The "IDRA Newsletter" serves as a vehicle for communication with educators, school board members, decision-makers, parents, and the general public concerning the educational needs of all children across the United States. The focus of this issue is "Legacies Shaping Public Education." Contents include: (1) Valuable from the…

This manual provides a synthesis of research-based dropout prevention and intervention and offers examples of interventions that show evidence of effectiveness. This has proven to be a difficult task because the intervention research on dropout and school completion that can be used to inform practice is incomplete (Dynarski & Gleason, 2002;…

About one in four students who enter high school will not graduate. Numerous dropout-prevention programs have been implemented nationwide in the past decade to increase the high school graduation rate. This growth in programs has made it more difficult for educators to determine the effectiveness of the many alternatives. This guide is designed to…

This monograph reviews the literature on intervention for potential dropouts at the secondary school level in order to determine factors responsible for students being at risk and to provide information on a variety of projects and programs that are effectively alleviating the number of such students who fail to complete their education. The…

This brief is intended to provide State Education Agency (SEA) and Local Education Agency (LEA) educators with a brief overview of key components of GraduateFIRST, a Georgia program targeting issues impacting school completion for students with disabilities. Georgia's GraduateFIRST program has redefined the state's approach to raising graduation…

This report presents an independent evaluation of E. Lang's I Have a Dream (IHAD) model intervention for disadvantaged youth as it has been implemented in three schools in the Greater Washington (District of Columbia) area. Sixty IHAD participants are randomly selected as they enter sixth or seventh grade for higher education tuition guarantees…

Check & Connect was created in a five year period from 1990 to 1995. The original manual, entitled "Keeping Kids in School: Using Check & Connect for Dropout Prevention" and written by David Evelo, Mary Sinclair, Christine Hurley, Sandra Christenson, and Martha Thurlow, was published in 1996 (ED398701). This newly revised Check…

This sourcebook describes methods of dealing with dropouts in Oregon school districts. "At-risk youth" and "dropout" are defined and survey results of 98 percent of superintendents concerning program offerings are summarized. Data suggest that medium-size districts require greatest assistance. Despite increases in single-parent…

Despite the spread of distance education, research on its effectiveness is inadequate. The debate on distance education must be based on accurate and adequate information. Studies are needed to assess effectiveness of entire academic programs taught at a distance; on dropout rates; to address different learning styles; to establish a theoretical…

Presents findings from the International Society for Technology in Education's "Vision: TEST" study, revealing that access to technology facilitates learning, especially among at-risk students. Compares "factory" and "individual" paradigms for education. Offers three examples of the use of technology with at-risk students. Discusses the economic…

A project was conducted to increase the retention of African American men in the Greater Pittsburgh Literacy Council's literacy program. The project's primary objectives were as follows: develop a program in self-esteem, goal setting, and decision making and use it as a "draw" to bring new students into the literacy program; build…

Keeping high school students in school and helping them gain competence and confidence in skills so that they can be successful in the world of work and/or college is an enormous challenge. The results of one study clearly demonstrated a direct correlation between one's self-esteem and academic competence. The more competent one feels, the better…

This report presents evaluative information of the effectiveness of the Career Awareness and Resource Education (Project CARE) program in New York City. The program served 346 students of limited English proficiency. Participating students received instruction in English as a second language ESL, native language arts (NLA), the content areas, and…

This study followed up 79,812 vocational job training completers and 316 vocational job training leavers in Ohio for the school year 1981-82. Data were gathered in January 1983 for the 1982 graduating class. The results of the study showed that economic benefits resulted from completing a vocational job training program. Even with the severely…

No Child Left Behind is one of several factors motivating more and more high schools to work with their students to stay on track to graduating within four years. Unfortunately, research shows that neither by themselves works especially well: retention and social promotion are expensive failures. They are ineffective in improving student learning…