Schools face the dilemma of transforming both the trend of students dropping out of school and the associated negative socioeconomic outcomes into a positive path of persistence and school completion. Despite ongoing efforts of the federal and state government, as well as those of the local school districts, this problem continues to burden the…

This report analyzes the economic and social costs of the high school dropout problem in Montana from the perspective of a state taxpayer. The majority of the authors' analysis considers the consequences of this problem in terms of labor market, tax revenue, and public service costs. In quantifying these costs, the authors seek to inform public…

This paper evaluates the role played by Indonesia's Social Safety Net Scholarships Program in reducing school drop-out rates during the Asian financial crisis. The expectation was that many families would find it difficult to keep their children in school and drop-out rates would be high. The scholarships are found to have been effective in…

Despite interest in the arts, art and design practice in Nigeria continues to witness a downward trend. A new orientation and redirection of priorities, skills development, and patterns of practice that are not contradictory to the code of professional conduct and ethical procedures is contemplated. This paper groups the professionally trained…

Communities In Schools (CIS) is the nation's fifth-largest youth-serving organization and the leading dropout prevention organization, delivering resources to nearly one million students in 3,250 schools across the country. To further their network-wide commitment to evidence-based practice, CIS collaborated with the National Dropout Prevention…

This paper calculates the public savings (financial benefits) from greater public investments in the education of African-American males. Over one-fifth of each age cohort of black males in US is not a high school graduate. We identify five interventions that would--based on credible research--increase the graduation rate; we also report the…

Despite decades of school improvement initiatives, many young people still do not cross the finish line of secondary education with the credential that signifies success--a high school diploma. Thousands of young people give up on school and on themselves, or schools give up on them. Without effective support from schools, communities, and…

Each year, more than 8,200 young Philadelphians drop out of school. The first step to a solution, taken in 2005, was the gathering and examination of data to truly understand the dimensions of the problem and the characteristics of struggling students and out-of-school Philadelphia youth. These studies, conducted by researchers at the University…

Institutional researchers have undertaken many studies of student attrition in the past but mainly focusing on the quantitative dimensions. No doubt it is important for institutions to be aware of their attrition rates and how this may vary by demographic and other variables in order to develop strategies to minimise drop-out rates and thereby…

Today's society is global, multicultural, multilingual, and digitally connected. Learning no longer occurs just in the classroom, delivered by teachers. At the same time, research has repeatedly shown that no single strategy or approach will turn around low-performing schools and reengage students. As a result, districts and schools are reaching…

The author presents an overview of the dropout problem, pointing out that what is really a diverse set of problems requires multiple approaches. (MT)

Over the last decade, between 347,000 and 544,000 10th- through 12th-grade students left school each year without successfully completing a high school program Status dropout rates represent the proportion of young people ages 16 through 24 who are out of school and who have not earned a high school credential. Status rates are higher than event…

Author feels that reasons for non-participation and dropout do not reside exclusively within the participant, and stresses the role of educational environment. (GB)

Examines student perceptions about dropping out of school through single-session interviews with four former students, one female and three males. Includes brief profiles of each student, a summary of their school records, and reports of extensive interviews with the four students. Draws implications for dropout-prevention policy and practice.…

Introduces this special issue of the journal, describing the psychological scholarship that must underlie efforts of school psychologists to assist in drop-out prevention. Describes the complex understanding of high school completion that emerged from the Interdivisional Task Force on School Dropout Prevention, and the implications this has for…