MDRC's Opening Doors Demonstration is measuring the effects of various combinations of curricular reforms, enhanced academic advising, and increased financial aid intended to increase the persistence and improve the academic achievement of students at six community colleges across the United States. To determine the impact of the Opening Doors…

This report summarizes data for students participating in the Transition Sixth (T-6) Dropout Prevention program in Broward County Public Schools, Florida, from the 1987-88 to 1990-91 school years. The T-6 program uses an early intervention strategy designed to reduce the dropout rate by allowing selected over-age fourth graders to master skills…

The transfer to a new school or grade has been identified as a typical transition period for students that is usually characterized by declining academic performance and increased absences. At the close of the 1991-92 academic year 26% of 9th-grade students in a large urban high school were failing 50% or more of their courses. A preventive…

The word "miftan" means "threshold" in Hebrew. The Miftan as an educational framework was conceived in Israel as a response to the needs of marginal male youth who are about to drop out or who have dropped out of the regular school system. Currently 42 Miftanim are operating in that country. This report presents ethnographic…

Three off campus private alternative schools have been supported, in part, by the Portland, Oregon, Public Schools. The students, mostly high school age, are largely dropouts or on the verge of dropping out of school. Many were referred because of behavior, attendance, or other discipline problems. At least half of the students in each school have…

This document, the first part of a two-part evaluation of the third-year implementation of New York City's 3-year Dropout Prevention Initiative (DPI), is the final evaluation report of implementation of the DPI middle school component, called the Dropout Prevention Program (DPP), conducted in 29 schools. Case-management services and some…

The Attendance Improvement Dropout Prevention program (A.I.D.P.) is a state-funded, multi-faceted program designed to provide services to students considered to be at risk of dropping out of school. The elementary school A.I.D.P. program is comprised of six components: facilitation, attendance outreach, guidance, health, school-level linkage, and…

Understanding why students drop out is important in developing effective dropout prevention strategies. Traditional research has focused on high school dropouts; recent interest uses a developmental approach and examines possibilities for earlier intervention. Each section of this report analyzes dropout prevention at the preschool, elementary,…

The problem of ill prepared college freshmen in remedial/developmental classes across the nation has significantly increased. At the same time, colleges and universities are increasingly concerned about college student retention. The study compared the belief structures of two groups: those enrolled in two remedial reading classes, and those…

South Carolina's first major dropout prevention initiative began two decades ago when leaders became more interested in the industrial development of the State. A 1966 study found that black youths were experiencing a dropout rate of 72%, while that of white youth was 48%. Statewide efforts taken in the early 1970's to alleviate this problem were…

Dropouts are defined throughout this document (including in its graphic displays) as: early school leavers, expelled, intermittent learners, leftouts, pushouts, stopouts, suspended, and truants. Sufficient research has been done about school dropouts to begin a comprehensive solution. Schools and other institutions must mobilize the knowledge to…

This report assesses the first year of a school achievement program in Lowell, Massachusetts (Lowell Achievement Program, LAP). The program targeted seventh and eighth grade students who were at risk for dropping out of school. The main goals of the program were to identify these students and to stimulate them to participate in their own learning…

Both financial and personal losses occur for students dropping out of higher education. Intervention programs designed to reduce student attrition have been suggested, and it is important to consider the extent to which these strategies can be effectively implemented. (MSE)

This paper uses regression and matching techniques to evaluate Indonesia's Social Safety Net Scholarships Program. The program aimed to prevent large numbers of children from dropping out of school as a result of the Asian economic crisis of 1998. It was expected that families would find it difficult to keep their children in school and that…

This literature review on mentoring at-risk students first encapsulates the history of North American mentoring programs, highlighting a late 19th-century Friendly Visiting Movement and recent 100 Black Men of Atlanta and the Toronto Learning Partnership projects. Mentoring program goals, benefits, effectiveness, challenges, and planning problems…