In this article, the authors describe how one group of California teacher educators has responded to the call for high school dropout rates with new thinking and action in regard to making teacher preparation a key strategy for reducing the dropout rates, raising student academic achievement, and eliminating the pervasive inequities in learning…

Across the country, there are a growing number of students with and without disabilities who are being suspended or expelled from their regularly assigned or zoned schools. There are three primary purposes to this two-part article series. The first purpose is to increase awareness of special education law-focused on the least restrictive…

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 more…

Across the Regional Educational Laboratory Southeast Region there is growing interest in strengthening the presence of online learning in all public schools to help equalize education opportunities for all students and prepare students for a digital future. For instance, the North Carolina General Assembly has required that the state transition to…

In 2003, the Ontario Government undertook a comprehensive multi-year Student Success Strategy to keep more young people learning to age 18 or graduation. This followed the release of a Ministry commissioned research report showing that Ontario's graduation rates lagged behind other provinces in Canada, and that up to 30% of students did not…

States and districts are under increasing pressure to ensure all students complete high school in four years; however, many students who fall off-track on the way to graduation take longer than the traditional four years to earn a high school diploma or its equivalent. Unfortunately, those schools and districts serving overage, under-credit…

While there is a sizeable amount of data available documenting a drop-out problem nationally in public high schools, there have been many reforms instituted to rectify this situation (National Research Council, 2003). Mia and Wheelock (2005) found that the grade level that is impacted most by these occurrences is the ninth grade. Gewertz (2007)…

The National Dropout Prevention Center for Students with Disabilities (NDPC-SD) was assigned the task of compiling, analyzing, and summarizing the data for Indicator 2--Dropout--from the FFY 2011 Annual Performance Reports (APRs) and the revised State Performance Plans (SPPs), which were submitted to the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP)…

The National Dropout Prevention Center for Students with Disabilities (NDPC-SD) was assigned the task of compiling, analyzing, and summarizing the data for Indicator 1--Graduation--from the FFY 2011 Annual Performance Reports (APRs) and amended State Performance Plans (SPPs), which were submitted by states to the Office of Special Education…

School policy regarding student failure of courses at the K-12 level generally focuses on grade retention or social promotion, neither of which addresses the students' needs. Grade retention has never been effective in helping students gain mastery of course objectives. To reduce the numbers of social promotions, many states require 8th graders to…

Online learning has become an alternative method to educating students around the world. Online access has allowed students to take courses at their own paces, choose curriculum that meets their learning needs, and design their own educational plans. Research has found that online learning has become a means to meet the needs of high school credit…

The rate of student departure from adult literacy programs is as high as 80% within the first 12 months (Porter, Cuban, & Comings, 2005). An examination of the literature reveals two perspectives concerning learner persistence: a "control perspective" and an "acknowledgement and accommodation perspective." The control…

Counteracting upper secondary dropouts is an increasingly common issue across the Western part of the world. In Norway, the government has developed different measures to counteract dropouts, one of which concerns alternative educational courses involving increased workplace practice. This article is based on interviews with eight students who…

The purpose of this exploratory case study was to understand the academic disengagement and reengagement process from the perspective of students enrolled in a dropout recovery charter school. Specifically, this study focused on students' perceptions of the factors that influenced their lack of success in the traditional school setting, the…

Boredom and failure combine in a toxic brew that propels too many young people off the graduation path. Research shows that engaged students are more likely to perform well academically, that students who are challenged are less likely to be bored and disengaged, and that high-quality instruction and meaningful activities are key factors in…