Over one million high school students drop out of school each year in this country. Dropping out of school is a serious problem for the student, community, and the nation. Often dropouts are unable to compete in an increasingly technological society and face numerous consequences from their decision to leave school early including higher levels of poverty, unemployment, public assistance, incarceration, and poor health. Dropping out is a gradual process of school disengagement and related to individual, family, and school factors. In the past, it has been difficult to track individual student's progress through school and to determine accurate dropout and graduation rates. In 2005, the National Governors Association made a commitment to implement a uniform method to calculate and report graduates and dropouts as well as better data collections systems.This study intended to replicate aspects of other major studies around the county to determine the best early predictors of dropping out of school in this large school district in southern Arizona and use this information to build an early warning system. Student data were obtained from the district's Research and Accountability office for a cohort of students (n=6751) who began the ninth grade in fall 2006 and graduated or should have graduated in 2010. Data collected included general demographic information, academic data, number of schools attended, and school withdrawal codes.The intent of this research was to determine if there were statistically significant differences between dropouts and graduates in the variables collected and which variables yielded the highest effect sizes and should be included in the district's early warning system.Two analyses were used to determine significance differences between dropouts and graduates. Then four analyses were performed to determine the highest-yield variables for this district. Consistent with recent research in the field, the variables of ninth grade attendance, ninth grade English and Math grades, and GPA were the strongest predictors of student dropouts.Local educators can use this early warning information to help identify potential high school dropouts as early as possible and intervene more efficiently and effectively with these students.

Research into current literature regarding black dropouts and black at-risk students indicated that there were many reasons cited by writers as to why these students have failed or succeeded in academic settings. However, writers cited two major reasons for the lack of academic success at the high school level. These reasons were socioeconomic status and race, with demographics listed as a close third. The need existed for analytical identification of the variables which affected these minority students and the specific strategies required to assure their educational success. The purpose of this study was to identify the variables that are characteristic of black high school dropouts and compile a list of variables which would sort into a taxonomy made up of several categories. A Parallel Pairs Model was developed to sort and classify the multiplicity of variables found in some of the educational programs and situations that were researched. The model established three categories into which the reasons that black students dropout, could be sorted. The differentiations depicted by the categories of the model help to identify systems and approaches to improve the education of these students. An auxiliary objective of this study was to draft a program evaluation strategy that could be implemented once unique variables wore no longer ambiguous. Essential recommendations suggested by this study are threefold. The relationship between the dropout rate and the economic system becomes essential in policy making about education, e.g., funding should be equitably allocated. Redesigning academic strategies to accommodate all students becomes the primary focus of all school districts, e.g., adjust schools to the learners. The application of a taxonomy, as developed in this study, is advantageous as a checklist or diagnostic tool. Usage suggests valuative and preventive techniques.

The problem of this study was to determine the relationship between dropout rates of the high schools of Arkansas and certain school practices.

M.A. / South Africa is facing a high rate of children in need of care due to high escalation of the HIV/AIDS related illness. The children are being left without biological parents, and they are eventually placed in the foster care custody of their extended families. Sometimes there are challenges that are experienced by the foster parents and the adolescents’ foster children, as a result the adolescents’ foster children end up leaving school. Foster care learners who stay away from school or who have been entered on the register then absent themselves for substantial parts of the day, are more likely to grow up unhappy and unfulfilled, leaving school much less qualified than they might otherwise be and worst of all sometimes get drawn into a life of crime(Collins, 1998). The overall aim of this study is to explore the factors that contribute to adolescent foster children not completing their high school education and developing strategies to retain adolescents’ foster children in school. Placing the adolescents’ foster children into institutions like industrial schools and children’s homes hoping that the children’s behavior will change should be considered as the last resort that the professionals should do. The objectives of the study are: § To survey literature on foster care education, § To analyse the scope of the concept” foster care” in terms of current practice, § To investigate problems that are encountered by the foster parents and how do they deal with the teenagers’ problems, § To investigate the problems encountered by the teenagers or adolescents foster children , and also identify their unmet needs, § To investigate the problems encountered by the foster children while still at school, § To identify challenges of educators towards foster care learners. iii Qualitative research methodology was applied with the researcher selecting participatory action research to engage adolescents’ foster children, foster parents and educators in the study. The study was exploratory and qualitative in nature. Focus groups were utilized as the method of information gathering. The focus group was conducted with adolescent foster children, foster parents and educators. The focus group sessions with the children comprised of ten adolescent foster children that did not complete their high school education. The focus group session with the foster parents comprised of ten parents caring for adolescent foster children who left school. The focus group with the educators comprised of six educators who taught foster children, three educators were from each of the two high schools in Naledi, Soweto. The foster children and foster parents were recruited from the researcher’s case load in Soweto.

All school systems throughout the country serve students referred to as at risk. Research documents that these students are at a greater risk of dropping out of school due to characteristics that contribute to school disengagement. By exploring the perspectives of male inmates aged 18-30 regarding their educational experiences, this study's data illuminated how school personnel and the schooling process may theoretically contribute to negative outcomes such as incarceration. The focus of the study was to identify commonalities and phenomena in relation to educational experiences, school engagement levels, deviant behavior, and school staff-student interactions as related to the at-risk student population. Interviews of a sample group of prisoners were utilized to gather rich data from their experiences. A qualitative/phenomenological research method was employed. This study introduced a revised and expanded term to replace the at-risk term when describing students who are at risk of school failure. This new term is COPE (Children Of Promise in Education). The acronym COPEr will be used when referring to the individual student who is at promise for academic success. COPErs will be used when referring to multiple students of promise for academic success. Six themes emerged from the data analysis. The six themes were as follows: characteristics of the respondents as k-12 students, student-staff interaction, engagement, disengagement, negative outcomes, and reflection and advice. An analysis of the themes is represented by quotes from the study's participants. This analysis allowed for the emergence of data that substantively contributes to the gap in the literature pertaining to a continued need for qualitative research examining the schooling experiences of at-risk youth, juvenile delinquents, high school dropouts, and, as in this study, inmates. Few studies have examined the perspectives of inmates regarding their schooling experiences. Most research regarding inmates has examined correctional education within the prison system. After the findings of the study are revealed, the implications of the study are presented. Implications for school staff and student development through communication and positive interaction are addressed. Suggestions for future research related to positive academic and social development of COPErs in the educational system are suggested.

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Recent literature on high school graduation and drop out have shifted the focus from identifying causes of drop out to identifying students who are at risk of dropping out. The Early Warning Systems (EWS) used to identify students seek to use existing data to predict which students have a greater risk of dropping out of school so that schools can intervene early enough to reengage students. Despite widespread attention to individual indicators, there is no defined system of indicators proven to be generalizable across grade levels, specifically at the elementary grade levels. Drawing on the tenets of Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) Ecological Systems Theory, the purpose of this quantitative research study was to determine to what extent the State of Florida’s EWS model can predict on-time cohort graduation in grades 3-8. Using a retrospective longitudinal sample, this study first established that Allensworth and Easton’s (2005) grade 9 on-track indicator was predictive of dropout, finding that 92.2% of students who were on-track in grade 9 graduated on time. Using this grade 9 indicator as a proxy for graduation, this study then examined the effectiveness of the Florida EWS at predicting on-track status. Through this a priori link to graduation, this study was able to shed light on predictive indicators in the elementary and middle school years without the temporal distance between the predictor grade levels and graduation typically associated with longitudinal studies of this nature. The findings that the Florida EWS successfully predicted 71.6% of future on- and off-track status confirms its use as a predictive indicator of students at risk of not graduating. The academic, behavioral, and engagement indicators found in both Allensworth & Easton’s (2005) grade 9 on-track indicator and the Florida EWS were found to successfully capture the molar activities of students within the school ecological system and were successful at providing an indication of a student’s development in terms of being on track to graduate on time from high school. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2018. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Magister Educationis - MEd / This research report investigated the impact of the decrease in numbers of learners at a working class high school in Cape Town. The decrease is a consequence of the early school leaving and learner migration. / South Africa

There has been much research conducted regarding high school dropout prevention and identifying risk factors that influence those who choose to leave school early. Although research shows that life can become very difficult economically and socially for high school dropouts, some adults decide to return to further their education after many years away from a school setting. The following study was conducted in order to answer the following question: How do former high school dropouts view the reasons they dropped out and the reasons they returned? The purpose of this qualitative research study was to gain an understanding of the motivations of those adults who have dropped out of high school and have decided to return to further their education in an adult school setting. The method of conducting this study from a qualitative angle was interviewing individuals who are currently enrolled in an adult education program. Although not conclusive, personal experience is important to gaining an understanding of this population and their views on the reasons that led them to drop out of high school. The results of this study correlated with existing literature that there are many factors that lead to high school dropouts. Because this was a qualitative study, the individual reasons given for dropping out of high school support the statistics and research already in existence.

This study provides a description of the practices elementary school principals employ to reduce the likelihood that at-risk youth will actually experience school failure. The problem investigated in this study is reflected in this broad question: What is the relationship of principals' practices to the provision of service for at-risk youth? Differences in the importance and frequency of use of practices by principals were compared. Variables such as school size, percentage of students who are eligible for free lunch, percentage of students who are at-risk, student mobility, and principal's rating of how successfully their school is serving at-risk youth were also investigated. Thirty percent of the elementary principals employed in the metropolitan area of Portland, Oregon were randomly selected to participate in this study. The research design was descriptive. Data were collected from the critical Principal Practices Profile, a questionnaire developed by the researcher and five practitioners after an extensive review of related literature. Using a 4-point scale, principals indicated the importance and frequency of use of principals' practices for the provision of service for at-risk youth. Eighty-three percent of the selected principals completed and returned the survey. Of the responding principals' schools: 25.9% had a student population greater than 600 students, 27.8% had more than 50% of the student body eligible for free lunch, and 43.5% had more than 32% of the student body at-risk of school failure. A number of statistical treatments were performed in analyzing the data. According to the respondents, "Selection of Service Delivery Patterns" emerged as the most important practice (M = 3.65) and the most frequently used practice (M = 3.21) for serving at-risk youth. The practice "Selection of Service Delivery Patterns" was described by five explanatory items: identifying at-risk youth, requiring the modification of curricula, identifying suspension and expulsion alternatives, monitoring student performance, and implementing retention alternatives. The principals' practices and the school demographics were compared using an ANOVA. Associations reaching a significant level were found between the independent and dependent variables; however, the importance and frequency of use patterns reported by the principals could not be consistently explained simply by school demographics