U.S. Department of Education research indicates that early warning indicator systems are being used in at least half of high schools in the United States. Previous findings from an efficacy study of one early warning indicator and response system, the Early Warning Indicator (EWI) team model, indicated that ninth grade students in schools using…

This paper presents the work done to support student dropout risk prevention in a real online e-learning environment: A Spanish distance university with thousands of undergraduate students. The main goal is to prevent students from abandoning the university by means of retention actions focused on the most at-risk students, trying to maximize the…

The Lighthouse Community School (LCS) is located in Cincinnati, Ohio, and is a unique charter school operated through the collaborative effort of Lighthouse Youth Services and the Cincinnati Public Schools. LCS has been in operations since 2000 and serves at-risk students from Grades 6 to 12, ages 13-21 years. Teachers and support staff…

Many factors cause student disengagement from school that subsequently result in high dropout rates. Alternative education (AE) programs provide a different pathway for at-risk youths who do not meet the goals, standards, and requirements of traditional educational settings. However, educational agencies have vastly different interpretations…

The Communities In Schools (CIS) Model of Integrated Student Supports aims to reduce dropout rates by providing students with integrated and tiered support services based on their levels of need. The model includes preventive services that are available to all students (Level 1 services) as well as intensive, targeted, and sustained services…

The Communities In Schools (CIS) Model of Integrated Student Supports aims to reduce dropout rates by providing students with integrated and tiered support services based on their levels of need. The model includes preventive services that are available to all students (Level 1 services) as well as intensive, targeted, and sustained services…

Project GOAL is a systematic dropout prevention model including individual and peer-mediated group interventions for at-risk students. This article provides an overview of the Project GOAL model and describes a 2-year experimental pilot study of Project GOAL with a cohort of eighth-and ninth-grade students in a low-income school district in the…

Students entering high school in 9th grade face a formidable challenge. The transition to high school from 8th grade brings with it increased risks for all students. For example, students in 9th grade are anywhere from three to five times more likely to fail a class than students in any other grade. Similarly, ninth grade retention rates are…

Decades of research show that high school dropouts are more likely than graduates to commit crimes, abuse drugs and alcohol, have children out of wedlock, earn low wages, be unemployed, and suffer from poor health. The ChalleNGe program, currently operating in 27 states, is a residential program coupled with post-residential mentoring that seeks…

Too many students in high-poverty, urban communities drop out of high school, and too few graduate prepared for college and careers. Three national organizations--Talent Development Secondary, City Year, and Communities In Schools--have formed "Diplomas Now" in an effort to transform urban secondary schools so fewer students drop out and…

Check & Connect was created in a five year period from 1990 to 1995. The original manual, entitled "Keeping Kids in School: Using Check & Connect for Dropout Prevention" and written by David Evelo, Mary Sinclair, Christine Hurley, Sandra Christenson, and Martha Thurlow, was published in 1996 (ED398701). This newly revised Check…

This paper focuses on transition programs for youth to postsecondary education, broadly considered. It addresses the following questions: (1) What models or programs of transition exist? (2) On what basis can we say one transition program is more effective than another? In other words, how is successful transition defined? (3) How are…

As a response to legislative demands, the Texas School Dropout Survey described in this document attempted to identify the magnitude of the dropout problem, regional characteristics or causes of the problem, costs associated with dropping out, and programs currently available for serving the dropout population. Twenty-four major findings of the…

A survey of California schools elicited 54 inservice teacher education programs to help teachers identify at-risk students and develop effective instructional strategies to meet their needs. Five programs were selected as models for statewide replication. Each model program met at least four of the following criteria: (1) a comprehensive,…

This literature review describes the major topics covered in the literature on school dropouts between 1988 and 1994, with special attention to the reasons why youth leave school. It analyzes recent literature on these topics, and links this literature to that on intervention programs meant to keep youth in school and prepare them for employment.…