Roughly defined as grades four through eight, the middle grades are a known pressure point in the educational pipeline -- a make or break period for determining future academic success. Research has shown that students who are not proficient in reading by the beginning of fourth grade are four times more likely to drop out of school. Similarly,…

More students are deciding to dropout of school prior to graduation. As a result the dropout rate has become a hot topic in education across the United States. The average high school dropout salary is approximately 50% less than the salary of a high school graduate. The social factors are another reason the dropout rate needs to be a high…

Hispanic high school students have a dropout rate that ranges from 35 percent to 55 percent depending on what type of report you may be referencing. Add rates for all high school students. Hispanic youth endure the challenges of language barriers, single parent households, working to help their family, or fighting off gang involvement in their…

This report describes the AISD at-risk student population and expenditures for 2012-2013, results from program evaluations conducted in 2011-2012 and 2012-2013, and the longitudinal disparity between performance of at-risk and not-at-risk students.

Rigorous research on alternative high schools for at-risk students is extremely limited, especially for rural areas. There are case studies and descriptive reports of successful programs for rural students whose needs are not met in traditional schools. In general, these programs share the same characteristics as those found in urban areas. Some…

The purpose of this quantitative comparative study was to evaluate the Positive Alternative Credit Experience (PACE) Program using an objectives-oriented approach to a formative program evaluation. The PACE Program was a semester-long high school alternative education program designed to serve students at-risk for academic failure or dropping out…

Every year, "Diplomas Count" takes a careful look at nationwide trends related to high graduation. This year, they have titled their report "Graduation by the Numbers--Putting Data to Work for Student Success." This year's research shows that today's graduation climate is a tough one, particularly for minority students and…

Every 29 seconds, a U.S. student gives up on school. That's 124 students every hour; 2,979 every day; and more than 1 million every year. Most dropouts interviewed later in life stated they believe they could have succeeded in school if they had been given the right opportunity, and a special report in "Time" magazine reported "a full 88% of…

Comprehensive high schools have been unable to meet the needs of all students (Cotton, 2004). Students face challenges, and some have been labeled "at risk" for various reasons. These students constitute a unique group who often require more time, energy, and resources than large, comprehensive schools can offer. Consequently, they fall behind on…

In this article, three practitioners--a superintendent, a principal, and a teacher--examine how and why students drop out. The superintendent shares a new strategy to lower dropout rates, the principal discusses what are essential for schools that want to improve the achievement and graduation rates of English language learner (ELL) students, and…

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…

Approximately 28% of students with disabilities do not complete high school (National Longitudinal Transition Study-2, 2005). This increases the likelihood that these students will experience low wages, high rates of incarceration, and limited access to postsecondary education. This article reviews evidence-based secondary transition practices…

This article describes an action research at an alternative high school which explores drop-out prevention strategies with first-year students. Student retention is extremely challenging for alternative schools. Because their mission is to provide a second chance to students who could not succeed in a regular setting, those schools regularly must…

John Tyler and Magnus Lofstrom take a close look at the problems posed when students do not complete high school. The authors begin by discussing the ongoing, sometimes heated, debate over how prevalent the dropout problem is. They note that one important reason for discrepancies in reported dropout rates is whether holders of the General…

Dramatic increases in the dropout rate, particularly among classified behavior disordered children, coupled with a decline in an Occupational Education enrollment project led to the creation of a "failure identity" for individuals and a loss of human resources to the national work force. The need to address this problem was the stimulus for…