Options are limited to gaining a high school equivalency for dropouts. The General Education Development (GED) exam provides people who have left school one way of gaining their secondary school credential. Employing the use of in-depth interviews, auto-ethnography, and participant observation, this study reports the descriptive findings of twelve…

This paper examines the complex constellation of conditions that turn many young people into "exiles" from schooling. From the vantage point of young people, the paper traces out a profile of the conditions that need to be brought into existence for these young people to find a way back into learning. The paper argues that current…

The current state of low academic achievement among a large majority of African American students is complex. While the U.S. has long professed that a world-class education is the right of every child, there are still major inequities in the education system that leave African American children with fewer opportunities to receive a quality…

The authors discuss educational issues that trail English Language Learners (ELLs) by looking at the experiences of Mumina, a student who entered a U. S. classroom seven years ago after spending time in a refugee camp in Kenya. ELLs--especially at the high school level - are a challenging group for educators because they have a relatively short…

The present study provides an implementation fidelity, process, and immediate outcomes evaluation of Project Towards No Drug Abuse (TND), a drug prevention program targeting continuation high school youth (n = 1426) at risk for drug abuse. A total of 24 schools participated in three randomized conditions: TND Only, TND and motivational…

Nurse education programs are implementing standardized assessments without evaluating their effectiveness. Graduates of associate degree nursing programs continue to be unsuccessful with licensure examinations, despite standardized testing and stronger admission criteria. This problem is also prevalent for LPN-to-RN education programs due to a…

For the past 20 years, researchers worldwide have shared a consensus that tracking leads to failure in school. But educational systems continue to use this practice for many reasons. One argument used to support the practice is that students who enter the vocational track early in their careers tend to enter the labour market more quickly. Data…

The focus of this research is to understand how to engage at risk students at a continuation high school in mastering mathematics. These students typically fail math classes, and, as a result, are unmotivated to attempt to learn principles of mathematics. The purpose of the study is to develop strategies that build their understanding of Algebra…

In the twenty-first century, a socially just system of schooling prepares all young people to adapt to new technologies, and participate in a global economy that is highly differentiated at the local level. In Australia and other countries where local markets have become heavily dependent on service economies, "working-class" families…

The purpose of study was to examine the attributes of teachers of urban continuation high schools in Los Angeles Unified School District. The research questions were: 1. What are the attributes of veteran teachers and new teachers as prepared to teach at-risk students in alternative high schools? and 2. How do alternative high school teachers…

Among the diverse and varied missions of community colleges is the provision of instruction for students who have either been underserved by their previous educational institutions or not had the opportunity to complete high school. Included under this umbrella are low-performing high school students, individuals with low basic skills, and those…

Efforts to improve educational attainment are hampered by the high school dropout crisis. At a time when governors are calling for changes to improve higher education access and success, more than 1 million youth ages 16 to 19 are not enrolled in school and do not have a high school diploma. Each year, an additional 390,000 youth drop out of…

Almost 7 million young Americans (age 16-24) are insufficiently attached to school or work. Based on conservative estimates, we can generate over $1 billion just by helping a mere 0.1 percent earn a high school credential and complete their first year of college through Back on Track Designs. This brief lays out the cost of setting up these GED-…

This study used qualitative research methods to investigate the experiences of students who returned to senior high school for a fourth year in order to graduate. By drawing on student voices, this collaborative research partnership with students revealed that a fourth year of high school led to stigmatization and alienation of students and often…

Thirty thousand young people who entered ninth grade in the School District of Philadelphia's Classes of 2000-05 failed to graduate four years later. Resulting losses are huge--to lifetime earnings and employment for these young people, to government revenues, and to the regional economy. Fortunately, a renewed interest in the out-of-school youth…