Recent trends in education have drawn attention to students at risk of school failure and dropout in the United States. Alternative schools are one method for preventing the severe and long-lasting consequences of underachievement and dropout. Few research studies have sought the opinions and perceptions of the at-risk students who attend…

The article describes 15 staff/student prereferral intervention strategies developed by teachers in Montgomery County (Maryland) for use with students having academic difficulties. Strategies are concerned with self-monitoring, metacognition, curriculum integration, simplifying English, study skills, home reading, and mentoring. (DB)

Academic failure must be seen as a failure by school and student together. By discarding faith in the "average needs" of the "average child" and instead accepting diversity in learning styles (both abstract and concrete, sequential and random), teachers can approach school failure from a problem-solving perspective. (PB)

To help reverse the underachievement pattern in gifted students, educators should seek out less-evident indicators of strengths and abilities, incorporate those abilities into the classroom curriculum, recognize evidence of a sustained will to learn, and be realistic and optimistic about signs of improvement. (PB)

The teaching community is challenged by the responsibility of meeting the academic, social, and behavioral needs of children with and at risk for antisocial behavior. Although intervening with these children is challenging at best, the literature suggests that intervention efforts are most likely to be successful when they occur early in a child's…

Guidelines are presented to assist in establishing programs to meet the needs of students who are both gifted and learning disabled. The guidelines suggest focusing attention on development of the giftedness, offering a nurturing environment that values individual differences, teaching compensation strategies, and developing awareness of…

Gifted underachievers at Leaside High School (Toronto, Ontario) are integrated into a program with more successful peers that is based on systematic skill development, supportive evaluation, and personal counseling. The program's integrated approach involves teaching math, English, science, and history core content along with enrichment activities…

This article examines factors contributing to low academic achievement among young adolescents and provides data documenting low achievement in 12- to 14-year olds. Strategies for improving this population's achievement are offered, taking into consideration factors contributing to low achievement, such as difficulty constructing wholes during…

Presents specific recommendations to prevent underachievement, including matching experienced teachers who have realistically high expectations with low-achievement students, reducing class size, establishing professional-development programs to assist teachers in learning effective ways to communicate with students and parents from diverse…

The purposes of this study were to evaluate a pilot, dropout prevention program designed to provide academic tutoring and supplemental enrichment to 9th graders and to examine additional data on adolescents' motivators and role models related to high school dropout and completion. The program targeted 9th graders because many adolescents decide to…