Honduras has made steady progress in expanding post-primary school coverage in recent years, but many rural communities still do not provide a middle (lower secondary) school. As a result, Honduras has implemented a number of middle school alternative programmes designed to meet the needs of at-risk populations throughout the country. This article…

Schools face the dilemma of transforming both the trend of students dropping out of school and the associated negative socioeconomic outcomes into a positive path of persistence and school completion. Despite ongoing efforts of the federal and state government, as well as those of the local school districts, this problem continues to burden the…

This paper evaluates the role played by Indonesia's Social Safety Net Scholarships Program in reducing school drop-out rates during the Asian financial crisis. The expectation was that many families would find it difficult to keep their children in school and drop-out rates would be high. The scholarships are found to have been effective in…

This booklet addresses the difficulties of comparing and drawing meaning from dropout data prepared by different agencies, and examines the characteristics of students--and of schools--that place students at risk for leaving school prematurely. The booklet describes prevention programs and presents evidence on their effectiveness. It reviews…

In an effort to identify the kinds of vocational experiences that appear to be the most promising in reducing the dropout rate, two distinct research strategies were used. The first strategy involved analysis of data available from the High School and Beyond Project, a nationally representative sample of students and schools surveyed in 1980 (when…

Chapter 1 of this document examines the need for alternative education among vulnerable youth by reviewing the numbers and characteristics of youth who disconnect from mainstream developmental pathways in various ways. The second chapter examines the question of "what is an alternative education school or program" and draws on a variety…

This paper demonstrates the analytical importance of employing output-based measures of school quality. The empirical analysis employs data collected in a longitudinal survey of primary school students in Egypt during 2 academic years, 1978-79 and 1979-80. School quality and grade completion are shown to be directly linked, leading to very…

This evaluation report of an attendance project in Portland, Oregon, public schools describes goals, methods, and results for 1985-86. The introduction states objectives of identifying, contacting, and counseling students leaving school or attending irregularly, with the purpose of guiding them into school or alternative educational programs. A…

This publication provides a synopsis of the issues, as identified in recent research reports, relating to non-completion of New Apprenticeships and Traineeships in Australia. Some of the key findings of the research reports are the following: (1) during the mid-1990s, non-completion rates were approximately 45 percent for trainees and between…