Describes a dropout prevention program used for eight years in Joliet Township, Illinois, high schools. (MD)

Dayton (Ohio) Public Schools have two new programs for potential dropouts, called University Prep Program and New Options for Work, that take the students out of classes with younger students and treat them as the young adults they are. (MLF)

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)

Believing in students is what's behind the best alternative schools. Profiles of various alternative education programs reveal stringent requirements for students' self-discipline and responsibility for learning. Some districts are turning to alternative programs and schools in an effort to keep their regular schools safe. (MLF)

The Young Adult Education Program in Arlington Heights (Illinois) offers high school credit classes in the evening to serve at-risk students who have left the regular day school. Students earn a diploma from the high school in their attendance area. On a bare-bones budget, the program graduates approximately 65 percent of its enrolled students.…