus Christi Schools (TX) to improve school attendance, decrease disruptive behavior, and improve academic achievement. Includes a discussion of dropout data analysis and a sidebar outlining the importance of citing the economic stakes when promoting the…

This article is intended to aggressively stimulate provocative ideas about educational practices. In a time when the status quo is easier and more cost effective to maintain in public schools, Dr. Fenwick English attacks these views with a postmodern challenge. It is time for school leaders to consider more than one solution to the problems they…

Act 49 of 1987 requires the Secretary of Education to provide the General Assembly with an annual report on public school dropouts in Pennsylvania. The purpose of this report is to document the actual number of students who drop out each year and to provide various characteristics about these students. The type of data collected about each dropout…

"Twelve Together" is a one-year peer support and mentoring program for middle and early high school students that offers weekly after-school discussion groups led by trained volunteer adult facilitators. Each peer discussion group consists of about 12 participants, who are a mix of students at high risk of academic failure and others at…

This issue brief provides information and guidance to state education agencies (SEAs) regarding their accountability for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA 2004) legislative mandates in the area of dropout prevention for students with disabilities. It also highlights the role of State Performance Plans as…

"YouthBuild" offers low-income youth both education and job training services. "YouthBuild's" education component emphasizes attaining a GED or high school diploma, typically in alternative schools with small class sizes and an emphasis on individualized instruction. In "YouthBuild's" job-training program,…

As governors confront the worst state fiscal environment in the past 25 years, long-term prospects for strong economic growth are hampered by an immense underlying problem: the high school dropout crisis. At least one student in five drops out of school, and nearly 5 million 18- to 24-year-olds lack a high school diploma. Annually, dropouts cost…

A three-year study compared 121 at-risk nursing students participating in Partnership in Learning for Utmost Success (PLUS) and 89 nonparticipating students. PLUS participants were more successful in terms of retention, grade point average, and graduation rate. (SK)

Multiple correlates and determinants of antisocial behavior within the home, community, and school are reviewed. A variety of contextual factors and setting events within the schools are found to be major contributors to antisocial behavior, and some of these factors are identified within the home. Increased attention to these setting events is…

When the Commission on Access, Admissions and Success in Higher Education (subsequently referred to as the commission) convened in fall 2008, the educational landscape was facing a number of issues that the commission's members recognized as formidable challenges to those students who aspire to enroll and succeed in college. Summarizing the…