DROPOUT PREVENTION AND INTERVENTION

CONTACT :: Marguerite Peebles, Section Chief; Ed Bell, Education Consultant

During the 2005-2006 school year, more than one out of every 20 North Carolina high school students dropped out of school, jeopardizing their opportunities for future success, according to the Annual Dropout Event Report. This equates to an annual high school dropout rate of 5.04%.

LEGISLATION

In 2005, the NC General Assembly passed into law Senate Bill 408, an act directing the State Board of Education to identify research-based methods to reduce the dropout rate and the number of suspended students, especially in high-poverty schools with diverse student populations.

PURPOSE

Dropout Prevention functions to review research for best practices, effective policies, and model programs in areas such as:

• academic rigor in the curriculum;
• early identification of at-risk learners;
• effective supplemental services for at-risk learners;
• school size;
• school climate; and
• adolescent literacy programs, as they relate to a reduction in the dropout rate and the number of suspended students.

SELECTED LINKS

• 2008 Dropout Prevention Grants
  The purpose of this grant is to focus attention and resources on innovative programs and initiatives that promote keeping students in school when other conflicting factors are pushing them to drop out.