The national summer dropout campaign of 1963 was initiated by President Kennedy. Subsequent to a June 19 meeting at the White House of over 250 leading educators, another group of local administrators met with Federal officials to discuss possible actions that might be taken to reduce dropouts. The ensuing campaign began and ended within a span of…

The study of four community-based organizations (CBOs) participating in the Attendance Improvement Dropout Prevention program in New York City illustrates that it is important to distinguish among the characteristics of CBOs when schools think about forming collaboratives with them. CBOs may serve very different purposes for school needs. (SLD)

Data from a national survey of high school students were examined to determine the effects of increased mathematics requirements on the kinds of mathematics students studied, dropout rates, achievement test score gains, and the association of socioeconomic status with test scores and dropping out. Results found little effect on probability of…

A study of 377 students in an Australian technological institution of higher education investigated the personal, demographic, institutional, and environmental factors associated with dropping out before program completion. Based on the findings, recommendations are made for program adjustments and improved services to accommodate student needs…

Building on previous data, researchers used West Virginia school district data to investigate the value of examining structurally determined opportunities and costs to explain high school students' dropping out. The study interpreted dropping out as a rational consequence of students' assessments of the opportunities and costs associated with…

Among 150 Mexican immigrant students followed throughout their careers in a Los Angeles high school, those who had entered U.S. schools after 2nd grade had lower graduation rates than those entering in grades K-2, but this was not related to differences in English proficiency, at-risk status early in high school, or family or peer factors. (SV)

A model of student progress and drop-out from postsecondary distance education courses includes components of background characteristics; motivation; academic environment; and the family, work, and social environment. The author recommends ways in which distance education courses might be formatted so as to reduce student drop-out. (Author/MLW)

A study of 418 academically underprepared college students found a positive correlation between students' perceptions of their career decision-making self-efficacy and their overall social and academic adjustment to the academic environment. Further research into career decision-making self-efficacy is recommended, particularly for intervention to…

Explored the perceptions of African American male students who chose to leave a traditional academic setting for an alternative education program within the same setting. Data from students, parents, and teachers indicated that teachers and educational leaders failed to incorporate the relevancy of African American male students into the classroom…

Implementation and impact findings from a large evaluation of federally funded dropout prevention programs suggest that alternative middle schools for younger students and GED programs for older students are promising. Striving to understand the nature of academic, social, and personal problems affecting students and tailoring services to address…

The authors examined the effects of heavy adolescent marijuana use on employment, marriage, and family formation and tested both dropping out of high school and adult marijuana use as potential mediators of these associations among a community sample of African Americans followed longitudinally from age 6 to age 32-33. They used propensity …

Investing in a good education for all of America's students benefits both individuals and the nation as a whole. Some advantages are immediate; others pay off over the longer term. The benefits range from personal wealth to lower health care costs to increased tax revenue. The "Facts for Education Advocates" feature in this edition discusses some…

This book affords Latino high school dropouts from rural communities in Idaho the opportunity to tell their stories in their own words. It candidly reveals students' school experiences, explores why students leave school, and looks at the impact of the No Child Left Behind Act (2001). Four of the nine students interviewed for the book passed…

This article reports on plans by the Bush administration to set a uniform way for states to calculate and report their graduation rates, which could make it harder for high schools to avoid accountability measures under the No Child Left Behind Act. In the U.S. Department of Education's latest move to refine the implementation of the NCLB law,…

This article discusses an educational practice that has been introduced in Rwanda, which aims to bring back into the formal education system children who are out-of-school or unschooled, even though they are over the legal enrolment age. The authors analyse this intensive programme, designed for children at that age and adapted to their daily…