The Reconnecting Youth (RY) program offers a carefully designed, research-validated model for building strength and competence in at-risk students, transforming risk into resilience. This manual was written to assist group leaders in implementing the RY program. The overall purpose of the program is to reach high-risk youth, who are on a potential…

The Community Achievement Project in the Schools (CAPS) is a public-private partnership between the Untied Way of New York City and the New York City Board of Education. As part of a dropout prevention initiative, CAPS is designed to integrate the services of community-based organizations and schools. The Teachers College of Columbia University…

Dropout Reduction through Education, Achievement, and Motivation (Project DREAM) was designed to serve the needs of Latino immigrants who had scored at or below the 40th percentile on the Language Assessment Battery. The design-incorporating plans for group and individual guidance sessions to help students improve their interpersonal skills. It…

Integrated Diverse Enrichment for Academic Learning (Project IDEAL) was an Elementary and Secondary Education Act Title VII-funded project in its second year of operation in 1993-94 at Walton High School in the Bronx (New York). Project IDEAL served 174 students of limited English proficiency. Participants received instruction in English as a…

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…

Pupils with Compensatory Educational Needs (PCEN) provides New York State funding for remediation in reading, writing, mathematics, science, and social studies for eligible high school students. During summer 1993, 30,195 students took PCEN-funded summer classes. About two percent were enrolled in Project Outreach, a program for high school…

Chapter 1 funds were used to fund four discrete components of the 1992 Chapter 1 summer programs in New York City. Each component targeted Chapter 1 eligible students who were found to be at risk of dropping out of school because of a lack of basic skills. The four programs were: (1) the Institute for Career Exploration (ICE); (2) the Basic Skills…

The prospects that current dropout interventions will succeed in reducing dropout behavior are explored using the following sources: (1) the literature on school dropouts; (2) experience in working with policymakers; and (3) a general perspective on the policy process advanced by political scientists. School dropouts are currently the focus of a…

This handbook describes a high school dropout prevention program that integrates academic education, vocational education, and a support system in order to provide students with multiple options for their future careers and personal lives. The following information is provided: the program's philosophy; major components (vocational education,…

An evaluation was done of New York City Public Schools' Dropout Reduction through Employment, Achievement, and Motivation Program (Project DREAM), which served poor Spanish-speaking immigrant high school students. The program operated at South Bronx High School serving 444 mostly immigrant students of limited English proficiency. The program…

To meet the needs of pregnant and parenting adolescents in Boulder Valley (Colorado), the local public school district has developed the Boulder Valley Schools Teen Parenting Program, now in its 12th year. The program was designed to help teen parents to mature to meet the challenges of parenting, enhance the school district's dropout/intervention…

Integrated Diverse Enrichment for Academic Learning (Project IDEAL) was an Elementary and Secondary Education Act Title VII-funded project in its first year of operation at Walton High School in the Bronx (New York). Project IDEAL served 192 students of limited English proficiency in 1992-93 with instruction in English as a second language (ESL),…

This report attempts to demonstrate that dropouts follow a path inverse to the one that students follow to academic excellence by presenting a review of literature pertaining to dropouts and students at risk. It examines the process by which at-risk students are separated from academic excellence, and attempts to understand the factors behind…

The incidence of pregnancy among young teenagers has increased dramatically in the past several decades. Young single mothers are much more likely than others to leave school before graduation and to be unemployed and poor. This study was conducted to identify differences in completion, school attendance rates, and grades for secondary and adult…

High school administrators are concerned about the contribution of student absenteeism to poor academic performance and the likelihood of dropping out. Administrators are faced with the difficult task of deciding which incentives will make regular school attendance more meaningful to students, and which penalties may make truancy and class cutting…