The purpose of this guide is to provide information on how to use early warning data, including the Massachusetts Early Warning Indicator System (EWIS), to identify, diagnose, support and monitor students in grades 1-12. It offers educators an overview of EWIS and how to effectively use these data in conjunction with local data by following a…

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are the fastest-growing developmental disability in the United States. In recognizing the increasing needs of children affected by ASD, as well as the associated financial implications for local governments, some states are re-assessing their current systems of support and looking for better and more efficient ways…

"Reconnecting Youth" is an elective, credit-bearing course for students at risk of dropping out of school due to frequent absenteeism, low grades, or a history of dropping out. The curriculum focuses on building self-esteem, decision making, personal control, and interpersonal communication skills. The What Works Clearninghouse (WWC)…

The Texas Education Agency (TEA) prepares an annual report on graduates and dropouts in Texas public secondary schools. This report includes state summaries of the annual dropout rate, longitudinal graduation and dropout rates, and state attrition rates. In addition to statewide statistics, the report provides historical information about dropout…

The Graduate First initiative was implemented to address the dropout crisis among students with disabilities in the state of Georgia, who continue to demonstrate a rate of attrition twice that of their non-disabled peers (Georgia Department of Education [GA DOE], 2010). This mixed method case study explored the perceptions and experiences of a…

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…

Studies addressing at-risk students' perceptions of valuable caring relationships within their unique online environment are rare. While the phrase at-risk has a variety of meanings, this study examined the term pertaining to students who were labeled due to endangerment of not graduating from high school based on their life circumstances. Through…

This article describes Aspire, a new motivational interviewing (MI) early intervention program designed to prevent dropout among students repeating the ninth grade, and then examines the feasibility and acceptability of this program through a mixed-methods approach. The Aspire program is a nine-lesson curriculum grounded in MI with an emphasis on…

Using data in a professional learning community is a promising form of professional development. In this study, we followed a data team of teacher educators, who systematically tried to improve the education of student teachers (by decreasing first year drop-out). By conducting a single case study, we investigated the data team participants'…

The State Compensatory Education (SCE) program is designed to reduce dropout rates and increase academic performance of students identified as being at-risk of dropping out of school. SCE operates as a funding source to supplement instructional services and offer academic support to students who meet the SCE at-risk criteria established by the…

This study contributes to applied and theoretical research for schools and districts by helping inform programs and policies directed at school improvement, raising student achievement, and high school completion. The paper features recent results of ongoing research on student orientation to school that was assessed via a multidimensional Student…

Over the past decade, SREB state policy-makers have focused on actions to reduce dropout rates and increase high school graduation rates. Some policy-makers have suggested that raising their state's compulsory attendance age (often called the dropout age) to require students to stay in school until age 17 or 18 is an important step. However,…

First-generation college students are viewed as a group of at-risk individuals simply because their parents did not attend college. As a result, these students are at a higher risk of dropping out than other college students if their needs are not met. A number of researchers have conducted studies of first-generation college students in order to…

There are significant "lacunae" in the otherwise highly progressive documents on early school leaving prevention from the European Commission and Council in 2011, as part of the EU2020 headline target of 10% early school leavers across the EU. These documents offer no explicit account or analysis of the voices of children and young…

Students transitioning from middle school to high school face a range of academic and social challenges. Academic content is more diverse and challenging, and its delivery is increasingly text based, requiring competence in literacy and problem-solving skill areas. Students entering 9th grade often struggle to find an appropriate peer group and…