School districts’ efforts to prevent students from dropping out are profiled in a new survey from the National Center for Education Statistics.
Based on responses from 1,200 districts in 50 states and the District of Columbia, the report paints a national portrait of the kinds of programs, services, or alternative educational options schools are offering to students who are at risk of dropping out. It finds, for instance, that 88 percent of districts with high school grades offer credit-recovery courses or programs, and that 63 percent provide early-graduation options. More than one-third of districts use data on students’ academic failures, absenteeism rates, or disciplinary records to target students most in need of dropout-prevention services.
