The National Center for Education Statistics reported that in 1992 approximately 4.5% of all high school students dropped out of grades 10 through 12, and 11% of all persons in the age group 16 through 24 had not completed high school and were not currently enrolled. The Communities in Schools (CIS) network is a web of local, state, and national…

Describes a pilot mentoring program that involved 19 college students working with preadolescent and adolescent at-risk Hispanic youth in a Texas border city. The program, which consisted of 10 weekly classes in citizenship awareness and community participation and involvement, focused on dropout prevention and preparation for citizenship. (SLD)

In a case study of four urban adult basic education programs in a northeastern state, large increases in the participation of 16- to 20-year-old students were found. Many of these students were reading below the fifth-grade level despite aspiring to the General Education Development (GED) diploma. Reasons for youth participation included increased…

This paper describes a methodology for the evaluation of dropout prevention programs, for calculating dropout rates, and for comparing alternative programs equitably. A first step involves developing a hierarchy of criteria for evaluating programs. These criteria are used to obtain dropout risk probability for individuals and groups and types of…

Investigates the informal curriculum of a state-funded after-school dropout prevention program for adolescents. The program's goal is to resocialize them into their schools and enable them to achieve academic success. The paper proposes that the program fails to achieve its goal because of its ideology, and it recommends an alternative perspective…

In this report the Ohio Legislative Office of Education Oversight discusses five Ohio programs designed to serve at-risk high school students and examines their possible overlap. The report describes the goals, strategies, and structure of the following programs: (1) Occupational Work Experience (OWE), a 1-year vocational program of classroom…

A study was done of two Minnesota State "second chance" program options designed to help at-risk students to complete high school. The options are: (1) private urban alternative programs, administered by non-sectarian, community-based organizations principally serving teenagers from Minneapolis and St. Paul (Minnesota); and (2) the Area…

Describes the Middle College High School (MCHS) at Seattle (Washington) Central Community College, a public schools cooperative venture among the school system, community college, Seattle Housing Authority, and corporate sponsor. The MCHS enrolls students at risk of dropping out and boasts an impressive effort in retaining and educating these…

This executive summary presents evaluation findings and conclusions from a 4-year study of a demonstration project focusing on a school-based and school-linked interprofessional case management approach to dropout prevention. The project, funded by the U.S. Department of Education, was administered by the Center for the Study and Teaching of…

High attrition from programs for at-risk youth suggest that planners are not assessing interventions from the consumers' perspective. Some disadvantaged youth join and complete programs (persisters), while others from the same communities either fail to join or drop out (leavers). Participants in two in-school remedial programs and two…

The second annual Staying-in-School-Partnership Program (SSPP) conference, "Successful Schooling for the At-Risk Student: Ideas for Practitioners," brought representatives from the ten SSPP programs together with representatives from New York State and New York City Attendance Improvement/Dropout Prevention (AIDP) programs, the New York…