Oregon's annual dropout rate increased from 6 percent in the 1992-93 school year to 7.4 percent in the 1994-95 school year. Some schools, however, managed to reduce their dropout rate. This report explores the strategies that worked for 15 Oregon high schools that reduced their dropout rate. Interviews were conducted with representatives of Oregon high schools that had reduced their dropout rate by 1.5 percent or more during the period from 1993-94 to 1994-95. The sample included 13 principals, 1 assistant principal, 2 teachers, 3 counselors, and 1 director of instruction. A portrait of each high school reveals its programs and other efforts on behalf of at-risk youth. Most schools with effective programs for assisting at-risk youth had two things in common: the school culture functioned as both a positive, supportive community and a "high-reliability" organization (Rossi and Stringfield 1995). (LMI)