This West Virginia community resource guide discusses the growing crisis of school dropouts, reviews some of the consequences of dropping out of school, and provides guidance for schools and communities who seek to initiate a dropout prevention program. After an introductory overview of the dropout problem; the human, health, and educational…

This document is the result of an Institute for Educational Leadership conference convened to brief Congressional staff on dropouts, dropout programs, and what information about dropouts merits consideration by policymakers. This report is intended to be a readable account of the dropout problem appropriate for the general public as well as for…

Answers to questions most often asked about the second National Education Goal are provided in this document. Goal 2 states that "by the year 2000, the high school graduation rate will increase to 90 percent." Among the areas covered are school strategies to improve graduation rates, community and business roles, incentives to stay in…

The year-long Lighthouse District Planning Process culminated in the development of a plan that addresses the needs of at-risk students in the Burlington School District and the Orleans Southwest Supervisory Union in Vermont. This final report on the project also serves as a guide that can be used by other districts to construct a comprehensive…

This guidebook is part of a series of program materials for a school-based intervention process to help at-risk students stay in school. It is intended for participating adults and begins by giving them a quick look at the extent of the dropout problem nationwide. The booklet goes on to provide a discussion of the basic steps of the helping…

Effective systems of integrated, sequential, and systematic programming strategies at the state and local level are required to meet the needs of at-risk youth. The following six papers included in this compilation describe effective programs and practices that can be implemented in the local community, at the school district level, and in the…

One-fifth of children in the United States live in poverty and a third grow up undereducated. This is a waste of human resources and makes little economic sense. Business has an important stake in helping public schools prepare youth for the future. Business leaders, educators, and policy makers should provide early and sustained intervention in…

This book reports on the first stages of a project to increase understanding about why some young people have difficulty making transitions to productive adulthood and how to help them make more successful transitions. Contents include an introduction, 10 chapters, and an epilogue. "Introduction: Preventing Youthful Disconnectedness"…

Practices of attendance, suspension, and non-promotion in middle schools in Boston (Massachusetts) encourage at-risk students to drop out. School policies and practices, student data, and interviews with at-risk students were reviewed to determine which practices encourage disengagement from school. Personal narratives are included. Major findings…