This selective review of literature related to school dropouts looks at the issue of high school dropouts, emphasizing the disproportionate number of black female dropouts. Several examples illustrate that the reasons given for dropping out vary greatly depending upon the source and that reasons given by dropouts and their parents are at variance…

This annotated bibliography focuses on literature of student attrition at the college level published for the most part between 1965 and 1973. The articles focus mostly on research studies on attrition. Descriptive articles have been included when they were perceived to extend the concept of attrition. Dissertations and theses have not been…

This longitudinal study was conducted to determine what factors present at the sixth grade level would cause a student to be dropout prone. The specific objectives were: 1.) to ascertain what characteristics are associated with the future school dropout; 2.) to develop a regression equation to assist in the identification of potential future…

This book is the third in a series of monographs documenting the Youth in Transition project, a longitudinal study of young men conducted by the Survey Research Center under the primary sponsorship of the United States Office of Education. Some major issues in the study of dropouts and the research design are presented. Other chapters deal with…

The study attempts to answer the following questions: (1) do the characteristics of a school with a low dropout rate differ significantly from the characteristics of a school with a high dropout rate; (2) does the dropout rate predict the quality of education received at the school? Methods and findings are summarized and suggestions are made for…

Describes how three Colorado school systems joined together and set up a dropout prevention commission that used a seven-step approach to work at reducing student dropout rates. (MD)

The percentage of students of all races and ethnicities lost from public school enrollment has worsened in Texas in recent years. This paper presents major findings from a recent attrition study by the Intercultural Development Research Association (IDRA). It also restates recommendations from the IDRA policy brief, "Missing Texas Youth…

Urban American Indian dropouts and stayers in four cohorts (graduating classes) were examined on variables related to their years of high school attendance. Parent and student group interviews revealed that dropping out was related to lower academic achievement, retention in grade, greater family mobility, tribal affiliation, and school attended.…

High School and Beyond Study data for 744 public high schools were used to study the influence of school size on diversity of academic offerings, school social climate, and dropout rate. Potential links between school size and dropout rate were greatly attributable to social climate, especially concerning student participation. (SLD)

Although attrition is repeatedly described as the number one problem in adult basic education (ABE), the raw numbers of attrition rates do not tell the whole story. Studies show noncompleters in both ABE and higher education sometimes leave when they feel their goals have been realized. Counting adults who "stop out" as dropouts is also…

Traces strategies for preventing high school dropouts from the traditional reliance on remediation or incentives to recent negative sanctions (e.g., West Virginia's "no school, no drive" law). The General Educational Development Program serves those who return voluntarily to school after having realized the importance of education. (JB)

This study was conducted to develop, implement, prototype test, and disseminate a model guidance training program that can be used to prevent the high rate of student dropouts in rural Texas schools. Two school districts, New Caney and Waller, served as demonstration sites for prototype testing. The program was designed by a team of…

Every year 1.3 million U.S. high school students drop out of school with one quarter of female students failing to graduate on time. Female dropouts are more likely to be unemployed, to earn less when they are employed, to become pregnant before the age of 20, to become obese, to smoke, and to drink more heavily than their male counterparts. This…

REL Pacific at McREL, 1 of 10 Regional Educational Laboratories (RELs) funded by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), serves educators in American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia (Chuuk, Kosrae, Pohnpei, and Yap), Guam, Hawai'i, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic…

The United States has become more ethnically diverse, and this trend is projected to continue. Despite an increase in minority group enrollment on campus in the United States during the last decade, their rates of degree completion are not keeping pace (NCES, 2007). The question that remains to be answered is: What factors are unique to minority…