Background: Education plays a pivotal role in empowering individuals with the knowledge and skills needed for careers, economic progress, and societal engagement. Dropping out of school before achieving a qualification undermines these opportunities and has an impact on individuals and society (Audit Commission, 2010; OECD, 2023). International…

Over the past three decades, transition practices research has demonstrated that post-school outcomes of students with disabilities improve when educators, families, students, and community members and organizations work together to implement a broad perspective of transition planning, more appropriately referred to as transition-focused…

Across the nation, school policymakers are grappling with what to do about the increasing numbers of students who do not advance beyond ninth grade. National estimates put the student attrition rate before tenth grade at between 11 and 33 percent, and only about 70 percent of ninth graders make it to graduation. This policy brief focuses on one…

Check & Connect was created in a five year period from 1990 to 1995. The original manual, entitled "Keeping Kids in School: Using Check & Connect for Dropout Prevention" and written by David Evelo, Mary Sinclair, Christine Hurley, Sandra Christenson, and Martha Thurlow, was published in 1996 (ED398701). This newly revised Check…

A project to provide in-school work experiences for 14 and 15 year old junior high school students was conducted for the purpose of: (1) encouraging them to remain in school after the age of 16, (2) improving their school attendance and scholastic achievement, (3) providing opportunities for growth in the ability to work and explore aspects of the…

Mentoring at-risk students has become one of the fastest growing and frequently used strategies across the nation to help young people. This document examines the structure and implementation of mentoring programs. Chapter 1 discusses mentoring as an appropriate and effective strategy. The mentoring relationship is examined, natural versus planned…

Comprehensive evaluations of two dropout prevention/reentry demonstration programs, sponsored by the Department of Education, one funded under the School Dropout Demonstration Assistance Program (SDDAP) and one funded under the Cooperative Demonstration Program (CDP), are provided in this paper. Both programs were designed to demonstrate effective…

The Attendance Improvement Dropout Prevention (AIDP) program in New York City identifies and delivers services to middle school students who are excessively absent or otherwise at risk of dropping out. The AIDP program has the following components: (1) facilitation; (2) attendance; (3) guidance; (4) health; (5) school-level linkages; and (6)…

The Louisville Public School District is probably the only large public school district which has systematically begun change on a "systems" basis. Top school officials first made a wide-ranging assessment of the most pressing problems in the district, developed and stated their premises, and then planned two programs. The primary…

This document summarizes the literature on the causes of dropping out, reviews national dropout prevention initiatives, proposes a set of principles to guide dropout prevention programs, and recommends a framework of policies for the Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) Public Schools. The dropout literature indicates that dropping out is a developmental…

This report examines the following three aspects of Hispanic employment: (1) the consequences of leaving school without skills; (2) at-risk Hispanic youth as workers; and (3) the challenge of providing practical, rewarding jobs. Among the conclusions are the following: (1) several categories of at-risk Hispanic youth can receive long-range…

The 2+2 Project in Colorado focused on nine areas. In each of the areas, the emphasis was to identify and to pilot the most promising alternative or alternatives to recommend to local school boards, the State Board of Education, and, when appropriate, the state legislature. Topics addressed were: (1) student assessment options; (2) assessment…

This document describes a program developed and implemented in three Philadelphia schools for the purpose of reducing the number of dropouts at the elementary, junior high, and high school levels. A needs assessment of the three schools, a review of the related literature, and the objectives of the program are provided. Specific strategies…

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…

A project was designed to identify student needs contributing to high vocational technical school dropout rates and to develop strategies for effective rate reduction. Project staff objectives were to (1) identify problems impeding potential dropouts from training success, (2) alleviate potential dropouts' critical needs, (3) implement meaningful…