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BEST PRACTICES: SCHOOL DROPOUT PREVENTION

Topic Overview

Education leads to more years of life and greater likelihood of receiving health related information and services. Objective 7-1 of Healthy People 2010 is to improve high school completion.  Various programs targeting community, school, family, peer or individual domains can reduce rates of school dropout by implementing proven effective strategies and activities, as well as programs highlighted as “best practices.”

 Colorado ranks 48th out of the fifty states in the percentage of teens that are high school dropouts (14 percent for Colorado in 1999, compared to 10 percent for the United States as a whole. 

About 10 percent of older teens (25,372 teens, ages 16 through 19) are neither enrolled in school nor high school graduates. Almost half of these teens are unemployed.

Background Documents

• Education and Prevention Services for Expelled and At-Risk of Expulsion Students 2002-2003
• National Dropout Prevention Center/Network
• National Mental Health & Education Center

Evidence-Based Programs

• Effective Strategies and Model Programs for Dropout Prevention
  National Dropout Prevention Center
• Proven and Promising Programs to Increase the percentage of students performing at grade level or meeting state curriculum standards
  Promising Practices Network
•  Proven and Promising Programs to Increase the percentage of students who graduate from high school
  Promising Practices Network

Recommended Strategies

• 15 Effective Strategies for Dropout Prevention”
• Cities in Schools
• The National Dropout Prevention Centers
• Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory (NWREL)

Resources

• United States Department of Education
•  CSR: Preventing School Dropout and Ensuring Success for English Language Learners and Native American Students
  U.S. Department of Education
•  All Over the Map: State Policies to Improve the High School- 2001
  The Forum for Youth Investment
• Dropout Prevention Clearinghouse: Research, Reports, “Best Practices,” and Data
  Texas Education Agency

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