Results of a process evaluation of dropout prevention programs in the Leon County (Florida) school district during the school year 1989-90 are presented. Altogether, 11 dropout programs were operationalized in that school year. The methodology used for developing a problem survey among teachers and administrators, the results of the evaluation,…

The ScholarshipBuilder Program, an adopt-a-class program, began in November 1988 to encourage selected first-grade students to stay in school until graduation in the year 2000. Scholarships will be provided by Merrill Lynch, Incorporated, for students who go on to college, and a one-time stipend will be provided to students who enter the military…

This semester-long curriculum is designed to increase the self-esteem, leadership skills, and communication, decision-making, and problem-solving abilities of eighth and ninth grade students who are at risk of dropping out of school. The manual offers procedural suggestions for organizing a Going Places class. Individual sections address…

Concern for the dropout phenomenon among secondary learning disabled (LD) students led to a preliminary study of an urban school's decision-making structures, as well as events that influence ninth graders' behavior and decisions, increasing their risk for dropping out of high school. Data were collected from three sources: observation of school…

The Work Opportunity Center (WOC) is a vocational facility in a non-school setting with programs designed to meet the special needs of disadvantaged, inner city youth. This experimental program originally served 200 junior high youth who attended a half-day program of vocational and related training at the WOC. Emphasis throughout the program was…

The central message of this report is that while some students drop out because of significant academic challenges, most dropouts are students who could have, and believe they could have, succeeded in school. This survey of young people who left high school without graduating suggests that, despite career aspirations that require education beyond…

A new, prevailing wisdom is guiding the thinking of policy makers and policy shapers throughout North America; its watchwords are "global competitiveness" and "economic restructuring." The preoccupation with viewing schooling and its role in society through the single lens of global economic competitiveness closes off other…

This report reviews a study to identify individual factors that affect adult learners' success and persistence in college programs. Part 1, a historical analysis, uses past records of students to analyze patterns of persistence and success. It examines how demographic variables relate to continuing enrollment, grade point average (GPA), and degree…

Analyzes the effects of high school students' economic prospects on high school completion rates for 67 Florida school districts. Concludes that students' decisions to drop out or complete high school may be influenced by their perceptions of the economic advantages that accompany a diploma. (FMW)

Comments on "The Timing of a First Birth and High School Completion" (Dawn M. Upchurch and James McCarthy) (1990). In considering relationships between adolescent childbearing and completion of high school, Upchurch and McCarthy misinterpret socioeconomic data. Their conclusion that young mothers are no less likely to graduate from high school is…

The school year 1991-92 was the first in which states reported school district level data on the numbers and types of dropouts in the Common Core of Data (CCD) Agency Universe Survey. Information included numbers of male and female dropouts in 5 racial/ethnic categories for grades 7 through 12. The CCD defined a dropout as a student who had been…

This paper presents findings of a study that examined an alternative learning program in a large urban school district in the midwestern United States. The goal of the project was to determine if the specific alternative learning program could have a positive effect on student motivation, goal orientation, self-efficacy, and self-esteem. Research…

This report presents statistical data on the dropout rates in Massachusetts public schools for 1990. The data were gathered through a state mandated annual survey of the state's public schools. Dropouts are defined as students aged 16 years or older who leave school prior to graduation for reasons other than transfer to another school. The report…

This paper reports on a longitudinal study of the structural effects of grade retention on dropout rate and percent of graduates qualified. The study drew on computer simulation to explore the effects of retention and how this practice affects dropout rate, the percent of graduates who meet required standards, and enrollment itself. The computer…

The Truancy Diversion Program began as a community focus on the problem of local students who did not complete their high school education. Representatives of local social and court services, the schools, and the Pittsburg State University Family Counseling Training Problem worked to develop a united effort to deal with children at risk of being…