Students with emotional and behavioral disorders have the highest dropout rates of any student group--about 40%. The outcomes for students who drop out of school are dire but are particularly bleak for students with poor academic, interpersonal, and decision-making skills. Helping students earn a high school diploma and gain the skills needed to…

For over 17 years, Boston Day and Evening Academy has served a population of young people often left behind: those who are off track to high school graduation or who have dropped out altogether. Through its competency-based approach, BDEA has tackled one of the toughest education conundrums of our time: how to recover low-skilled students two or…

All superintendents of schools in cities of 5,000 population and over were recently invited by the United States Commissioner of Education to describe plans or methods they had worked out in their respective schools during the past few years. In response to this invitation, several hundred letters were received. Some gave complete accounts of one…