This study examined the progress of students in New York City who entered the ninth grade in fall 1997 and were scheduled to graduate in spring 2001 after 4 years of high school. This report indicates the percentages of students in this class, the Class of 2001, who graduated, dropped out, and were still enrolled in school to attend a fifth year…

This paper examines how policies on student behavior and attendance are used to push students into dropping out of school. Although in the public mind the proliferation of dropouts is associated with a drain on the economy, there is no real evidence to indicate either that there actually are large numbers of dropouts or that dropping out is…

In the late 1960's, educators and researchers became concerned with the dropout problem in large urban school districts. In Philadelphia, the Division of Pupil Personnel and Counseling (PPC) is responsible for collection of this data and reports this information to the state. The process has been computerized to cope with the large volume of data.…

As part of an effort to reduce high school dropout rates in large city school districts, Phi Delta Kappa, the National Association of Secondary School Principals, the Council of Great City Schools, and a group of large city school districts undertook an effort to determine baseline statistics in high schools in large cities by using standardized…

Findings of a 3-year study of the experiences of Black and African-Canadian students in the Ontario public school system are presented. The paper focuses on urban students in four schools and on their parents' perceptions of public schooling. Interviews were held with nearly 150 African Canadian students, including 22 dropouts, some of whom…

State-mandated testing programs have been in place in New Jersey since the 1976-77 school year. In 1989, the current test was replaced with two new testing programs, the Eighth Grade Early Warning Test (EWT) and the Eleventh Grade High School Proficiency Test (HSPT11). This paper follows the Trenton (New Jersey) Central High School Class of 1995,…

The issues facing urban Appalachian children and their families in Cincinnati (Ohio) are addressed. Appalachians have the highest school dropout rate in Cincinnati proportionate to their numbers, with low access to jobs and generally poor access to, and use of, public services. Much of the information for this report comes from a survey of 246…

The preliminary findings of an on-going 3-year study examining the experiences of black students in a Canadian public school system are discussed. The project has been using students' narratives of their experiences in an inner-city public school system to explore the influences of race/ethnicity, class, gender, power, and social structures on…