GRADS (Graduation, Reality, and Dual Role Skills) is a vocational home economics in-school, secondary program for pregnant students and/or young parents. Curriculum for the program, designed to keep students in school until graduation, includes positive prenatal and postnatal care; child development and parenting education; and goal setting toward…

From 1976-79, over 46,000 Wisconsin youth left high school before receiving a high school diploma, a number reflective of a national trend. Research has documented dropout characteristics, their reasons for leaving school, and the consequences of their decisions, but little effort has been made to examine ways in which schools and communities…

The Chicago public schools have implemented two dropout prevention programs in five high schools. The Early Action Opportunity Centers program gives priority to identified potential dropouts who have records of entanglement with law enforcement agencies. Fifty percent of the students in the Chicago Receptions Center program are returnees from…

This speech discusses several of the exemplary dropout prevention programs sponsored by the Office of Education. The basis of all the programs, whether they be for dropouts from school or for dropouts from life, is that once people find out that there is work to be done in the world, and that they will be welcomed and rewarded for doing it, they…

This study evaluated the quality of the learning experiences, accommodation and support strategies, and post-school outcomes of 40 students with disabilities who participated in Wisconsin's Youth Apprenticeship (YA) programs. The YA program is a rigorous 2-year school- and work-based learning program for high school juniors and seniors. Currently…

The purpose of this study was to identify the significant characteristics of distance education students who have dropped-out or continuously and successfully progressed in the distance education program at the NOU of Taiwan. The major focus was based on the found factors which might relate to the students' decisions for dropping out or staying in…

This paper describes and encourages the application of 20 classroom techniques to enhance the retention and success of black male college students. Though retention enhancement programs work best when institution-wide support and commitment are behind them, the techniques described here can be implemented in the classroom with significant results…

The high school dropout rate is a matter for serious concern. Nationally, dropout prevention programs for at-risk youth have emerged and are increasing. In response to this situation a model middle school dropout prevention program was implemented for a small city public school system. This study assessed the effectiveness of the first year of the…

The single greatest issue facing American education today is how to improve the education of low achievers and other students at risk of school failure. Currently, elementary school students who have fallen behind academically are placed into special classes designed to eliminate those deficiencies. Students meet in a small group with either a…

In the 1988-89 school year, the Austin (Texas) Independent School District's Office of Research and Evaluation undertook a new dropout research project. Part of this initiative, termed Project GRAD, attempted to develop a statistical equation by which one could predict which students were likely to drop out. If reliable predictive information…

A micro-level project was developed in Pakistan to decrease the number of school dropouts. The program was tested in two rural primary schools by introducing three new types of activities: (1) body movement and educational games; (2) teacher training; and (3) community involvement. Teachers were trained at the school where they worked. After…

This paper discusses the importance of helping at-risk students avoid dropping out of school by providing an appropriate curriculum for them. If school systems are to achieve greater educational success with at-risk students, they must move beyond traditional approaches. They can do this by: identifying and helping students who demonstrate little…

Patterns of attrition at a midwestern research university were examined through telephone interviews of 622 students who had left the institution prematurely and through analysis of institutional data to compare school leavers with those who stayed. This comparison found that school leavers were more likely to have lower college admission test…

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 Truants' Alternative and Optional Education Program was developed to provide preventative, interventive, and remedial services to keep students from becoming chronic truants, and as an educational option for students who had dropped out or who were at risk of dropping out of school due to academic deficiencies. The program, implemented in the…