Each school year, roughly a thousand students drop out of Montgomery County (Maryland) Public Schools (MCPS). However, unlike other large, urban school districts where students who drop out skip school and are suspended often (Balfanz & Byrnes, 2010), students who drop out of MCPS are present in school; they just are not doing well…

In 2010, the authors shared a Civic Marshall Plan to create a Grad Nation. Through that first report and subsequent update, they saw hopeful signs of progress in boosting high school graduation rates in communities across the country. This 2012 report shows that high school graduation rates continue to improve nationally and across many states and…

This 2012 report shows that high school graduation rates continue to improve nationally and across many states and school districts, with 12 states accounting for the majority of new graduates over the last decade. Tennessee and New York continue to lead the nation with double-digit gains in high school graduation rates over the same period. The…

This booklet addresses the issues of school attendance, truancy, chronic absenteeism, and the problems faced by school dropouts. An introduction to these topics is followed by a series of questions and answers on school attendance and absenteeism. Questions focus on why students are absent from school, what they do when they are truant, how they…

Describes one family's unsuccessful experience with a minority student in a foster home situation. Schools are not equipped to handle the special problems of certain students who make up a large percentage of the dropout population. (MD)

This paper evaluates the impact on student achievement made by eight New York City alternative high schools. The schools serve students with histories of poor attendance and low academic achievement, so an emphasis is placed, in the first section of this report, on findings which reveal students' credit accumulation and attendance patterns in…

Behind the negative composite profile of school dropouts often lie the internalized characteristics of low self-esteem, thwarted ambition, and personal failure. This document presents an analysis of several different demographic, behavioral, and academic characteristics of students who withdrew from grades 9, 10, 11, and 12 in the Nashville…

This document presents recommendations to the Texas state legislature for meeting a 1997-98 goal of reducing the projected longitudinal and cross-sectional state dropout rates. Data for 1986 indicate that approximately 86,000 students were dropping out of Texas schools every year. The recommendations presented here were determined: (1) by tracing…

Investigates Mexican-American elementary-age children with older siblings who were either high school dropouts or persisters. Results indicate that siblings of dropouts had lower expectations of completing high school and had more absences than did siblings of persisters. Recommends that schools use absenteeism and expectancy in identifying…

Reducing absences is the most readily available strategy that high schools have for reducing the number of dropouts. A sample of approximately 2,000 students who entered three Oregon urban high schools in the Fall of 1983 or 1984 was studied in order to establish criteria for identifying students who were at-risk of not graduating. The group was…

Discusses successful strategies for preventing Black students from leaving school before graduation. Argues that the best solution to this complex problem is to ensure that Black children learn the necessary academic and cognitive skills in school before proceeding to the next grade level. (FMW)

This study used the cohort method to determine the status of students who participated in the high school Attendance Improvement Dropout Prevention (AIDP) Program in 1985-86, one year later as of June 30, 1987. Among the findings are the following: (1) 41.3 percent had dropped out of school; (2) 7.2 percent had graduated or passed a General…

Discusses the drop out rate and the at-risk youth problem. Summarizes what some implemented federal and state programs are doing and what some will do. Lists goals of several states. (MVL)

Operation Success is a pilot project funded by the New York State Education Department to provide support services to high school dropouts and potential dropouts. It offers programs, including employment programs, intended to develop skills, self-awareness and self-direction, enourage career goals, and develop appropriate attitudes toward the…

The problem of early school leavers within a system that offers a wide range of vocational training at the secondary level is examined. Focus is on factors that influence a student to opt for a vocational program rather than remaining in a comprehensive high school or dropping out of school. By means of interviews and school attitude…