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American Indian youth experience teen birth and school dropout at higher rates than other racial and ethnic groups in the United States. Early childbearing is associated with adverse health and socioeconomic outcomes, including attenuated education. However, kinship childrearing norms among Northern Plains tribes can support positive experiences of early childbearing. Using a community based participatory research framework, this mixed methods exploratory study engaged high school students from a Northern Plains reservation community to examine youth perceptions of family support and belief in ability to stay in school should they have a child. We elicited youth observations of facilitators and inhibitors to academic achievement for young parents. This research supports the need for strengths-based, gender specific, and family inclusive sexuality education to support young people in their reproductive choices in reservation settings. We highlight the utility of including youth as coauthors and co-researchers in future studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human capital theory predicts that individuals acquire less schooling when the returns to schooling are small. To test this theory, the authors study the effect of the Appalachian coal boom on high school enrollments. During the 1970s, a boom in the coal industry increased the earnings of high school dropouts relative to those of graduates. During the 1980s, the boom subsided and the earnings of dropouts declined relative to those of graduates. The authors find that high school enrollment rates in Kentucky and Pennsylvania declined considerably in the 1970s and increased in the 1980s in coal-producing counties relative to counties without coal. The estimates indicate that a long- term 10%increase in the earnings of low-skilled workers could decrease high school enrollment rates by as much as 5 --7%--a finding with implications for policies aimed at improving low-skilled workers' employment and earnings, such as wage subsidies and minimum wage increases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Between 1950 and 1970, the number of public housing units in the United States grew nearly sixfold, and the percentage of births to unmarried women almost tripled. We provide the first estimates of the effect of public housing on single motherhood, using individual-level data to assess whether young women living near higher concentrations of public housing were more likely to have children out of wedlock. We find a strong and positive relationship between public housing and single motherhood for black high school dropouts. This link is larger when we use lagged measures of public housing, which suggests that exposure during childhood may be driving the result. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focuses on an emerging Hispanic-Serving Research Institution (HSRI) and seeks to understand its Hispanic-serving identity as seen through the eyes of senior campus administrators. Findings suggest that instead of asking whether an institution is Hispanic-serving, it may be more appropriate to ask about the extent to which an institution is Hispanic-serving, acknowledging the ongoing identity development that may be required of institutions and supporting the need to expand the existing HSI (Hispanic-serving institution) narrative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the reasons that individuals drop out of high school is fundamental to improving intervention efforts to promote graduation. The authors present a mixed methods analysis of the reasons individuals drop out of high school before graduating. Using a survey methodology with young adults who left school before graduating (N = 1,047, M age = 21.5 years, SD = 2.2 years, age range =18–25 years), the authors assessed ongoing life stressors, as well as the turning points individuals identified as the top reason for why they left school. Qualitative analysis provided seven categories of turning points: mobility, family, peers, school engagement and environment, health, crime, and multiple categories. More than half of respondents indicated that the reason they dropped out was related to school engagement and environment. Results showed differences across profiles of lived experiences, reported turning points, and sex. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Attending high school can alter students' life trajectories by affecting labor market prospects and through exposure to ideas and networks. However, schooling's influence competes with early socialization forces and may be confounded by selection biases. Consequently, little is known about whether or how high school education shapes downstream political preferences and voting behavior. Using a generalized difference‐in‐differences design leveraging variation in U.S. state dropout laws across cohorts, I find that raising the school dropout age decreases Democratic partisan identification and voting later in life. Instrumental variables estimates suggest that an additional completed grade of high school decreases Democratic support by around 15 percentage points among students induced to remain in school by higher dropout ages. High school's effects principally operate by increasing income and support for conservative economic policies, especially at an individual's midlife earnings peak. In contrast, such schooling does not affect conservative attitudes on noneconomic issues or political engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of dropout predictors across time. Two state-level high school graduation panels were selected to begin with the seventh and ninth grades but end at the same time. The first panel (seventh grade) contained 29,554 students and used sixth grade predictors. The second panel (ninth grade) included 31,641 students and used eighth grade predictors. The predictors studied were age, poverty, attendance, gender, and standardized test scores. The data were analyzed using logistic regression. All variables were predictors of dropping out of high school. Age and poverty proved to be the most effective at discriminating between dropouts and graduates within each panel. Age became more effective with time. Attendance and test scores were stable indicators between panels. Gender predicted dropouts for only the ninth grade panel. Eighth graders that were female were approximately 22% less likely to drop out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This empirical note seeks to provide preliminary insights into factors that may have influenced the high school dropout rate in the US cities. For some 300-plus cities for the year 2011, OLS estimates reveal that the dropout rate is a decreasing function of both the per cent of the population that is Hispanic and per pupil public education spending at the elementary and secondary levels. In addition, the estimates find that the dropout rate is an increasing function of the per cent of the population that consisted of families with children and that was classified as being at or below the poverty level and the per cent of the population aged 25 years and older that did not have a high school diploma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 1990s marked the beginning of a new era of immigration in terms of volume and settlement patterns and also witnessed significant changes in the social contexts confronting immigrants. These changes could have significant repercussions for immigrant youth. While previous research on high school dropout behavior suggests immigrant youth are faring better in US schools, our research provides a less optimistic outlook. Using the National Educational Longitudinal Study (1988) and Educational Longitudinal Study (2002), we use multivariate analysis, regression decomposition, and fixed effect models to examine how reading and math test scores of children of immigrants changed during the 1990s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the dropout trajectories of racial and linguistic minority students and explored the effects of students' contextual factors on their high school dropout risks. Our motivation was to identify the dropout patterns of Black, Hispanic, and Hispanic English language learner (ELL) students, who have comparatively high dropout rates, and to suggest ways to promote high school completion. We employed a survival analysis using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97) from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The results showed that the 3 minority groups displayed significantly higher dropout risks than the White group. The overall pattern of dropout risks increased over time, with the dropout rates of the Black students high in the 1st and 2nd years of high school and the highest dropout rates for Hispanic ELL students in their senior year. A gender difference was found among the students, with male students having higher dropout risks than female students. It was also found that students' positive relationships with their teachers were associated with lower dropout risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives Millions of U.S. adults are recipients of the high school (HS) equivalency (General Education Development [GED]) diploma. Virtually nothing is known about the health of this large group, although literature suggests GED recipients are considerably worse off than HS graduates in numerous economic and social outcomes. We analyze general health among working-age adults with a HS diploma, GED recipients, and HS dropouts. Methods Ordered and binary logistic models of self-rated health and activity limitations were estimated using data from the 1997-2009 National Health Interview Surveys ( N = 76,703). Results GED recipients have significantly and substantially worse health than HS graduates, among both sexes. In fact, the GED recipients' health is generally comparable to that of HS dropouts. Health behaviors and economic factors explain a large proportion of the difference but the gap remains significant. Conclusions In terms of health, adults with a terminal GED are not equivalent to HS graduates. GED recipients report considerably worse general health and activity limitations. The disadvantage is only partly due to the worse economic outcomes and health behaviors; a significant difference remains unexplained and may be due to other, unobserved pathways, or to selection mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Black males face a difficult educational battle. Across America, graduation statistics for Black males are sobering. The purpose of this study was to explore why Black males drop out of school and to examine the current employment status of the study participants. The research took place in rural North Carolina. Fifteen Black American male high school dropouts took part in a snowball sample. This study was qualitative and used open and axial coding. Findings from this study may provide guidance and directions for school and community leaders to help Black males stay in school through graduating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We compare the employment of African American and white youth as they transition to adulthood from age 18 to 22, focusing on high school graduates and high school dropouts who did not attend college. Using OLS and hazard models, we analyze the relative employment rates, and employment consistency, stability, and timing, controlling for a number of factors including family income, academic aptitude, prior work experience, and neighborhood poverty. We find white high school graduates work significantly more than all other youth on most measures; African American high school graduates work as much and sometimes less than white high school dropouts; African American dropouts work significantly less than all other youth. Findings further suggest that the improved labor market participation associated with a high school diploma is higher over time for African Americans than for white youth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Academic tracking has been shown to limit the quality of student instructional opportunities, decrease students’ perceptions of their abilities, and negatively influence student achievement. These factors associated with academic tracking also may influence students in lower tracks to learn less and ultimately to drop out of high school. Few studies, however, have investigated academic tracking as a collective school-level phenomenon and an individual student-level predictor of school dropout. To date, no study has examined this issue using a nationally representative sample. In this study, multilevel analytic models of the first two waves of the Educational Longitudinal Study (ELS) of 2002 indicate that, while controlling for student- and school-level differences, students in the lower academic tracks are roughly 60% more likely to drop out of high school. Academic tracking appears to disadvantage students who are Latinos, have Individualized Education Plans (IEPs), or have lower socioeconomic backgrounds. Schools with a more positive academic climate, high morale, and a focus on learning, however, show a slight decrease in the likelihood of students dropping out. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A recent review of the research by the U.S. Department of Education Institute of Education Sciences has resulted in the recommendation of six promising practices to ensure that all students are actively engaged in school and on a path to post-secondary success (Dynarski et al. in Dropout prevention: A practice guide (NCEE 2008-4025)). The purpose of this study was to explore the experience and perspective of an Asian American high school dropout and the extent to which his story aligns with dominant thinking, including the six recommended dropout prevention practices and the model minority myth (MMM) of Achievement Orientation, a common belief that Asian Americans exhibit greater success than any other minority ethnic group. The adolescent dropout was interviewed on eight occasions. Findings revealed that the MMM may have contributed to the lack of intervention provided to this student and that the most worthwhile recommendations from his perspective include: assigning adult advocates to at-risk students, the use of a systematic data-tracking system to target and individualize interventions, and the ability of the school to provide academic support and a personalized learning environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Economic strains play an important factor in students not only dropping out of school but also for not being able to attend college. As the cost of college tuition increases, many youths may perceive that the possibility of attending college may be out of their reach for financial reasons. Using data drawn from the savings for education, entrepreneurship, and downpayment initiative participants, this study explores asset building through a child savings account (CSA) program aimed at removing economic barriers to higher education for youths with financial needs. Concept mapping analysis was used to better understand how assets obtained through CSAs affect high school students' academic and behavior goals from a nonprofit youth development program in San Francisco, CA. Results show students find the CSA program helpful in learning fiscal management and saving for postsecondary education. All students rated the clusters on savings for education and fiscal education as being very important for their academic and career success and reported mostly big changes since participation in San Francisco SEED Program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study examined the possible roles that creativity plays in students dropping out of high school. It used data from the National Educational Longitudinal Study (NELS: 88), the Educational Longitudinal Study (ELS: 2002), and 87 high school students from a low income area in southeastern Michigan. NELS and ELS questions related to creative personality and anticreative school environment were selected and asked of students. The students’ responses were compared to their scores on measures of creativity (Runco Ideational Behavior Scale, Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking, & Scales for Rating the Behavioral Characteristics of Superior Students). The NELS respondents who showed creative personality were identified and examined whether their creativity related to dropping out. The results of logistic regression analyses indicated that the questions selected from NELS and ELS that showed anticreative school environment have a negative correlation with the scores on the creativity measures, which affect students’ dropping out. An understanding of these students and their behavior will help promote creative students’ academic and lifelong success through appropriate classroom restructuring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a model of student dropout with only two possible outcomes – “still in school” or “dropout” – hides the complex reasons that students leave high school. We offer a model with three outcomes: in school, pushed out or pulled out. Using data from the Educational Longitudinal Survey, we find that for black students, differences in SES explain higher likelihoods of being either pushed or pulled out as compared to white students, but Latino students remain more likely to be pulled out even after we control for SES. We also find that SES moderates the relationship between race/gender and being pushed out, and that higher levels of SES may be detrimental to students of color in the context of high poverty schools. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper, we explore the differences in high school dropout rates among white, black and Hispanic students in 275 U.S. Metropolitan Statisocal Areas (MSAs) in 2000. Our analysis focuses on the impact of community and labor market conditions. in hopes of providing insight into the relationship between place and educational outcomes. The explanatory power of our regression models is mixed across racial groups, performing best for whites and Hispanics. Our results also indicate that community factors - most importantly, same-race adult educational attainment in the community, teenage birth rates and residential stability - have a greater impact on dropout rates than labor market factors. Our results suggest that as education reform moves toward broad-based solutions to improve student outcomes including dropout rates. it will be increasingly important to address the structural origins of inequality outside of schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

School policy regarding student failure of courses at the K-12 level generally focuses on grade retention or social promotion, neither of which addresses the students' needs. Grade retention has never been effective in helping students gain mastery of course objectives. To reduce the numbers of social promotions, many states require 8th graders to earn a passing score on state-mandated standardized tests. If students do not earn the required score, they are not allowed to matriculate to the next grade, regardless of their teacher-assigned course grades (Ezarik, 2003). A relatively unique approach to help students who have failed one or more courses at the high school level is a credit recovery program. Though details of such programs vary from district to district, the one unifying aspect for any credit recovery program is the opportunity for students to earn credit for a course failed. The purpose of this paper is to describe a pilot credit recovery program implemented in a large suburban high school in the Midwest. Historical, longitudinal student data revealed that freshmen who fail at least one course are four times more likely to fail to graduate in four years (R. Hankey, personal communication, July, 2009). With this is mind, the school developed a pilot credit recovery program for freshmen who had failed at least one course; online and traditional curricula were provided. The short-term goal was to provide an opportunity for freshmen to recover credits lost due to failure; the long-term goal was to reduce the dropout rate for freshmen who had failed at least one course, and consequently contribute to a higher graduation rate for the freshman class. This paper presents the results of the first cohort of students who completed the pilot program after their freshman year and who have now completed their second year of high school. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the researchers concentrate on the gap in the educational and counseling literature documenting the extent to which certain psychosocial variables may contribute to the prediction of students who are at risk of dropping out of high school. Specifically, wellness, perceived stress, mattering, and at-risk status for dropping out of high school were assessed across 175 students attending a mediumsized high school located in the southeastern part of the United States. Participants completed a demographic questionnaire, the Five Factor Wellness Inventory-Teenage Version, the Student At-Risk Identification Scale-Student Questionnaire, the General Mattering Scale, and the Perceived Stress Scale. Using a regression analysis, the researchers found that the complete model, including all seven predictor variables, significantly predicted at-risk status for dropping out of high school, F(7, 167) = 12.89, p < .05. This model accounted for 35.1% of the variance in at-risk status for dropping out of high school. Based on these findings, counselors should utilize skills and interventions that help students stay intellectually, spiritually, and emotionally engaged in the learning process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Hispanic population and their high school dropout rates in the United States have greatly increased over the last several decades. This study investigates linguistic and cultural issues that may have an association with high school abandonment among migrant Hispanic students. Open-ended interview questions were posed to a bilingual education administrator and four migrant Hispanic students in a small Midwestern high school in the United States. Participants reported that migrant Hispanic students are not prepared to live linguistically in the academic setting but merely to survive in it. From a cultural perspective, the data suggested that migrant Hispanic students can either allow social and cultural pressures within the school and community to negatively affect their educational engagement or they can acculturate with the dominant culture to minimize their 'differentness.' [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current and past reforms have attempted to address the challenges of the educational world. There are undoubtedly reasons for concern as illiteracy and high school dropout rates are still haunting figures in the United States (Institute of Education Sciences, 2010; National Assessment of Literacy, 2010). Thus, the need for improvement in the U.S. educational system is undeniable. However, education without true appreciation for the uniqueness of each and every individual is an empty endeavor. An important lesson can be learned from international experiences and the classical tradition of humanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The high school exit exam (HSEE) is rapidly becoming a standardized assessment procedure for educational accountability in the United States. I use a unique, state-specific dataset to identify the effects of failing the HSEE on the likelihood of dropping out of high school based on a regression discontinuity design. The analysis shows that students who barely failed the exam were more likely to exit than those who barely passed, despite being offered retest opportunities. The discontinuity amounts to a large proportion of the dropout probability of barely failers, particularly for limited-English-proficiency, racial-minority, and low-income students, suggesting that the potential benefit of raising educational standards might come at the cost of increasing inequality in the educational system. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article discusses the reasons for dropout of high students in the U.S. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics provides data related to the number of students who got employed after dropping out as compared to those who completed their education and it was found that chances of employment are more for those who got their high school education. It discusses the factors that contribute to this are presented which include changes in family structure and income, relationship with parents, teacher support, motivation, substance use and abuse, also the finally residential location. Primary socialization theory, peer cluster theory, and strain theory are the theories which explain the phenomenon. These factors also have many different variables such as resources, peers, teachers, and divorce.

The article presents information on a research study which employed theories regarding the potential high school dropout in the U.S. The researchers mention that the factor of space, which refers to institutional practices and symbols that reject the emotional and physical self, plays an essential role in the decisions of students to disengage. They found that the integrated theory serves to better inform individuals who are interested in the dropout issue in the secondary level in the country, specifically the policy makers and school administrators.

The article considers the Eco-Interactional Developmental (EID) model of school success as the model for understanding the synergetic role that communities, schools, families and peers play in preventing high school dropouts in the U.S. in 2009. It elaborates how the current graduation rates and levels of achievement pose a challenge to graduating high school students who meet the educational requirements for success. It explains the academic achievement focus of the EID model. Also explained is application of the EID model to academic assessment.

Research shows that peer status in adolescence is positively associated with school achievement and adjustment. However, subculture theories of juvenile delinquency and school-based ethnographies suggest that (1. disadvantaged boys are often able to gain some forms of peer status through violence and (2. membership in violent groups undermines educational attainment. Building on these ideas, we use peer network data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health to examine whether peer status within highly violent groups increases male risks of high school dropout. Consistent with the subcultural argument, we find that disadvantaged boys with high status in violent groups are at much greater risks of high school dropout than other students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The high school dropout crisis in diverse urban communities in the United States is evidence of an endemic disengagement from formal education. The project on which this essay reports utilized visual sociology methods to explore city students' perceptions of schools' purposes, as well as the supports for and impediments to their school success. Students' photographs and reflections provide insights into the school structures, teacher roles, and instructional methods these students suggest are most effective and some of the causes of the strained relationships to schools represented by low graduation rate statistics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adult–child relationship factors were examined to determine whether they differentiated between individuals who follow expected versus unexpected educational pathways. Low-income participants (96 men, 83 women) in the United States were followed from birth through age 23. Individuals were identified who followed expected versus unexpected pathways to high school graduation or dropping out based on academic achievement and behavioral problems. Patterns of parental involvement in school were significantly different between expected dropouts and unexpected graduates in middle childhood. In contrast, expected graduates had higher levels of parent involvement in middle childhood, more supportive parent–child relationships in early adolescence, and higher levels of social competence with adults than unexpected dropouts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The high school completion rate for the U.S. has increased only slightly over the last quarter of a century. A promising area of focus for dropout prevention efforts may be found in research that assesses how messages about educational attainment may affect school completion rates. The supportive communication framework is used to address how communication in the home and in school may affect student educational attainment. An extensive search of the student dropout literature was followed by standard meta-analytic procedures. The average weighted effect for communication in the home on high school completion was r=.21, and the effect for communication in school on high school completion was r=.14. The age of subjects and region of the country in which subjects lived were addressed as possible moderators of the relationship between communication in the home and school and educational attainment. No evidence that these variables moderated the relationship was found. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conclusions about levels and trends in high school dropout differ dramatically depending on whether dropout is measured using data from the Current Population Survey (CPS) or from the Common Core of Data (CCD). Using CPS- and CCD-based drop-out measures for 16- to 9-year-olds—which differ solely in their estimates of the number of 16- to 19-year-olds holding high school credentials—the authors show that half of the differences in estimated drop-out rates are due to how private school graduates and GED recipients are counted. The other half is likely attributable to CPS respondents' misstatements of their children's high school completion status. The rate at which students complete (or fail to complete) high school is best measured using CCD data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the social problems faced by the U.S. Latino community. It highlights social problems such as immigration that affects the developments of country's labor force, international relations and structures for public education, and the increasing number of high school dropouts which are linked to family violence, illiteracy, and soaring teenage pregnancy rates. The community is advised to build up Latino intelligentsia to work with multiple sectors to solve community problems.

Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), we find that first-generation youth of Hispanic, Asian, and African heritage obtain more education than their parents, but the second generation and third or higher generations lose ground. Differences in dropout rates by race-ethnicity and immigrant generation are driven by differences in human, cultural, and social capital. Low levels of family human capital, school social capital, and community social capital place the children of immigrants at risk of dropping out. However, cultural capital and immigrant optimism buffer first-generation Hispanic youth and the children of Asian immigrants from the risk of dropping out of high school. While human and social capital resources improve with immigrant generation, cultural capital diminishes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on the intersection of racial and gender identities is important in understanding the processes of school engagement. This article focuses on how African‐American male adolescents move in and out of schooling and make sense of those experiences. By examining how they construct meanings of masculinity a textured and complex trajectory of schooling is captured. Using qualitative data from a group of African‐American male high‐school dropouts who participated in a national alternative high school program, the author highlights the nuances of racial and gendered identities and their consequences for schooling experiences and outcomes. The results uniquely highlight and map the social mobility between contested traditional and alternative schooling spaces by uncovering these young men’s personal pathways of reflection, regret and social redemption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article shows how a particular change in the tax code could alter the future landscape of the U.S., while increasing tax revenue for the federal government. Part II details the high school dropout rates in 2006 and their devastating and everlasting effects on the country. Part III discusses what the government is doing in response to the high school dropout problem. Part V demonstrates how a monetary incentive would motivate parents to play an active role in helping their children graduate from high school.

Data from the National Education Longitudinal Study were combined with census data at the zip code level to examine the impact of neighborhood racial and ethnic diversity and consolidated inequality, in addition to individual, family, and school factors, on the likelihood of dropping out of high school. Results indicate that while the effects for diversity and consolidated inequality did not support the stated hypotheses, main effects for family risk and prior academic achievement were significant and in the stated direction. Also, when controlling for individual, family, school, and neighborhood characteristics, African Americans were less likely than White students to drop out of school. Implications for contextual effects research and educational outcomes are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes how socioeconomic backgrounds, social capital, and school resources affect Korean American youths' educational attainment and aspirations. In the context of limited social and economic support, students delineate differences within coethnic communities along class lines and adopt an oppositional cultural frame of reference to endure and resist institutional barriers. This study demonstrates the significance of distinguishing socioeconomic differences within Korean American communities and for whom the enclaves may be more beneficial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to determine whether there was a significant difference in dropout rates between high school students of Mexican origin living in cities with a population of 50% or more Hispanic people and those in cities with a population of less than 50% Hispanic. The nonparametric Complex Chi-square test was used to analyze the dropout rates of Mexican origin students and the city in which they live. The statistical analysis revealed a significant relationship between the dropout rates of Mexican origin students and the cities in which they lived at the .05 level of significance. The study also found a significant relationship between dropout rates of females and males in schools with a Hispanic population of less than 50% and those rates in schools with a population that is more than 59% Hispanic at the .05 level of significance. The results of the study could be used to develop programs that would meet the needs of the Hispanic student population and lower the dropout rate for students of Mexican origin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An ordinary least squares (OLS) regression method was used to evaluate the relative importance of high school dropout rates and other economic factors that could explain the economic development in West Virginia, as represented by the employment rates. The empirical results revealed that an increase in the high school dropout rates and the State GDP increased the employment rates while the increase in unemployment compensation decreased employment rates. Thus, the increase in the employment rates may likely be on unskilled and low paying jobs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hispanics, the largest growing ethnic group in the United States, currently make up 15 percent of the K-12 population. This figure is expected to increase to 25 percent by the year 2025. Latinos have the highest dropout rate of all groups. This article provides background information on this diverse group, along with an overview of factors that play a role in their low graduation rates. Current and projected trends are discussed, along with specifics on who comprises the dropout population. Specifics on how to ameliorate this problem are beyond the scope of this paper, although a general discussion on policy recommendations is provided. The author's own story as a Latina high school dropout is included. The article explains the severity of the problem while encouraging the development of an action research agenda that will improve the education of Latino youth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using ecological-developmental and resilience perspectives, this study utilizes quantitative and qualitative methods to examine the role of family, community, and individual variables in reestablishing school and work pathways for a diverse sample of 182 Boston-area high school dropouts. Extrafamilial involvement and individual coping style prove the best predictors of on-track status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A longitudinal study explored high school completion among African Americans. Male and female high school students aged 14 to 17 (N = 166) completed a theory of planned behavior (I. Ajzen, 1991) questionnaire early in their 2nd year. Intentions to complete the year were accurately predicted from attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control (R = .71; p < .01). Attitudes were related to beliefs about short- and long-term consequences; subjective norms reflected perceived expectations of family, teachers, and friends; and control considerations included requisite academic abilities, conflict with peers and teachers, and distracting life conditions. Intentions and, to a lesser extent, perceived behavioral control, predicted graduation almost 3 years later (R = .50; p < .01). The findings indicate opportunities for early interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]