Draws on a 1980 survey of 30,000 high school sophomores and 1982 followup to compare rural graduates and dropouts by race, sex, grades, test scores, socioeconomic status, self concept, locus of control, ratings of school conditions, and educational aspirations. Compares urban, rural, and suburban dropouts. Contains 18 references. (SV)

This report highlights recommendations made in recent research reports concerning the role of vocational education in enhancing the success of students at risk of dropping out of school. It has been found that components of vocational education programs successful at retaining students include mechanisms for helping at-risk youth to follow…

Glendale (Arizona) Community College (GCC) conducted a survey of students who attended the college in fall 1984 and did not return for the spring 1985 term to determine former students' perceptions of GCC, reasons for not reenrolling, educational goals, transfer and employment experiences, salaries, and characteristics. Study findings, based on…

A sample of students who withdrew from Mesa (Arizona) Community College (MCC) during spring 1986 was surveyed to determine reasons for withdrawal and dropout characteristics. Study findings included the following: (1) the primary reason for withdrawing was conflicting job hours, with 52% of the students who were employed working over 40 hours per…

One of the most enduring challenges facing the public school system is decreasing the dropout rate. The highest rate of growth population in the future will be among the groups who are at greatest risk of dropping out of school. This paper outlines what school officials can do to decrease the dropout rate. The suggestions for dropout prevention…

Reviews the origins and development of the 20th-century term "drop-out." Asserts that the social construction of the drop-out problem explicitly marks the time when secondary education became a common expectation in the United States. Contends that secondary education's success created the concept of a drop-out "problem." (CFR)

This study documents the public costs of high school dropouts in Georgia, and examines how policies that increase school choice, such as the recently-enacted tuition tax credit scholarship program will provide large public benefits by increasing public school graduation rates. The study calculates the annual cost of Georgia dropouts caused by…

More than half of all Denver Public Schools (DPS) students who start in the ninth grade do not graduate within four years. If DPS is to significantly impact this graduation crisis, it must prioritize the implementation of systemic and research-based strategies around prevention, recuperation, and recovery of off-track students. With a 100 percent…

The relationship between transition planning/coordinating interventions and transition outcomes for secondary-aged youth with disabilities was explored in this systematic review. A total of 31 studies intervening with 859 youth with a wide variety of disabilities were reviewed. Using the transition intervention framework of Kohler and Field (2003)…

This article shares findings from a research study on 14 gifted dropouts. The first author designed the study after she came in contact with four gifted young men who chose to leave school rather than put up with what they described as low-level curriculum and a culture that disrespected them. The intent of the study was to explore why gifted…

The high school dropout problem has been called a national crisis. Educators, researchers, and policymakers continue to work to identify effective dropout prevention approaches. One important element of such prevention efforts is the identification of students at highest risk for dropping out and then the targeting of resources to keep them in…

The District conducts a "cross-sectional" analysis of student dropouts annually; it examines dropout rates among students enrolled in various grades at one point in time. A "longitudinal" analysis, also conducted annually, tracks a group of students in the same grade or cohort over a period of several years. Each method…

The "National Dropout Prevention Newsletter" is published quarterly by the National Dropout Prevention Center/Network. This issue contains the following articles: (1) Education in the Urban Context (Ed Lambert); (2) An Interview with Paul Reville, Massachusetts Secretary of Education; (3) Communities In Schools of Chicago (Jane…

Student retention is an important issue for all university administrators and faculty due to the potential negative impact of student attrition. In this study, retention rates will be studied with data from sophomore students who initially enrolled in the 2002 academic year at Arizona State University, following these students through their junior…

The "National Dropout Prevention Newsletter" is published quarterly by the National Dropout Prevention Center/Network. This issue contains the following articles: (1) Knowledge Is Power; (2) Individual Risk Factors; (3) Program Profiles; (4) 20th Annual At-Risk FORUM; and (5) Dropout Early Warning Systems (Jay Smink) Regular sections include: (1)…