Persistent effects of childhood living arrangements and family change on adolescent outcomes have often been attributed to differences in socialization and intrafamily processes. We use data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics to assess an alternative explanation: that neighborhood context and residential mobility represent a central set of…

This paper tests the extent to which the accumulation of basic cognitive skills, as measured by a post-schooling math test, matter for young dropouts entering today's labor market. Based on a sample of dropouts who were age 16-18 when administered a math test in the late 1990s, estimates indicate that a standard deviation increase in the test…

This paper explores the relationship between adolescent marijuana use and school attendance. Data were pooled from the 1997 and 1998 National Household Surveys on Drug Abuse to form a sample of 15 168 adolescents, aged 12-18 years, who had not yet complete high school. The analysis determined the role of marijuana use in adolescent school dropout…

The changing demographic population of GED test-takers from the period of returning World War II veterans to today's younger, recent high school dropouts invites debate as to whether GED instruction should utilize methods of adult education. The growth trends in the U. S. from 1989 to 2001 indicate increasing numbers of 16- and 17-year-olds…

North Carolina has a dropout crisis--only two thirds of North Carolina high school students graduate. One reason this crisis has not received the attention it deserves is because the state was reporting badly inflated graduation rates (supposedly as high as 97 percent) until it finally adopted a more realistic reporting method earlier this year.…

Research has documented a crisis in South Carolina's high school graduation rate. While state officials report a graduation rate above 70 percent, researchers from South Carolina and elsewhere place the rate just above 50 percent, with rates among minority students lower than 50 percent. South Carolina's graduation rate is the worst of all 50…

In order to gather data on the causes of student attrition, a study was conducted at a Florida community college to identify the relative importance of a set of selected environmental factors and student characteristics. A cohort was developed from the fall 1990 first-time-in-college students and was tracked for 2 years using the college's…

South Carolina's Occupational Education delivery system made progress in achieving the 3-year goals contained in the Two-Year State Plan for Vocational-Technical Education, FY 1995-96, especially through its continued implementation of tech prep. Workshops provided technical assistance related to standards and measures. The system consisted of 242…

This paper describes the development of a predictive model to determine potential high school dropouts and identify areas for intensified assistance at the individual or group level. V. Tinto's (1975, 1987) model of college attrition was validated for use with high school students in rural, low socioeconomic areas of the Southeast. Ex post facto…

This case study describes a 2-year (1988-90) demonstration dropout prevention program, a collaboration between a rural school and a university. The dropout prevention program attempts to identify effective teaching strategies that will increase the academic successes of at-risk sixth-grade students and expand the use of those strategies among the…

A study was conducted at William Rainey Harper College (WRHC) of 400 students who had attended WRHC in fall 1990 but failed to enroll in the subsequent term. The sample was divided into two groups: students who had completed fewer than 16 credit hours and those who had completed more than 16 but less than 48 credit hours. All of the stopouts were…

The Elementary At-Risk Program was an intensive counseling, guidance, community outreach, and family case-management support system for a selected group of acutely at-risk students (approximately 60 students at one level and 180 students at another) in eight Houston (Texas) Independent School District (ISD) elementary schools. Social worker…

This practitioner's guide is designed to provide an overview of a schoolwide study skills program that accommodates individual student learning styles of at-risk students who may be potential dropouts at the secondary education level. The schoolwide skills model described here is appropriate for all grade levels especially secondary levels as it…

This paper describes a Child Care/Parenting Project established to meet the needs of teen parents and parents-to-be in 19 area schools served by the West Campus Technical Center in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The presence of a licensed child care facility on the vocational high school campus helped to expand and improve the vocational education…

This annual publication of the Young Adult Learning Academy (YALA) presents the art and writing of students in YALA. (YALA provides educational services to young people who have dropped out of school, are between 16 and 24 years of age, and read below the eighth-grade level.) This journal reflects the authors' and artists' perceptions of what it…