Every school day, nearly 7,000 students become dropouts. Annually, that adds up to about 1.2 million students who will not graduate from high school with their peers as scheduled. Lacking a high school diploma, these individuals will be far more likely than graduates to spend their lives periodically unemployed, on government assistance, or…

High dropout rates and low on-time graduation rates across the United States suggest that for many students proper transitioning is not taking place from middle schools to high schools. This study was designed to examine what measure perceptions and expectations held by students, faculty, and parents dealing with transition from middle school to…

Ever since achieving a high school credential by passing the GED Tests became widely institutionalized through the adult education programs in the United States, the outcomes for GED credential recipients have continued to be of great interest to the adult education community and the general public. Does earning a GED credential bring positive…

Despite the fact that many students with disabilities graduate from postsecondary institutions, most of the research focuses on their academic experiences while completing their degrees, rather than on their transition to employment. To gain a greater understanding of students' transition experiences we included three groups in our study: current…

Our study uses an interdisciplinary theoretical lens to understand the complexity of community building as a precursor to restorative practices. Key to these measures is that offenders take responsibility for their actions and undergo reintegration into the school community. Yet, until these students feel they belong to the school community in the…

Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs) are student-led, school-based clubs that aim to provide a safe environment in the school context for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students, as well as their straight allies. The present study examines the potential for GSAs to support positive youth development and to reduce associations among…

Much research in Botswana has shown that, although other ethnic groups have benefited from the state-funded education systems since independence in 1966, San children have been "left behind." This case study is based on an investigation of the root causes of secondary school dropout among Rural Area Development Program students in New…

At Coral Gables Senior High, Dade County, Florida, a profile of the average student dropout was composed on the basis of school records to serve as a guide to identifying potential dropouts, who are given special remedial and counseling attention. Dropout rates have decreased from 10 percent to 4.4 over three years. (DTT)

"Alabama Education News" is published monthly except for June, July, and December by the Alabama Department of Education. This publication, authorized by Section 16-2-4 of the "Code of Alabama", as recompiled in 1975, is a public service of the Alabama Department of Education designed to inform citizens and educators about…

In an effort to better understand the various economic benefits that a particular urban area could expect were it to reduce its number of high school dropouts, the Alliance for Excellent Education, with the generous support of State Farm[R], has developed a sophisticated economic model in partnership with Economic Modeling Specialists Inc. The…

In this report on AISD students, with a focus on the graduating class of 2009, the most powerful predictors of overall student dropout risk were having an 8th-grade attendance rate of less than 90% and failing both the 8th-grade reading and math TAKS tests. A separate research brief also was published. [For the research brief, see ED628171.]

This paper explores the many avenues by which schooling affects lifetime well-being. Experiences and skills acquired in school reverberate throughout life, not just through higher earnings. Schooling also affects the degree one enjoys work and the likelihood of being unemployed. It leads individuals to make better decisions about health, marriage,…

As attention to ninth grade transitions has grown, so has the need to carefully gauge the impacts of efforts to improve student outcomes. The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC), supported by the Institute for Education Sciences at the US Department of Education, sorts interventions based on the quality and the outcomes of the scientifically based…

Stonington High School in Pawcatuck, Connecticut, adopted an alternating day (A/B) block schedule in 1998. The shift in schedule has resulted in less movement throughout the building and fewer instances of disruptive behaviors. In addition, the initiatives that Stonington has been able to implement have caused the daily attendance rate to increase…

The authors provide a summary of recent high school reform movements with a focus on preventing high school dropouts. They discuss middle to high school transitions, describing the effect of the transition on students' academic progress and the developmental and contextual changes that occur in adolescents' lives as they move from one institution…