This module identifies the at-risk student and addresses strategies and effective programs for dealing with the at-risk population. The guide includes a list of definitions and uses a question-and-answer format to define at-risk students, discuss reasons for dropout, and provide information on early identification of risk, the effect of dropping…

Tri-County High School in Clarksburg, West Virginia, uses a nontraditional approach to educating actual and potential dropouts from schools in surrounding areas. The primary objective of the program is to enable students to develop adaptive behaviors and adequate skills to return to the regular classroom. The initial screening for admission into…

A project was designed to identify student needs contributing to high vocational technical school dropout rates and to develop strategies for effective rate reduction. Project staff objectives were to (1) identify problems impeding potential dropouts from training success, (2) alleviate potential dropouts' critical needs, (3) implement meaningful…

The High School Redirection Program was designed to maintain 240 potential dropouts in an educational-vocational setting while assisting them to progress toward a high school diploma. Students were admitted from 13 high schools in Brooklyn and from Andrew Jackson in Queens. They were to follow a work-study program through the summer and regular…

A project was designed to develop and test (phase I), and implement (phase II) a research design for the study of student attrition in the Wisconsin vocational technical adult education (VTAE) system with the intent of identifying student attrition and determining its predictability. Phase I, the developmental aspect (described in this report),…

This article examines trends in the education of adults with learning disabilities, focusing on dropout prevention, postdropout education, disability self-awareness, transition, Adult Basic Education, higher education, vocational education, employment, and psychosocial issues. Organizational sources of further information and a table listing…

This digest consists of two brief articles. The lead article, "The School-to-Work Opportunities Act: An Opportunity To Serve All Students" (Mary Wiberg) tells how the STW Act differs from vocational education by expanding the traditional programs and reflecting the constructivist model of education reform and how STW meets the needs of…

South Carolina's Occupational Education delivery system made progress in achieving the 3-year goals contained in the Two-Year State Plan for Vocational-Technical Education, FY 1995-96, especially through its continued implementation of tech prep. Workshops provided technical assistance related to standards and measures. The system consisted of 242…

The core features of the preindustrial model of school-to-work transition are needed now. An environment must be recreated in which young people see the vital connections among education, training, and work that were once so clear. The emerging consensus model has these features: combined formal schooling and structured on-the-job training leading…

This instructor's guide consists of four modules teacher educators can use in preparing prospective teachers to teach basic vocational education students. The modules cover the following topics: (1) characteristics of basic vocational education students or students at risk for dropping out of high school; (2) program requirements of the basic…

A 3-year project analyzed the Arkansas postsecondary vocational-technical education system to determine how effectively delivery was meeting the objective of providing vocational training. Two postsecondary vocational-technical schools in Northeast Arkansas were selected as pilot schools to test the innovative strategies that evolved from the…

A project developed and implemented a model retention program to attempt to reduce by 20 percent the dropout rate at Crowley's Ridge Vocational Technical School (Arkansas). The major emphasis was on placing students in a vocational program that would maximize their chances for success. During the program: (1) all students were included in all…

The urban high school dropout phenomenon may result from the inability of at-risk students to integrate competing social identities, or "selves." Using Erik Erikson's theory of adolescent personality development as a framework, this study analyzes information gathered from interviews with 73 New York City high school students by peer…

Between September 1, 1984, and August 31, 1985, a study examined the barriers to enrollment in and completion of postsecondary-level nontraditional vocational education programs in Florida. Data were collected from students and faculty members at 36 of Florida's 59 area vocational-technical centers and community colleges as well as from on-site…

This report describes the background and plans for an alternative education program to reduce the high dropout rate at Baldwyn High School in Baldwyn, Mississippi. Research shows that students drop out primarily because they are behind grade level and are older than their classmates. Of Baldwyn High School's approximately 290 students, between 25…