Strategies that other schools have used to prevent at risk students from dropping out
1. Offer the following services or programs in elementary, middle or junior high, and high
schools specifically to address the needs of students at risk of dropping out: tutoring,
summer school, remediation, guided study hall/academic, alternative schools or
programs, and after-school programs.
2. High school grades offer various services or programs to address the needs of students
at risk of dropping out, including credit recovery courses or programs, smaller class size,
early graduation options, and self-paced courses for purposes other than credit
recovery.
3. High Schools offer career and technical high schools or courses to students.
4. Provide information to the receiving schools about the unique needs of individual at-risk
students when students transition to a school at a higher instructional level.
5. Use transition supports for all students to help students transition between elementary
school and middle or junior high school or between middle or junior high school and
high school: An assigned student mentor, an assigned adult mentor, and an advisement
class. (An advisement class is one that is held regularly (e.g., weekly) and may include lessons on
organizational and study skills, information on courses needed for graduation, and information about careers
and college preparation.)
6. Use the following types of mentors in elementary, middle or junior high, and high
schools specifically to address the needs of students at risk of dropping out: student
mentors, school counselors, teachers, or school administrators who formally mentor,
adult mentors employed by the district whose only job is to mentor students, and
community volunteers.
7. Use a formal program designed to reduce behavioral problems in schools or classrooms
in elementary schools, middle or junior high schools, and high schools.
8. Use the following factors to identify students who are at risk of dropping out: academic
failure, truancy or excessive absences, and behaviors that warrant suspension or
expulsion.
9. Work with various entities to address the needs of students at risk of dropping out.
Among those were child protective services, a community mental health agency, state
or local government agencies that provide financial assistance to needy families,
churches or community organizations, and a health clinic or hospital
10. Make it standard procedure to provide all students who appear highly likely to drop out
with information about the employment or financial consequences of dropping out.
Some districts also reported that it was standard procedure to provide all students who
appear highly likely to drop out with information about alternative schools or programs,
General Educational Development (GED), or adult education programs, job training and
GED combination programs, and job training programs.
11. Make it standard procedure to follow up with all students who do not return in the fall
as expected to determine the status of those students before the next school year.
12. Use various types of information to determine whether to implement additional districtwide dropout prevention efforts including: attendance rates, dropout rates, graduation
rates, the number or percentage of students failing courses or held back, and the
number of expulsions or other disciplinary actions.