Keeping Young People in School: Community Programs That Work

• NCJ Number: 162783
• Date Published: June 1997
• Author(s): Sharon Cantelon; Donni Leboeuf
• Length: 12 pages
• Agencies: OJJDP
• Publication Type: Program/Project Description

Annotation

This Bulletin highlights school dropout prevention initiatives, with a particular focus on the Communities in Schools (CIS) initiative and its evaluation.

Abstract

A 1992 study by the National Center for Education Statistics found that 3.4 million youths between the ages of 16 and 24 dropped out of school before earning a high school diploma. A number of programs undertaken in various school districts have been effective in addressing this problem. One is the CIS network, which is a web of local, State, and national partnerships that work together to bring at-risk youth four basics that every child needs and deserves. The local programs, which may vary in structure and setting, have the common goals of providing to at-risk students a personal one-on-one relationship with a caring adult, a safe place to learn and develop, a marketable skill to use upon graduation, and a chance to give back to peers and the community. Evaluation findings show that high proportions of CIS students remain in school or graduate; 80 percent of the students who participated in CIS services during the 1989-90 or 1990-91 school year were still in school or had graduated 3 years later in 1992-93. The cumulative dropout rate for these students was 21 percent over 3 years, or about 7 percent annually. Other programs described are the Associated Marine Institutes (Florida), Families and Schools Together, Jobs for Ohio's Graduates, Mat-Su Alternative School, Toms River Alternate Learning Center, and the National Dropout Prevention Center/Network. 3 notes and an 8-item bibliography