Literature
Also see statistical reports
Gallup Student Poll National Report
Dr. Shane J. Lopez, Senior Scientist in Residenc, Gallup, Inc., Washington, DC, May 5, 2009
The Gallup Student Poll is a landmark new measure that will track for 10 years the hope, engagement, and well-being of students across the United States. Through a Web-based survey administered in America's schools, cities and school districts are partnering with Gallup and America's Promise Alliance to gather sound, actionable data that can explain and address the graduation crisis.
Accelerating the Agenda: Actions to Improve America's High Schools
National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, National Conference of State Legislatures, Council of Chief State School Officers, and National Association of State Boards of Education, January 2009
This joint report measures the progress states have made improving America's high schools and citing the challenges that remain in ensuring high school students are prepared for college and career success in the global economy.
Present, Engaged and Accounted For
The Critical Importance of Addressing Chronic Absence in the Early Grades
Hedy N. Cheng and MariaJose Romero, National Center for Children in Poverty, Columbia University, Mailman School of Public Health, September 2008
Using Early-Warning Data to Improve Graduation Rates:
Closing Cracks in the Education System
Lindsay Pinkus, Alliance for Excellent Education, August 2008
This brief explores the power of early-warning data in predicting whether a student will drop out, offers examples of current efforts to use such data to guide secondary school interventions across the country, and discusses the policies that can support these efforts.
What Your Community Can Do to End Its Drop-Out Crisis — Learnings from Research and Practice
Robert Balfanz, Center for Social Organization of Schools (CSOS), Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, May 2007
This practical guide was prepared for the National Summit on America's Silent Epidemic, held in Washington, DC, May 9, 2007. The paper is based on over a decade of learning at the CSOS and draws upon the work of many individuals, as well the implementation teams of the Talent Development Middle and High School Models.
- Report (pdf)
Dropout Risk Factors and Exemplary Programs — A Technical Report
C. Hammond, J. Smink, & S. Drew: National Dropout Prevention Center. D. Linton: Communities In Schools, Inc. May 2007
This study finds that there are multiple risk factors which increase the likelihood that students will drop out. The evidence clearly shows that dropout is always the result of a long process of disengagement that sometimes begins before the child enrolls in kindergarten. The report also provides information on 50 programs that were found to be effective in addressing these risk factors.
Locating The Dropout Crisis
Robert Balfanz and Nettie Legters, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, September 2004
This report (Report #70) was published by the Center for Research on the Education of Students Placed At Risk (CRESPAR), a national research and development center supported by a grant from the Institute of Education Sciences.
- Report (pdf)