Dropping out of high school is an issue that has faced the educational system for years. At a high school in Mississippi, the dropout prevention plan implemented was not beneficial to all at-risk students because it mainly focused on academic issues. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to understand why students dropped out of high school and to gather strategies for a dropout prevention plan. The conceptual framework was based on 5 factors: general deviancy, deviant affiliation, family socialization, structural strain, and academic quandary. The research questions inquired about experiences that caused students to drop out and suggested strategies for a new dropout prevention plan. Data collection methods included interviews with 18 teachers, 3 counselors, and 20 former students who dropped out between 2007 and 2012. Interpretive data analysis was used to analyze data. Open and axial coding was used to develop themes about why students dropped out of high school. Those themes included behavioral issues, peer and work-related influences, family structure, school environment, and academic problems. Data analyses indicated that tutoring, staff development, mentoring, counseling, parental involvement, teenage mother programs, and alternative options were useful in preventing students from dropping out. These findings were used to develop a high school dropout prevention plan to benefit at-risk students. The overall goal for this project was to decrease high school dropout rates. By implementing the high school dropout prevention plan, schools may enable more students to further their education and become productive citizens within their communities.

Concerns over the academic success of first-time ninth-grade students transitioning into the high school setting continue to stimulate substantial interest in identifying the various factors that cause the ninth-grade bottleneck.  Extensive research shows that when ninth-grade students transition into the high school setting, students have a difficult time navigating the more academically rigorous, less nurturing, usually larger and anonymous high school setting.  Studies have shown that transition practices to help ninth-grade students are successful in making this transition smoother and more successful for incoming freshmen, thereby leading to more credits and a stronger chance for students to earn a diploma. This dissertation is a replication of a previous Virginia Tech study completed by Henry Johnson titled High School Transition Practices for Ninth Graders: A Descriptive Study of Maryland Public High Schools, but it focuses on public schools in the Commonwealth of Virginia.  The primary data collection method was a survey that was sent to all Virginia principals.  First, results from the survey were analyzed to develop a description of the various transition practices existing in Virginia\'s public high schools in relation to school size, demographics, and community type.  Second, the survey data were analyzed to determine the various perceptions of school officials concerning the effectiveness of reported transition practices.  The data provide a description of the transition practices in Virginia's public schools.  Results from this study give administrators and policymakers an idea of what type of transition practices exist in the various public schools in Virginia as well as the perceived effectiveness of the practices in place. / Ed. D.