Believing in students is what's behind the best alternative schools. Profiles of various alternative education programs reveal stringent requirements for students' self-discipline and responsibility for learning. Some districts are turning to alternative programs and schools in an effort to keep their regular schools safe. (MLF)

This paper addresses the educational implications of the increasing number of students at risk and reviews the variety of at-risk conditions and circumstances and their indicators. The following topics are discussed: (1) the characteristics and behaviors that define and identify youth at risk; (2) social correlates of educational risk; (3)…

This study used the cohort method to determine the status of students who participated in the high school Attendance Improvement Dropout Prevention (AIDP) Program in 1985-86, one year later as of June 30, 1987. Among the findings are the following: (1) 41.3 percent had dropped out of school; (2) 7.2 percent had graduated or passed a General…

The study described in this report examined the characteristics of eighth-grade students who were at risk of school failure. The study used data from the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988, which is a large-scale, national longitudinal study begun in the spring of 1988 when 25,000 eighth graders attending public and private schools…