This practice-application digest addresses what vocational education can do to reduce the almost 30 percent dropout rate among U.S. students. The first section describes factors that place students at risk, focusing on factors included in the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction's definition of the term "at-risk." In the next…

A WORK-STUDY PROGRAM WAS DESIGNED TO MOTIVATE AND TRAIN POTENTIAL DROPOUTS FOR EMPLOYMENT. A TEACHER-COORDINATOR CONDUCTED ORIENTATION CLASSES, SUPERVISED STEP PUPILS ON THE JOB, VISITED PARENTS, EMPLOYERS AND RESOURCE PERSONNEL, COUNSELED STUDENTS, FOLLOWED UP PUPIL PROGRESS WITH SUBJECT TEACHERS, MAINTAINED CONTACTS WITH COMMUNITY EMPLOYMENT…

School dropouts occur most often among boys in the 10th grade of academic courses. Evidence suggests that they and others who finish high school would have had more personal satisfaction and value from a vocational-technical curriculum. Occupational preparation, if provided in schools, can make students ready for successful introduction to…

Some 40 individuals from 12 Central and Eastern European partner countries and experts from Austria, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom participated in a roundtable session designed to stimulate discussion and action on reforming vocational education and training (VET) so that it can prevent youths from dropping out of school and experiencing…

The article describes the development and analysis of a system to identify and monitor high-risk students in postsecondary vocational training programs at vocational-technical institutes. The two instruments focus on (1) student satisfaction and (2) instructors' opinions on student abilities and attitudes (student "satisfactoriness')." (DB)

Employment Plus is an intervention program offered by the Chesapeake Public School Division (Virginia) that targets high school students who are at risk of educational failure. The program is provided by the Department of Vocational Education and is offered in all high schools. Employment Plus offers an alternative to the traditional high school…

Vocational education is one of the strategies most frequently cited as a dropout prevention measure, and some schools can document such program outcomes as increased student attendance, retention, and graduation rates. Disadvantaged youth who take vocational courses are less likely to be unemployed and more likely to obtain better-paying jobs.…

This guide is intended to encourage South Carolina secondary vocational education administrators, teachers, and counselors to implement programs designed to keep potential dropouts in school and recover those who leave school prematurely, as well as to provide those educators with research findings relevant to such activities. Following an…

This report recommends that the House of Representatives pass the School Dropout Prevention and Basic Skills Improvement Act of 1990. The bill would amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to improve secondary school programs for basic skills improvement, dropout prevention, and dropout reentry by strengthening reporting…

An educational/continuing education program was implemented for single parents/homemakers and pregnant teenagers. The program provided training in parenting skills, childhood growth and development, responsibilities of parenthood, the rights of children, decision-making skills, and vocational guidance and directions. Increased opportunity was…

The Occupational Proficiency Training Program (OPT) was initiated in Mitchell County High School, Georgia, to identify potential dropouts, place them in an alternative vocational education program, provide special communications and mathematics assistance, and maintain knowledge through recordkeeping of a student's progress through the program.…

The purpose of the Benjamin Franklin Urban League Street Academy Program is to help students stay in school, help dropouts to return to school, or help students enter the job market. The program was evaluated in three categories: East Side Cluster Service, summer enrichment, and educational programs. The major evaluation objectives were to…

Two studies by ESB staff are used to compare actual and potential dropouts; data from these studies are reflected in 43 tables. Some school program recommendations are made as a result of the studies: (1) research for identifying actual and potential dropouts and for developing a dropout profile, (2) pupil remedial education programs, (3) remedial…

Describes the results of two experimental home economics courses for potential dropouts in inner city schools, the courses having been developed and tested in a cooperative research project. (JM)

Describes an area vocational school which has two programs--one in career exploration and one designed to keep potential dropouts in school. (SB)