There is a critical need to identify solutions to the unemployment of high school dropouts. When a student prematurely leaves school, the economic, social, and political impacts result in negative consequences for the individual and the community. Of the nearly 2.2 million students who drop out of high school every year in the United States,…

For over 17 years, Boston Day and Evening Academy has served a population of young people often left behind: those who are off track to high school graduation or who have dropped out altogether. Through its competency-based approach, BDEA has tackled one of the toughest education conundrums of our time: how to recover low-skilled students two or…

Dan Bloom of MDRC examines policies and programs designed to help high school dropouts improve their educational attainment and labor market outcomes. So called "second-chance" programs, he says, have long provided some combination of education, training, employment, counseling, and social services. But the research record on their effectiveness…

By now people are all too familiar with the disheartening numbers: approximately 7,000 students drop out each day, which means nearly one-third of high school students will not graduate with their peers. The statistics are even more staggering for minority and low-income students, especially in the nation's largest urban districts, where less than…

Intercultural Development Research Association (IDRA) is an independent, non-profit organization with a vision for schools that work for all children. It partnered with Coca-Cola in 1984 and began a dropout prevention program just as it was conducting the first comprehensive study of school dropouts in Texas. Its annual studies since then have…

The manual--one-third of which consists of appendixes--describes strategies which are used to involve parents and parent surrogates in the St. Paul Public Schools' Model Program for Handicapped Out-of-School Youth (OSY). OSY offers three primary components that facilitate positive involvement of parents in planning: the team approach,…

What started as a summer arts and crafts program in the predominantly Mexican-American lower west side of St. Paul, Minnesota, has developed into a "dropouts" school accepted into the public school system. The small school emphasizes strictness, caring, basic skills, and student responsibility. (SJL)

This publication presents a brief summary description of an experimental dropout prevention program developed at McClymonds High School in Oakland, California. The program described is Project MACK (More Advanced Careers and Knowledge), a four-year program funded under ESEA Title VIII that operated from the 1971-72 school year through the 1974-75…

The report describes the Out-of-School Youth Program, a vocationally oriented program serving 250 handicapped student dropouts in St. Paul, Minnesota, and presents a model program for handicapped out of school youth based on that existing program. The model program consists of components that focus on the following areas: basic skills,…

Nine distinct programs aimed at reducing the dropout rate and bringing "at-risk" students back into the educational mainstream are described in this publication. The document first notes the social and economic costs to the nation of students dropping out before completing high school. The report then describes changes in Wisconsin's attendance…

Unaffiliated with the city schools, Milwaukee's community-based Journey House program helps dropouts prepare for General Educational Development (G.E.D.) tests. (Author/JM)

Risks are taken in establishing alternative school programs but they can be minimized by giving the proper attention to several critical factors. (Author)

While others form committees, do research, and write legislation to address the appalling Hispanic dropout problem, Joe Sandoval, principal of Denver's North High School, performs search-and-rescue missions to reclaim missing students. Recognizing economic realities, he and his staff visit students' homes with offers of academic help, flexible…

The set of behaviors and procedures used in working with school counselors participating in the Upward Bound and Talent Search programs at the University of Maine at Orono is described. Areas of concern designed to facilitate the relationship between school counselors and program coordinators include the following: (1) basic program information,…

Describes 11 Appalachian Regional Commission funded projects designed to improve education in Kentucky, many of which focus on dropout prevention, including Laurel County Alternative School, Owsley County Dropout Prevention Program, ADOPT, Pine Mountain Settlement School, Technical Assistance Grant, potential projects, documentary on dropout…