The vast majority of kids in the developed world finish high school—but not in the United States. More than a million kids drop out every year, around 7,000 a day, and the numbers are rising. Dropping Out offers a comprehensive overview by one of the country’s leading experts, and provides answers to fundamental questions: Who drops out, and why? What happens to them when they do? How can we prevent at-risk kids from short-circuiting their futures? Students start disengaging long before they get to high school, and the consequences are severe—not just for individuals but for the larger society and economy. Dropouts never catch up with high school graduates on any measure. They are less likely to find work at all, and more likely to live in poverty, commit crimes, and suffer health problems. Even life expectancy for dropouts is shorter by seven years than for those who earn a diploma. Russell Rumberger advocates targeting the most vulnerable students as far back as the early elementary grades. And he levels sharp criticism at the conventional definition of success as readiness for college. He argues that high schools must offer all students what they need to succeed in the workplace and independent adult life. A more flexible and practical definition of achievement—one in which a high school education does not simply qualify you for more school—can make school make sense to young people. And maybe keep them there.

Over the last decade, up to 544,000 10th- through 12th-grade students dropped out of school each year w/o completing a high school program. In Oct. 2000, about 11% of 16-through 24-year-olds who were not enrolled in a HS program had neither a high school diploma nor an equivalent credential. This report addresses these questions: what are the national and regional dropout rate trends?; what does the research say about factors assoc. with dropping out?; what state, local, or private efforts have been implemented to address the factors associated with dropping out?; and what Fed. efforts exist to reduce dropout rates and what is known about their effectiveness? Charts and tables.

Elly Knottleweed-Eversprightly hates being a fairy and has already been expelled from two prestigious fairy academies. Elly soon meets Jess, a human girl who is not at all interested in fairies. Finally, Elly makes a friend who understands her--even though Jess is only human.

These engaging narratives and unique insights will help readers to better understand the interplay of school-related and personal factors that lead students to drop out of school. It is essential reading for K12 educators, school principals, counselors, psychologists, and everyone concerned with our nations dropout crisis.

School dropout remains a persistent and critical issue in many school systems, so much so that it is sometimes referred to as a crisis. Populations across the globe have come to depend on success at school for establishing careers and gaining access to post-school qualifications. Yet large numbers of young people are excluded from the advantages that successful completion of school brings and as a result are subjected to consequences such as higher likelihood of unemployment, lower earnings, greater dependence on welfare and poorer physical health and well-being. Over recent decades, most western nations have stepped up their efforts to reduce drop out and raise school completion rates while maintaining high standards. How school systems have approached this, and how successful they are, varies. This book compares the various approaches by evaluating their impact on rates of dropout and completion. Case studies of national systems are used to highlight the different approaches including institutional arrangements and the various alternative secondary school programs and their outcomes. The evaluation is based on several key questions: What are the main approaches? How do they work? For whom do they work? And, how successful are they in promoting high rates of completion and equivalent outcomes for all? This book examines the nature of the dropout problem in advanced industrialized countries with the goal of developing a broader, international understanding that can feed into public policy to help improve completion rates worldwide.

High school graduation and dropout rates have long been used as indicators of educational system productivity and effectiveness and of social and economic well being. While determining these rates may seem like a straightforward task, their calculation is in fact quite complicated. How does one count a student who leaves a regular high school but later completes a GED? How does one count a student who spends most of his/her high school years at one school and then transfers to another? If the student graduates, which school should receive credit? If the student drops out, which school should take responsibility? High School Dropout, Graduation, and Completion Rates addresses these issues and to examine (1) the strengths, limitations, accuracy, and utility of the available dropout and completion measures; (2) the state of the art with respect to longitudinal data systems; and (3) ways that dropout and completion rates can be used to improve policy and practice.

This study uses data from the 1988 National Education Longitudinal Study and its 1994 followup to examine the educational and employment attainment of 1988 eighth graders who dropped out of high school. About half of them ultimately completed high school. By 1994, 16% had completed a high school diploma, 29% had completed a General Educational Development (GED) or equivalency certificate, and 24% were working on a diploma or GED. The remaining one-third of dropouts had no credential and were not pursuing any further education. High school completion among dropouts was associated with socioeconomic status. Dropouts who had demonstrated academic ability, although not necessarily academic performance, were most likely to complete high school. By 1994, 2 years after most of the"cohort" had completed high school, high school completion among dropouts was associated with some educational, but few employment, characteristics. In 1994, most dropouts were either working, looking for work, or at home. About the same proportion of dropouts as 1988 eighth graders who had never dropped out reported working full time or part time in 1994, but those who had never dropped out were more likely to be taking academic courses. More than half of those who had never dropped out were enrolled in 2-year or 4-year postsecondary institutions. About one in four dropouts had enrolled in a postsecondary institution by 1994. One appendix is a glossary, and the other contains technical notes and remarks on methodology. (Contains 19 tables, 7 figures, and 12 references.) (SLD)