MDRC develops and studies programs to help young people who face major barriers in finding a path to stable adult life. Their recent roster of youth-related projects mainly targets three groups: at-risk high school students; dropouts disconnected from school and work; and system-involved youth at risk of disconnection, including youth exiting…

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…

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…

Describes the activities and achievements of Broome County Catholic Youth Organization 70001, a unique program for economically disadvantaged youth and high school dropouts, which offers preemployment training, educational upgrading, motivational activities, and job placement assistance. Explains the benefits for the young participants, community,…

This paper describes the implementation of an innovative integrated approach to the delivery of services for disadvantaged youth in Massachusetts, and examines the fiscal, political, and organizational factors that led to its subsequent demise. Massachusetts was one of the first states to envision and implement a statewide system of coordinated…

Describes the YouthBuild program in Fayette County, West Virginia, a federally funded program administered locally by the Southern Appalachian Labor School. Participants are unemployed youths aged 16-24, mostly school dropouts, who alternate between 1 week of training in repairing and building houses and 1 week studying for a GED or preparing for…

Discusses the Young Adult Learning Academy (YALA) in Manhattan, which offers an opportunity for school dropouts to get an equivalent of a high school degree and partake in job preparation programs. Describes the role of technology and the Youth Internship Program which trains students to work in day-care centers. (AEF)

This report profiles 16 successful programs currently serving migrant secondary students and out-of-school youth. Background information describes instructional and support-service strategies that have been effective in migrant programs. Strategies include advocacy, assisted studies, career development, counseling, credit accrual, distance…

Indiana University of Pennsylvania provided a federally funded program at two area vocational technical schools (AVTSs) to alleviate the student dropout problem in northwest Pennsylvania. Two programs of different emphasis were arranged--a program for out-of-school youth aged 16 to 21 at Indiana County AVTS and a program for in-school growth at…

The Youth Opportunities Unlimited (Y.O.U.) program, operated by the St. Louis County Juvenile Court, Clayton, Missouri, provides career orientation and counseling, high school equivalency and remedial education, and placement and follow-up to deliquent school dropouts age sixteen and older. Community organizations help to promote client status…

This report comprises papers that discuss how grassroots organizations, police involvement, and partnerships with local government and boards of education can prevent youth from criminal involvement through participation in productive and enjoyable work and activities. The following articles are included: (1) "Police Officers Can 'Prevent'…

The Adult Education Services for Teenage Parents program, funded by the Job Training Partnership Act and the State Education and Employment Demonstrations (SEED), was a pilot program designed to provide educational training, job readiness training, and support services for students 16 to 19 years old who had left school. Young parents were to be…

In this report the Ohio Legislative Office of Education Oversight discusses five Ohio programs designed to serve at-risk high school students and examines their possible overlap. The report describes the goals, strategies, and structure of the following programs: (1) Occupational Work Experience (OWE), a 1-year vocational program of classroom…

Many youth face the following educational and economic barriers to success: (1) increased high school dropout rates; (2) adolescent pregnancy; (3) chronic unemployment; (4) poverty; (5) drug abuse; (6) suicide; and (7) crime and delinquency. The Atlantic Community College (New Jersey) Youth Corps Program, a successful conservation and service…