In 1986, the New York City Public Schools adopted a cohort methodology for determining dropout and graduation rates. The Class of 1990 was the primary cohort studied in this report; it was the fifth cohort to be studied for at least 4 years using this methodology. Follow-ups are reported for three preceding classes. The 1990 cohort, who entered…

Project "FAIR" identified and evaluated alternative funding mechanisms for allocating state resources to support programs and services for at-risk youth. Information was gathered through the following activities: (1) two national surveys; (2) the development of a classification system for programs and the identification of prototype programs; (3)…

Project Dropout Reduction through Employment, Achievement, and Motivation (DREAM) provided 445 Spanish-speaking limited-English-proficient students with English-as-a-second-language (ESL), Native Language Arts (NLA), and bilingual content area courses at South Bronx High School (New York) during the 1989-90 school year. Project DREAM met its…

A study identified barriers to successful recruitment and retention of out-of-school youth in vocational education. Personal interviews with directors of the 10 area vocational schools participating in the study provided data on the degree of utilization and success of 35 recruiting practices. The recruiting practice perceived as most successful…

The Michigan Student Information System (MiSIS) is the student flow component, of the Michigan Community College Occupational Education Evaluation System (MCCOEES), a comprehensive state-wide system for evaluating occupational education. It was developed by the Michigan community college system as a systematic and valid method of collecting…

This document, a two-volume report, provides in volume 1 the final longitudinal evaluation of the New York City Dropout Prevention Initiative (DPI), 1985-86 through 1987-88. (The second volume comprises appendices containing summaries of each previous evaluation for this time period.) The DPI was implemented in 13 high schools and 29 feeder middle…

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 document comprises part 2 of a two-part evaluation of the third-year implementation of the New York City Board of Education's 3-year high school Dropout Prevention Initiative (DPI). It consists of reports on 8 special substudies of the program in year 3 (part 1 describes the DPI and presents the evaluation findings and recommendations.) The…

An examination of the characteristics of foreign-born White, Hispanic, and Asian high school dropouts between the ages of 16 and 21 indicates that English language proficiency, age at immigration, and family language background are all related to the likelihood of dropping out. Statistical data were analyzed for a subsample of 519 foreign-born 16-…

Graduation, Reality, and Dual-Role Skills (GRADS) is a vocational home economics program in Ohio for pregnant students and young parents in grades 7 through 12 in junior high schools, senior high schools, and vocational schools. Goals of the program are to: (1) increase the likelihood the participants will remain in school during pregnancy, after…

The five case studies in this volume concern at-risk youth. Disadvantaged youth programs in different states were studied by different authors: (1) Albuquerque, New Mexico (Richard Mendel); (2) Baltimore, Maryland (Edward C. Lorenz); (3) Hartford, Connecticut (Richard Funkhouser and Delsie Gandia-Fabian; (4) Oakland, California (David Snedeker);…

Effective systems of integrated, sequential, and systematic programming strategies at the state and local level are required to meet the needs of at-risk youth. The following six papers included in this compilation describe effective programs and practices that can be implemented in the local community, at the school district level, and in the…

South Dakota's graduation rate in 1986-87 was above the national average: 79.7% compared to 71.1%. The dropout rate for 1990 was 4.3%. Of 180 districts, 25 with large numbers of Native Americans have a dropout rate of over 7%. Increasing the rates of graduation for Native American students will require a comprehensive, long-range program. Schools…

In spring 1982, a survey was conducted at Yavapai College to determine reasons for student course withdrawal. A TEX-SIS follow-up questionnaire was mailed to all 525 students who had dropped one or two courses, asking them to indicate their reasons for dropping the course(s) and if they felt discussion with a counselor would have been beneficial,…

The Home-School-Community Agent (HSCA) Project of the Columbus, Ohio Public Schools was successful in identifying disruptive pupils and helping them make some positive adjustment to those aspects of their lives that interfere with their success in school. Even though definitive gains in pupil attitudes fell slightly below the project goal, the…