Recognizing the potential of combining interdisciplinary methods with block program scheduling to serve underachieving high schoolers, the East Manhattan Outreach Center's staff initiated such a program in 1993. Students were block-programmed, using four classes of 28 pupils each enrolled in six courses. The program stressed small-group activities…

Support services to prevent dropping out of at-risk students include family wraparound services, individual counseling and psychiatry, intensive in-patient treatment, and residential placements. An essential ingredient, interagency collaboration requires common understanding of purposes and goals, communication, and group process skills. (SK)

Looks at European education, training, and youth initiatives to meet the challenge of social and economic exclusion. Articles discuss unemployment, poor living conditions, and inadequate education and training; dropouts; maintaining skill levels; coordinated training programs; the role of schools; immigrant children; and youth policies. Lists the…

Data from the 1987 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study were used to assess the influence of prices and price subsidies on within-year persistence by proprietary school students. African Americans, Hispanics, and students without high school degrees were more likely to persist although tuition charges had a substantial negative influence. (SLD)

Describes the revitalization of Evarts High School in a poverty-stricken area of rural Kentucky. Reforms included (1) adding 120 electives to the curriculum; (2) beginning a school news service; (3) producing a weekly video program aired on cable television; and (4) offering privilege cards for attendance, achievement, and participation in…

Eighty-six rural students with mild disabilities who had graduated (n-52) or dropped out of (n=34) high school were interviewed twice (seven months apart) about their employment, residential status, and participation in postsecondary education and training programs. Although the majority in both groups were employed full time, graduates had worked…

Recent studies show that rural students take a greater variety of courses, have higher American College Test scores, perform better academically, and stay in school longer than their suburban counterparts. (SK)

Examines communication apprehension (CA) as a potential barrier to student academic success. Finds that high CA students are significantly more likely to drop out compared to low CA students. Finds no significant difference in high CA and low CA grade point averages. (SR)

Surveys students to ascertain what hierarchies existed among four ethnic groups regarding their support systems, self-concepts, and levels of school adjustment. Finds that European Americans fared well, whereas African Americans fared least well among the groups surveyed. (RS)

One component of a Missouri school-community partnership is a cooperative effort to improve the work force in the community and keep young people in school. Requiring new employees to have high school diplomas and establishing general education development programs near work places have lowered the dropout rate from 25 percent to only 15 percent.…

To serve at-risk minority students better, secondary schools should exchange the usual six-period daily schedule for an intensive, single-subject format (similar to summer school) during the typical 36-week calendar. One immediate advantage of using intensive three-week sessions for each subject is increasing time spent on academics. (six…

Appalled by the 47 percent Hispanic dropout rate at South Houston (Texas) High School, one teacher heeds these students' silent bid for attention. Teachers can help Hispanic students participate fully by believing in them, challenging them academically, respecting their names, encouraging them to reach out, appreciating family ties, and boosting…

Because families and communities often fail to meet adolescents' need to belong to a productive, functional organization, schools are increasingly fulfilling this role. Membership depends on social bonding, which has four elements: attachment, commitment, involvement, and belief. Principals can remove impediments to membership by fostering a sense…

Completion and performance data were examined from 92 junior high gifted students in a summer mathematics enrichment program. Variables significantly distinguishing between drop-outs and completers were instructor's rating of the student, parental occupation, and school year (seventh or eighth grade). Gender, ethnic group, school grade average,…

Describes Sandia National Laboratories' wide-ranging analysis of local, state, and national education systems. On most measures (dropout and retention rates, standardized test scores, higher education enrollment, education spending, international comparisons, educator status, and work-force skills), lab found steady or slight improvement. Schools…