The purpose of this program evaluation was to evaluate the impact of CORE District's Breakthrough Success Community (BTSC) Program at an urban Title I high school located in Southern California. BTSC aims to improve the ninth-grade experience through a focus on five key change drivers and the implementation of improvement science. Through teacher…

Many interventions are being studied to help combat barriers into STEM fields that contribute to high attrition and low persistence rates (Chen, 2013; Ejiwale, 2013; Ellis et al., 2016). One such intervention is near-peer mentor (NPM) programs, which utilize undergraduate students as academic supports to fellow undergraduate students. Studies have…

This transcendental phenomenological study examined the factors that led to the successes of Latino males' persistence in obtaining their bachelor's degree. Through the lens of participants' lived experiences, first-generation Latino males unpack their experiences and describe how those experiences impacted their academic achievement to graduate…

Even after significant education turnaround efforts supported by federal and state agencies, achievement gaps between white students and students of color and students not living in poverty and students living in poverty persist (McFarland et al., 2018). Student academic outcomes are often driven by factors unrelated to teaching in classrooms…

The use of credit recovery as a high school dropout prevention strategy has rapidly increased within the last twenty years. The majority of public schools within the United States of America utilize at least one form of credit recovery. Credit recovery programs include a range of instructional delivery methods and may include various curricula and…

English learners (ELs) in Florida face numerous challenges including low test scores, and high dropout rates, and are typically several years behind their peers when compared to other states. The purpose of this quantitative quasi-experimental ex-post-facto study was to compare the differences between ACCESS 2.0 scores of high school ELs in…

In the current educational system students who require additional classroom support must demonstrate prolonged academic failure in order to receive services. This "wait-to-fail" model poses significant problems for youth with academic, behavioral, and emotional challenges. Once a student experiences academic failure, they are at an…

The purpose of this historical case study was to gain an understanding of dropout recovery programs from an interpretive historical perspective. Dropout Recovery is an Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education initiative that provides high school dropouts an opportunity to re-enroll in school, gain academic credit, and participate in…

Regardless of the relentless efforts of the federal and state government, as well as those of local school districts, students not completing high school continue to weigh down the educational system and society as a whole. Schools face the challenge of transforming the inclination for students to drop out of school with the associated damaging…

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…

The low quality of educational services in the "favelas" (slums) of Rio de Janeiro is well documented (e.g., Abramo, 2003; Alves, Franco & Ribeiro, 2008; Cano, 2012; Cavallieri e Coelho, 2003; Frigotto, 2004; Henriques, 2000; Henrique & Ramos, 2011; Machado, 2002 & 2008; Valladares, 2010). In 2010, the average twenty-five…

The purpose of this quantitative comparative study was to evaluate the Positive Alternative Credit Experience (PACE) Program using an objectives-oriented approach to a formative program evaluation. The PACE Program was a semester-long high school alternative education program designed to serve students at-risk for academic failure or dropping out…

Chronic truancy can have dire consequences from crime and unwanted pregnancy to drug abuse and poor economic futures. Mental illness, lack of parental support, unwanted pregnancy or marriage issues, undocumented immigrant status, drug abuse, and crime are reasons students become chronically truant. Accountability measures passed down from the…

As the number of students living in poverty increases, schools need to employ proactive measures to ensure student success and reduce dropout rates. The freshman year of high school is a pivotal year for the success of the students, as ninth grade students are more likely to have low grades, be absent from school, and be suspended or expelled.…

Institutional reforms have been proposed to improve the delivery and financing of education. School Based Management (SBM) is one such institutional reform where decision making is transferred to the school level. Funds are transferred directly to the school and parents, along with teachers and the principal, allocate and oversee the use of…