Graduation for All: A Practical Guide to Decreasing School Dropout

Effective dropout prevention strategies for educators! 

This resource offers guidelines for implementing dropout prevention strategies in the classroom and throughout the school system. The impact of increased graduation rates reaches farther than statistics-more graduates mean more individuals who are better prepared to meet the challenges of life after school, and better outcomes for youth, schools, and society in general. With the goal of producing an educated citizenry, the authors present tools and a plan for:

• Increasing graduation rates
• Meeting the standards set by the No Child Left Behind Act
• Pinpointing the most critical years for establishing a solid educational foundation

Camilla A. Lehr, Ph.D., is a Research Associate with the Institute on Community Integration (University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities) at the University of Minnesota. She is the Principal Investigator and Director of the Alternative Schools Research Project, a three-year federally funded project studying alternative schools across the nation and the role they play in preventing dropout, providing quality education for students at risk, and serving students with disabilities. Prior to directing the Alternative Schools Research Project, she co-directed a truancy prevention/student engagement project for children and youth in elementary and middle schools (Check & Connect). She has held interim and adjunct faculty positions at the University of Minnesota (School Psychology Program) and at Hamline University (Education Department) respectively. Prior to returning to the University in 1988, Dr. Lehr worked as a licensed school psychologist in a large suburban school district. Dr. Lehr has worked in the educational arena for nearly 20 years. Her research interests are focused in the areas of dropout prevention, engaging children and youth placed at risk in school, and promoting positive school climates. She is lead author on several recent products in the area of dropout prevention including an integrative review of interventions focused on dropout described in the professional literature, and an Essential Tool on Dropout Prevention published by the National Center on Secondary Education and Transition. Dr. Lehr has presented at a variety of local and national conferences. She has co-authored research reports, journal articles, book chapters, and other documents with national impact.

Ann T. Clapper, Ed.D., is a Research Associate at the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) in the Institute on Community Integration (University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities) at the University of Minnesota. Her current projects include researching state policies on accommodations and designing self assessment tools on the use of accommodations during instruction and on assessments for students with disabilities. As an Associate Director for a related ICI project, the National Center on Secondary Education and Transition (NCSET), Dr. Clapper assisted with the process of developing national transition standards and provided training for secondary school principals on creating effective learning environments for students with disabilities. Topics for articles she has co-authored include adolescent literacy, universal design for learning, teacher quality and accommodations policies and practices. Prior to joining NCEO, Dr. Clapper served as the Director of Curriculum Leadership and Improvement for the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction. Her work there involved coordinating the design and implementation of the state content standards, providing technical assistance to districts on systemic school improvement and designing practical tools to guide them in the process. Her 30 years of experience in education also include serving as an elementary and middle school teacher, a special education coordinator, a regional educational facilitator and a college instructor.

Martha L. Thurlow, Ph.D., is Director of the National Center on Educational Outcomes in the Institute on Community Integration (University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities) at the University of Minnesota. In this position, she addresses the implications of contemporary U.S. policy and practice for students with disabilities and English Language Learners, including national and statewide assessment policies and practices, standards-setting efforts, and graduation requirements. Dr. Thurlow has conducted research for the past 35 years in a variety of areas, including assessment and decision making, learning disabilities, early childhood education, dropout prevention, effective classroom instruction, and integration of students with disabilities in general education settings. She has published extensively on all of these topics, and also recently completed serving as co-Editor with Bob Algozzine of Exceptional Children, the research journal of the Council for Exceptional Children. Dr. Thurlow is a co-author of several books, including Testing Students with Disabilities, Improving Test Performance of Students with Disabilities, Alternate Assessments for Students with Disabilities, and Critical Issues in Special Education. Dr. Thurlow was one of the original developers of the dropout prevention program Check and Connect, which was empirically tested, and replicated in several settings. She is the author of numerous reports, journal articles and chapters on the topic of dropouts and dropout prevention, and also addresses the dropout problem within the current context of federal legislation, high stakes testing, and standards-based education.