This book provides an overview of a 4-year longitudinal study of senior secondary schooling in the government high schools of New South Wales, Australia. The study followed the progress from year 9 to year 12 of 3,000 students from 22 government secondary schools in 2 metropolitan and 2 nonmetropolitan regions. The book is divided into 10…

This document completes a series of four monographs that comprise a framework for describing children's development through the school years. Each monograph incorporates insights gained through research and practice. As a resource designed primarily for teachers, administrators, and curriculum designers, the document looks at the whole child as a…

This document describes the With and For Parents program, a dropout prevention program focusing on parent involvement. Although not a conventional guidebook, this document can serve as a guide to the world of the urban disadvantaged through its recollection of program experiences. With and For Parents began in 1987 with 156 families of incoming…

Educational practices in tracking and ability grouping are reviewed, and it is suggested that cooperative learning strategies are effective alternatives for students who need preparation for the challenges of citizenship in the future. Research studies have given rise to many criticisms of tracking, particularly as it relates to minorities,…

Reasons why some students complete further education (FE) and others drop-out were examined in a study involving a sample of 9,000 students and staff from 31 inner city, urban, and rural FE colleges throughout the United Kingdom. Data were collected from the following sources: interviews with FE college managers, staff, and students; review of…

A study was done to evaluate Partners for Valued Youth (PVY), an instructional cross-age tutoring program in San Antonio (Texas) designed to reduce dropout rates among Hispanic limited-English proficient (LEP) middle-school children, who are at risk of leaving school. The program has these students tutor younger, elementary school students. The…

This handbook provides information about an innovative model, Partners for Valued Youth (PVY), that encourages "at-risk" students to stay in school and to set broader goals for themselves through a cross-age tutoring experience in which at-risk middle school students tutor younger, elementary school students. After a preface, the…

This is the first interim report of the congressionally mandated National Study of Student Support Services (SSS), a federally funded grant program designed to help economically disadvantaged students achieve success at the postsecondary level. The program is intended to facilitate disadvantaged students' high school completion, entry into and…

The analysis of proposed or implemented programs for increasing the achievement of at-risk students in all grades is the purpose of this report. Its focus is on identifying effective organizational responses, programs, and practices that improve the achievement of all at-risk children. Schools currently respond to poor academic performance with…

This report describes a "third wave" of educational reform that focuses on improving academic achievement and preventing dropping out among disadvantaged children. It contains eight sections. The Executive Summary surveys the dimensions of the at-risk situation and strategies to confront it. "The Scope of the Problem" provides background on the…

The major objectives of the projects reported are to reduce dropouts, to decrease suspensions, to increase attendance rate, to increase reading and math achievement, to decrease disciplinary referrals, and to improve self-concept. Three project components are instructional, including personalized instruction in English, mathematics, social…

A study representing a new level of involvement in the problem of dropout prevention is presented. The point is made that a dropout generally is a person who does not see his public education as related to his particular needs or goals. Recommendations of the study are: (1) Establish a regularized school-community input and feedback system to…

A strategic goal was set in March 2000 by the Lisbon European Council that Europe will be the most competitive and knowledge-based economy in the world, capable of sustaining economic growth with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion by 2010. The heads of state and government agreed upon these three concrete common objectives: (1)…

This paper summarizes investigations of school connectedness completed by the Social Development Research Group in two longitudinal studies, the Seattle Social Development Project and Raising Healthy Children. The theoretical importance of school connectedness, empirical support for the theoretical propositions of the impact of school…

In the 1989-90 school year, 13 dropout prevention programs were implemented in the Leon County (Florida) School District. The Comprehensive Dropout Prevention Program (CDPP) for Leon County schools included Educational Alternatives Programs, a Teenage Parent Program, a Substance Abuse Program, and Youth Services Programs. This report presents…