In this paper, the authors examine how a charter high school in a large upper-Midwest city is successfully serving students who have not succeeded in the traditional school system and are in danger of experiencing the school-to-prison pipeline. The school accomplishes this through its enactment of five key qualities: (1) a casual, family-like…

The quality of a school's social environment is critically related to student outcomes, including academic performance, attendance, student behavior, and high school completion rates. New Hampshire engaged in a dropout prevention initiative between 2006 and 2012 that focused on implementation of the multitiered Positive Behavioral Interventions…

Schools and districts have implemented many programs specifically designed to help rising freshmen successfully make the transition to high school, such as 9th-grade academies, mandatory interventions, small learning communities, summer school programs, orientations, mentoring programs, and support teams. The ultimate goal is to help students get…

This publication is a series of in-depth case studies to examine how three programs which serve a disconnected youth population are utilizing data as a tool for continuous program improvement and ongoing accountability. The report features the following programs: (1) Roca, an organization in Massachusetts which engages the highest-risk youth in…

"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) Education Secretary Outlines Obama Education Agenda: In Appearance Before House Committee, Duncan Stresses Reform…

The merits of a public campaign can rarely be gauged fully in its early months or even in its initial year. Rather, the true measures of a campaign's successes are revealed over time: in its ongoing impacts on opinion or policy, and on the tangible results it achieves. On both accounts, Philadelphia's Project U-Turn campaign continues to make…

Youth who experience either LD or teenage motherhood often drop out of school. Further, about 50% of young girls with LD become mothers by their early 20s compared to 28% of young women in the general population. There is therefore a high likelihood that teenage mothers with LD will drop out of school. Dropping out of school is of concern because…

This document contains a variety of materials from the Teen Outreach program, a school-based program begun by the Junior League of St. Louis (Missouri) and designed to decrease the incidence of teenage pregnancy and increase the number of at-risk teenagers who successfully complete their high school education. It is noted that Teen Outreach…

Examined career aspirations of pregnant teenagers (n=94) enrolled in program designed to minimize their chances of dropping out of high school. Adolescents completed demographic data form that included questions on career aspirations. Data were coded by Holland type. Data revealed number of trends with implications for career counseling of these…

This report presents an overview of previous research on teenage mothers and education. The report provides practical advice on how educators can work with youth-service workers and community activists to reduce the institutional barriers that keep pregnant and parenting teenagers from remaining in or returning to a diploma-granting educational…

An interview-based survey of 16 young parents in an urban alternative high school attempted to determine why certain youth remain in school after having children. Questions covered staff, setting, and curriculum. The authors suggest implications for dropout prevention. (CH)

Support services to prevent dropping out of at-risk students include family wraparound services, individual counseling and psychiatry, intensive in-patient treatment, and residential placements. An essential ingredient, interagency collaboration requires common understanding of purposes and goals, communication, and group process skills. (SK)

This bibliography provides brief annotations of 12 journal articles, project reports, and books on programs for dropout pregnant and parenting adolescents. Most of the documents cited describe particular programs in American cities. (KH)

This summary of a 1983 report by ASPIRA of New York on the state of minority secondary education in New York focuses on the dropout problem in New York City's public high schools. The summary also includes additional background information and makes clear ASPIRA's official position on the dropout question. The summary begins by presenting an…

This study examined the impact of variables related to competence and identity as protective factors in a group of at-risk dropouts and at-risk graduates of high school. Participants consisted of 99 at-risk students (35 females and 64 males) drawn from a continuation high school in an urban school district and 24 high school students (9 female and…