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The purpose of the research study was to inquire into the experiences of youth who leave school before graduating with a high school diploma. Through the narrative inquiries into the life and school stories of the participants, several threads are identified, providing opportunity for further reflection on current school policies and practices. The research study shows that the life and the school stories of youth are not separate but are interrelated in ways that add to the complexity of the issues facing youth in contemporary school settings. / Special Education

The purpose of this study was to determine the factors that influenced students of one suburban Louisiana school district to leave school prior to obtaining a diploma. Qualitative methods were used to investigate the reasons that students gave for what influenced them in making their decision to leave school. Additionally, it was the intent of the study to determine if the Louisiana school accountability program had any influence on the students' decisions. Interviews were conducted with 11 students who dropped out of school in the 2003-2004 school year. With-in case and cross-case analyses were performed and themes were developed to illustrate the responses given by the participants during their interview. The data suggest students leave school because they face personal obstacles that they cannot overcome. Additionally, participants of this study cited a lack of alternative schooling and disappointment with the systems as other factors that influenced their decision to drop out of school. Furthermore, participants did not feel that school accountability had an influence on their decision to leave school.

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Darbe nagrinėjamos svarbiausios abiturientų šventės: šimtadienis, paskutinis skambutis bei išleistuvės XX a. - XXI a. pr. Darbo objektas – abiturientų švenčių tradicijos 1924 – 2012 m. Darbo tikslas: atskleisti šioms šventėms būdingus bruožus ir nustatyti abiturientų švenčių pokyčius per beveik 90 metų laikotarpį. Uždaviniai: . Palyginti Lietuvoje ir kaimyninėse šalyse (Latvijoje, Lenkijoje, Rusijoje) vykstančias abiturientų šventes bei jų ypatumus; panagrinėti abiturientų švenčių kilmę ir jų atsiradimo istoriją Lietuvoje; aptarti abiturientų švenčių oficialiųjų ir neoficialiųjų dalių esminius bruožus; palyginti skirtingų laikotarpių (tarpukario, sovietmečio ir atkurtos nepriklausomybės laikotarpio) Lietuvos mokyklų šimtadienių, paskutinio skambučio, išleistuvių tradicijas bei papročius; išsiaiškinti abiturientų švenčių svarbą ir reikšmę moksleivių gyvenime. Darbe naudojami šie tyrimo metodai: aprašomasis, lyginamasis, interpretacinis, analizė. Naudoti medžiagos rinkimo metodai: dalyvaujamasis stebėjimas, interviu ir anketavimas. Per 3 metus (2010 – 2012 m.) anketomis apklausti 239 pateikėjai, atlikti 24 interviu, stebėta 11 abiturientų švenčių, vykusių Kaune, Šakiuose, Vilniuje. Darbą sudaro įvadas, 3 dalys ir išvados. Pirmojoje darbo dalyje „Abiturientų šimtadienio folkloras“ aptariamos abiturientų šventės įvairiais laikotarpiais: tarpukariu, sovietmečiu bei po Lietuvos nepriklausomybės atkūrimo. Antrojoje dalyje „Abiturientų paskutinio skambučio šventė“ aprašomi XX a... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The paper analyses the most important school-leavers’ celebrations such as 100-days party, the last bell, seeing-off party in the 20th and 21st centuries. The paper object is traditions of school-leavers‘ celebrations from 1924 to 2012. The aim of the paper is to reveal characteristic features of the celebrations mentioned and identify changes of school-leavers‘ celebrations in a period of 90 years. The objectives are as follows: to compare school-leavers‘ celebrations that take place in Lithuania and neighbouring countries, namely Latvia, Poland, Russia, and their peculiarities, to analyse the origins and development history of these celebrations in Lithuania, to discuss the main features of formal and informal parts of school-leavers‘ celebrations, to compare traditions and customs of Lithuanian school 100-days party, the last bell and sending-off parties; to find out the significance of school-leavers‘ celebrations in pupils‘ life. The following methods are employed in the paper: descriptive, comparative, interpretational, analytical. The data was collected by using active observation, interviews, and the questionnaire. In a period of 3 years (from 2010 to 2011) 239 respondents were questioned, 24 interviews were taken,11 school-leavers‘ celebrations in Kaunas, Šakiai and Vilnius were observed. The paper consists of introduction, three body parts and conclusion. The first part „Folklore of school-leavers‘100-days party“ describes school-leavers‘ celebrations in different... [to full text]

Times of transition offer the greatest potential for changing direction, for better or worse in young people’s lives. Yet it seems that many young people with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties (SEBD) fail to make the most of this window of opportunity as they make the transition out of school into adult life. Existing research into the transitional experiences and outcomes of school-leavers with SEBD reveal that they experience high levels of unemployment, drug and alcohol abuse, mental health problems and involvement in criminal activity, with the consequent costs, social and economic, to the individual and society being too great to ignore. However, whilst there is evidence on the outcomes of this group (predominantly from the US) there is little research into the processes which influence their success or failure in transition. Therefore, this study aimed to develop an in-depth understanding of the transitions of a small group of school leavers with SEBD, by following them for the first 15 months out of school. I collected interview data from the participants, their parents and those working with them, which was subjected to thematic and narrative analysis and used to develop individual case studies. The case studies were subjected to within- and cross-case analysis, which facilitated understanding of the individual’s influences and pathways, and extraction of common themes. The school-leavers took widely varying paths, and were subject to a range of influences on an individual, family, and institutional level. These influences operated in complex and interactive ways, and each participant’s experience was unique. However, there were common themes which emerged from the cross case analysis. On a practical level, the main influences of the participants’ transitions were:• their personal drive, goal motivation, perseverance and likeability;• the capacity of their families to provide all forms of support (emotional, esteem practical and informational), or for professional supporters to fill any gaps;• the quality of the communication channels between all those working with them;• the capacity of their post-16 provision to fulfil their social and emotional as well as educational needs;• the formation of productive relationships with their workers, and the extent to which the institutions they attended supported their development. The study also had a theoretical dimension being underpinned by bioecological understandings of development and rooted in the concept of resilience. The presence of supportive relationships in the participants’ lives was a key influence on their resilience in coping with transition. The application of identity theory to the data helped to explain how these relationships developed and how supportive relationships in one context helped the young person to cope in a situation in which they were unsupported.

The focus of this qualitative study is the professional environment where post-school transitions take place. It seeks to identify some possible means for improving outcomes for young people with low educational achievement, dyslexia, social, emotional and behavioural difficulties as they move on from school. The study picks up a recommendation made by Ward and Thomson (1997), following their Scotland-wide survey, that further investigation is needed into post-school transitions of such ‘unrecorded’ young people. Taking ahead this task brings together different areas of knowledge, for example, inclusive education, youth transitions and social theory. To orient the research, initial data were gathered through a questionnaire completed by 14 educational professionals and in structured interviews with 16 youngsters, mostly recently enrolled at college, and their families. Ideas occurring here were then used to inform the main data gathering process. This was conducted in 17 semi-structured audio-recorded interviews, each approximately one hour’s duration, with school teachers, college lecturers and other professionals associated with transition. The methodology utilised a critical friends group to shape the research as it progressed. The thematic analysis of the data produced information about dissimilar models of transition support, varying constructions of young people and difficulties in partnership working. The ensuing discussion considered the roles of trusted signals of youth’s value, of careership based on transformations of identity and aspects of social capital on transitions of young people with additional support needs. The conclusion sets out areas for improvement and asks that greater consideration be given to the constraining factors within the professional environment of the post-school transitions of young people with additional support needs.

This is a case study with purpose to examine the implementation of the European Union Youth Strategy and the action of reducing early school leavers, which was put in force with the youth field of the European Union in 2010. The strategy contains of eight action fields, onwards only the field within education & training will be examined further in line with the strategy’s main objective to provide equal opportunities for young people in education. The theory of Normalization Process Theory focuses on policy implementation and how it becomes fully embedded within the intended society. Throughout the examination will be of how the implementation is supposed to work and how it actually is put into action within the two member states selected for this study, Sweden and Cyprus. The question to examine is to what degree has ‘the EU Youth Strategy’, and the fact of it being implemented within the member states, influenced the reduction of early school leavers. Through the method of comparative case study approach, materials were gattered throughout a variety of forms such as legislations, policies, evaluations, reports and many more. The analysis consists of the implementations of the action into the states, through what institutions and national legislations, as well as analysing the received grant from the European Union and what it has produced within the states. In conclusion, presenting the results of Sweden and Cyprus, both succeeding to reduce early school leavers, nevertheless, through different actions and interpretations of the strategy.

This dissertation explored the factors associated with dropping out of middle school and high school among Hispanic/Latino male students. Predictor variables investigated were: age, home language, retention history, SES, program of studies, suspensions, and GPA. Data were from a large urban school district in the state of Florida. A sample of 865 Hispanic/Latino male Latino students in the 8th grade in 1995-96 was followed longitudinally every year to the year 2000-01. Survival analysis and logistic regression were used to examine the data. The research questions were: 1) What is the relation between age, home language, retention history, SES, program of studies, suspensions, and GPA and dropping out of middle and secondary school by Hispanic/Latino males? 2) At what grade levels do the predictor variables begin to affect the male Hispanic/ Latino students' propensity for early school leaving? When are they at greatest risk? Of the predictor variables included in this research, age, retention history, program of studies, suspension, and GPA, were found to be statistically significant in the students' decision to drop out of school. This research also found that approximately 31% of this Hispanic/Latino male sample dropped out prior to completing their high school education during the 5-year span. Investigating the most hazardous time for dropping out of school, results suggested that for these students it is well into their secondary education, very close to when they would actually graduate, during their junior to senior years. It may be the time close to their eighteenth birthday that lets them legally choose to leave school that triggers this hazardous time period.

This Diploma thesis is a proposal of project for supporting employment of school leavers, which propose to financial support from structural fund of European Union. The objective of project is more efficient of active policy of employment – socially serviceable working station.