The National Guard Youth ChalleNGe program is a residential, quasi-military program for youth ages 16 to 18 who are experiencing difficulty in traditional high school. This report covers the program years 2018-2019 and is the fourth in a series of annual reports that RAND Corporation researchers have issued over the course of a research project…

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…

The "National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program" is a residential education and training program designed for youth ages 16 to 18 who have dropped out of or been expelled from high school. During the 22-week residential period, participants are offered GED preparation classes and other program services intended to promote positive youth…

School dropouts have been a substantial problem to educators since public education began. This study examined the dropout statistics of selected public schools in the Mississippi Gulf Coast counties of Hancock, Harrison, and Jackson. Subjects included school superintendents (N=29) randomly selected from the 153 Mississippi school districts and…

This study evaluated a career education program for 141 ninth grade students at Kemper County High School in rural Mississippi in an effort to reduce the dropout rate and increase career awareness. A mental health counselor gave students monthly instruction on career issues necessary for vocational life after high school graduation. A local…

This report describes the background and plans for an alternative education program to reduce the high dropout rate at Baldwyn High School in Baldwyn, Mississippi. Research shows that students drop out primarily because they are behind grade level and are older than their classmates. Of Baldwyn High School's approximately 290 students, between 25…