Most students who begin at a community college do not complete their desired credential. Many students fail to graduate due to various barriers other than their academic performance. To encourage previously successful non-completers to re-enroll and eventually graduate, a growing number of community colleges have implemented re-enrollment…

Policy research established that it is possible to predict a student will drop out of school based on academic, attendance, behavior indicators. Little is known about the processes that put Early Warning Systems (EWS) in place. This case study of the Montana EWS describes the characteristics of a statewide implementation, the efficiency of the EWS…

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, dropping out is a persistent problem among 15- to 24-year-olds. Researchers have noted school districts that have been able to improve graduation rates have often done so through the "development of innovative models and pathways that help young people get back on track to…

Nearly half of students who enter college do not graduate. The majority of efforts to increase college completion have focused on supporting students before or soon after they enter college, yet many students drop out after making significant progress towards their degree. In this paper, we report results from a multi-year, large-scale…

This paper uses a standard difference-in-differences approach to examine the effect of the L'Aquila earthquake on the academic performance of the students of the local university. The empirical results indicate that this natural disaster reduced students' probability of graduating on-time and slightly increased students' probability of dropping…

What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) reviews in this topic area focus on dropout prevention interventions designed for use in secondary school (middle school, junior high school, and high school) or community-based settings to help students stay in school, progress in school, and/or complete school. Systematic reviews of evidence in this topic area…

High school graduation rates remain unacceptably low in the U.S., especially among disadvantaged youth (Chapman, Laird, Ifill, & KelalRamani, 2011; Stillwell, 2010), with troubling implications for future earnings and employment status (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2012). Check & Connect (C&C) is an individualized program that pairs…

Applied science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) coursetaking is becoming more commonplace in traditional high school settings to help students reinforce their learning in academic STEM courses. Throughout U.S. educational history, vocational education has been a consistent focus for schools to keep students on the school-to-career…

Each year millions of Americans make the decision to pursue a college education to improve their skill sets, boost their earning potential and transform their life circumstances. Yet almost 1 in 5 students leaves empty-handed after investing precious time and valuable resources. And many who amass student loan debt are crippled by the burden of…

The Learn and Earn to Achieve Potential (LEAP)™ initiative, a nationwide project of the Annie E. Casey Foundation, aims to improve education and employment outcomes for young people ages 15 to 25 who have been involved in the child welfare and justice systems or who are experiencing homelessness. Young people eligible for LEAP are likely to be…

To stem the tide of students dropping out, many schools and districts are turning to early warning systems (EWS) that signal whether a student is at risk of not graduating from high school. While some research exists about establishing these systems, there is little information about the actual implementation strategies that are being used across…

Concerned about the persistently high dropout rates from big-city secondary schools, education leaders are trying a new approach to increasing the graduation rate--multiple pathways to graduation. Multiple pathways initiatives are relatively new and far from proven. Even the most advanced examples face significant issues, i.e., the need to…

When Superintendent Denise Juneau took office in 2009, there were 2,423 students who dropped out of school, and Montana had a dropout rate of 5.1 percent. Inspired by the early successes of the Graduation Matters Missoula initiative, Superintendent Juneau launched Graduation Matters Montana in 2010. Graduation Matters Montana is a statewide effort…

The objective of this study was to identify the characteristics of effective graduation coaches (GCs) and credit recovery programs and explain the influence of a GC and a credit recovery program on Grade 9 students at risk of dropping out. The purpose of this study was to determine whether a high school GC and enrollment in a credit recovery…

Our study analyzes the impact of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme, a college-preparatory educational program designed for higher-achieving students, on high school academic achievement in Chicago Public Schools. We exploit exogenous variation in the offering of the program across schools over time with a difference-in-differences…