Some 58 dropout prevention programs in nine school districts in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and the District of Columbia were reviewed by researchers at New Jersey’s Rutgers University.
Researchers found that none of the districts had dropout-prevention policies that went beyond establishing a preventive program. Only one of the district programs was used in another district, but it was implemented so differently that researchers considered the programs as separate measures.
The districts ranged in size from 24,742 students to 107,250 students, as of July 2008, and all had high dropout rates, large populations of minority students, and high percentages of students from below-poverty-level homes.
Although the programs had different names, most shared similar components: advocating for student needs, engaging and supporting families, and monitoring school attendance.
The reviews were added to a database of dropout-prevention programs maintained by the Regional Education Laboratory Northeast and Islands.
