Concerned about the persistently high dropout rates from big-city secondary schools, education leaders are trying a new approach to increasing the graduation rate--multiple pathways to graduation. Multiple pathways initiatives are relatively new and far from proven. Even the most advanced examples face significant issues, i.e., the need to…

This report presents the deliberations of the Northwest Regional Advisory Committee (NW RAC), one of 10 RACs established under the Educational Technical Assistance Act of 2002 to assess the educational needs of the region. The Northwest RAC accepted its charge to identify educational needs and to make recommendations, working collaboratively as…

The purpose of this study was to determine the validity of school and district dropout data and, if possible, to establish an accurate dropout rate for the Dade County Public Schools. Several key school files and documents were examined; prior dropout data were examined; and a survey of school personnel was conducted. The general conclusion of the…

The school year 1991-92 was the first in which states reported school district level data on the numbers and types of dropouts in the Common Core of Data (CCD) Agency Universe Survey. Information included numbers of male and female dropouts in 5 racial/ethnic categories for grades 7 through 12. The CCD defined a dropout as a student who had been…

Project RETAIN (Retention in Education Technical Assistance and Information Network) is a Florida project that assists school districts through identification and dissemination of effective practices that keep students with mild disabilities in school. One part of the project examined dropout rates from Florida's 67 school districts and their…

A survey of all New Mexico public schools with students enrolled in grade nine or higher gathered data on the extent and nature of the school dropout problem during the 1986-87 school year. All 88 New Mexico school districts and 100% of the 146 schools surveyed provided information on grade, sex, ethnicity, and reason for dropping out for students…

A follow-up survey was conducted in St. Cloud, Minnesota, of 127 (from a total of 357 students) former special education students who left school between 1988 and 1992. Respondents, most of whom completed the survey by phone, were predominantly male (69 percent), and most (63 percent) had been classified as learning disabled, with 29 percent…