The Talent Development program at Johns Hopkins, City Year, and Communities in Schools have created a new middle school and high school model that reduces dropout risk. Diplomas Now integrates strategies that are designed to raise student achievement, promotion, and graduation rates in the nation's most challenged high-poverty secondary schools. A…

In 2003, 3.5 million U.S. young people ages 16-25 did not have high school diplomas and were not enrolled in school. Youth who lack a high school diploma are much more likely to be unemployed, go to jail, or require government assistance. Any instructional strategy that holds promise for stemming the tide of high school dropouts deserves…

Latinos now constitute the largest minority group in the United States and the fastest growing segment of its school-age population. Yet they are the least educated of all major ethnic groups. Poverty, lack of access to high-quality preschool, low levels of parental education attainment, and hypersegregated schools all play a crucial role. The…

Staff at a Baton Rouge (Louisiana) elementary school devised an innovative program to introduce disadvantaged children to opportunities outside their ghetto neighborhood. The Discovery Expeditions plan attempted to address dropout prevention by increasing student awareness of resources and vocational opportunities in Baton Rouge and other areas,…

Describes the Enterprise High (Michigan) program for school dropouts. Supported by the United States Department of Labor, the program centers on teaching students how to earn a living and how to manage life. Includes an outline of the school's basics and references. (MD)

School abandonment is a systemic failure that affects poor and affluent students alike and threatens our country's well-being. Such "educational suicide" is primarily a motivational problem. It is time for educators to replace coercive, constraint-laden techniques with autonomy-supportive techniques and to supplant error-proof lessons with…

Educators in a range of schools share tools and strategies for successfully working with youth who have become marginalized from school or are at risk of dropping out. The educators emphasize the importance of personally connecting with their students and nurturing the teenagers' interests. They also discuss the challenges of trying to establish…

Our society cannot afford to wait for research results before acting to reduce the high school dropout rate. Schools should focus on those students who are most likely to drop out. (MD)

In Elizabethton (Tennessee) a separate program with one teacher keeps some high school students from dropping out and helps improve their attendance. (Author/MLF)

The substance of current educational reform neglects disadvantaged students while their numbers have increased 30 percent since 1960. Raising standards without providing strategies for helping disadvantaged students will increase the already high dropout rate. Discusses ways to mobilize instructional and community resources for disadvantaged…

By providing immediate intensive interventions when learning problems occur, the Success for All program has improved the achievement of students at an innercity Baltimore elementary school. (TE)

A coordinated effort by all segments of society, led by the schools, can decrease the number of dropouts, increasing the chances that more young people will lead productive lives. Included is a list of sources of dropout prevention activities. (TE)

Shortly after Amityville (New York) High School teachers introduced the learning style concept, their classes began to experiment with alternative groupings, varied instructional strategies, and individualized response activities. Student achievement gains were easily estimated, but gains in self-esteem are immeasurable. (MLH)

After installing a Computer Assisted Instruction system, officials in Escambia County, Florida, are decreasing the high dropout rate and giving at-risk students the skills to survive in the work world. (Author/TE)