Many factors cause student disengagement from school that subsequently result in high dropout rates. Alternative education (AE) programs provide a different pathway for at-risk youths who do not meet the goals, standards, and requirements of traditional educational settings. However, educational agencies have vastly different interpretations…

Addresses difficulties in the mentoring relationship, especially of African-American youth. Suggests ways to avoid the risks of "drive-by" mentoring, notes the problem of social distance between mentors and students being mentored, identifies characteristics of ideal mentors, offers guidelines for providing necessary program structure…

This introductory article in a special issue on mentoring as a means to prevent school failure looks at the beginnings of mentoring in the United States, recent growth of mentoring programs, similarities and differences in mentoring programs, sources of funding for mentoring programs, what works and what does not, and the future of mentoring…

This paper argues that present service delivery models for Chapter 1 students have questionable effectiveness and calls for collaborative consultation between teachers of Chapter 1 and regular programs to better serve this population of at-risk students. This system change requires defining collaborative consultation, developing a collaborative…