This report outlines the major findings and recommendations of a study of drop-outs and "divergent youth" in Los Angeles public schools. The purposes of the research were to: identify the divergent youth population; study current practices and options which negatively impact the students' social and academic progress within the…

Describes a skills development program to encourage high-risk students to stay in college and succeed. Block programming is used, and a counseling course included is designed to help students develop attitudes, behaviors, and skills that will help them make a successful adjustment to college. Program evaluation and implications discussed. (KS)

The Benito Juarez Academy is a charter school for grades 9-12 located in Saginaw, Michigan. The school was established in 1995 to meet the needs of youth who were most at risk for low academic achievement, behavioral problems, and dropping out of school. This paper describes the school's planning and development process and the attitudes of…

A study was done to describe the development of seven alternative schools for youth who dropped out of high school or who were at risk of doing so on the model of a Brooklyn (New York) alternative school, High School Redirection. The replication demonstration took place in the 1988-89 and 1989-90 school years in Cincinnati (Ohio), Denver…

Findings from a study designed to evaluate the Houston Independent School District's (HISD) program for identifying students at risk of dropping out are presented in this report. In the 1988-89 school year HISD employed a scheme of four state-mandated criteria for identifying at-risk students, and this scheme's performance in predicting actual…

This report provides an overview of the operation of two innovative New York City dropout prevention programs, the Attendance Improvement and Dropout Prevention Program (AIDP) and the Dropout Prevention Program (DPP). First, basic program components, required and site-specific, are described briefly. Each program site must provide these…

Computer Assisted Instruciton (CAI) helps schools meet the challenge of student dropouts. CAI provides individualized instruction, a positive learning experience, and immediate feedback. Black students at Chicago's Williams Elementary School have gained in reading and math. CAI projects in Louisville, Kentucky, and Baltimore have improved academic…

The Durham Public Schools Communities in Schools (CIS) Academy provides a student-centered environment that encourages high-risk students to remain in school and get back on track for graduation. Program operations began in January 1995. This paper presents the results of an evaluation of the first semester of operations (the second semester of…

The Academy of Casa Maria is a charter school for grades 6-8 located in southwest Detroit, Michigan. The school was established in fall 1994 to serve local youth most at risk for low academic achievement, behavioral problems, and dropping out of school. This paper describes the planning and development process and the attitudes of parents and…

The report evaluates the 1985-86 Special Education Attendance Improvement/Dropout Prevention and Dropout Prevention (AIDP/DPP) programs as they operated in 45 New York City sites. City tax-levy DPP funds were allocated during the 1985-86 school year to the Division of Special Education to expand existing state-funded AIDP services for at-risk…

The Occupational Proficiency Training Program (OPT) was initiated in Mitchell County High School, Georgia, to identify potential dropouts, place them in an alternative vocational education program, provide special communications and mathematics assistance, and maintain knowledge through recordkeeping of a student's progress through the program.…

Presents findings from the evaluation of the Keep Youth in School program, which was designed to address the drop-out problem among high-risk youth in an urban community. Discusses what was learned during a three-year period in the program's development. (PCB)

New York's Dropout Prevention Initiative (DPI) is examined from the perspective of Dewey's educational philosophy. DPI employs an approach which "blames the victim" in contrast to the Deweyan approach which considers the social organization of schools as critical. Three components of DPI are critiqued: attendance incentives, career…

This report describes an evaluation of Project Success, a dropout prevention program at Crockett High School in Austin (Texas). The class centered program provided incentives for improved educational performance and attendance of at-risk ninth-grade students in the 1990-91 school year. The project served 103 students over the fall 1990 and spring…

To examine local dropout trends the Oklahoma City Public Schools (OCPS) documented the numbers and described the characteristics of those who dropped out in the 1985-86 school year. Local dropout rates were compared to those of other school districts and the nation as a whole. A dropout was defined as any student who is under age 18 and has not…