Press Releases

For Immediate Release: 18 february 2009

Database Details Dropout Prevention Programs in Nine Northeast Urban School Districts

Boston, Mass. — To inform education leaders about district-level approaches to curbing high school dropout rates, the Regional Educational Laboratory Northeast and Islands (REL-NEI) has published a searchable database of dropout prevention strategies used in nine urban school districts in four Northeastern states. The database is accompanied by a REL-NEI Issues & Answers Report published by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) in 2008.

The database details the dropout prevention programs and policies of nine mid-size, high-poverty cities in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York State, and Rhode Island and includes information such as target audiences, prevention strategies, age ranges, and in-school and out-of-school staff involvement. It identifies which programs have been reviewed by the What Works Clearinghouse, an IES initiative that has developed standards for reviewing and synthesizing education research. One goal of the pilot database project is to determine whether districts are using “evidence-based” dropout prevention programs.

“We are cataloging what’s out there to promote shared learning,” said Lydia O’Donnell, lead researcher and vice president at Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC), which administers REL-NEI. “This database looks at what districts are realistically doing with their current resources to address dropout prevention.”

The database contains 124 records of dropout prevention policies and programs. It identifies nine dropout prevention service goals (such as increased school attachment) and 17 core strategies (such as community collaboration) and maps these across schools, districts, and programs and policies. The core strategies most frequently used in the pilot districts were tutoring/extra classes (38 records), social and emotional learning curricula (37 records), and community collaboration (34 records). The most common service goals were to improve academic performance and to increase school attachment.

Two dropout prevention programs that have been reviewed by the What Works Clearinghouse, Talent Search and Career Academies, were implemented in the pilot districts.  Talent Search, a program for students from low-income families who would be the first generation in their family to attend college, was used in five districts. Career Academies, which focuses on schoolwide, systemic change to lower dropout rates, had been adopted in some form in eight districts. However, the majority of dropout prevention strategies used by the districts in the database had not been reviewed by the Clearinghouse.

The database can help education stakeholders monitor the movement of districts toward programs that have been determined by the Clearinghouse to have potentially positive effects. “We hope it will jump-start communication and collaboration between districts around some of the lessons learned and the strategies being used,” said Athi Myint-U, a project director at EDC.

The researchers believe that expanding the database would be valuable to practitioners. They recommend adding information about dropout prevention programs in districts across the country and updating records when districts adopt evidence-based practices or change their policies and programs.

The Issues & Answers Report, titled “Piloting a Searchable Database of Dropout Prevention Programs in Nine Low-Income Urban School Districts in the Northeast and Islands Region,” was written by O’Donnell, Myint-U, and Ann Stueve, also at EDC; David Osher at American Institutes for Research (AIR); and Anthony Petrosino of Learning Innovations at WestEd. The report describes the methodology used to create the database and includes a users guide. Download the report at http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs/projects/project.asp?projectID=37&productID=18.

The database is available electronically on the REL-NEI website at http://www.relnei.org/research.educational.dropoutdb.php. Request an account name and password by e-mailing relneiinfo@edc.org.

For more information about the database and accompanying report , e-mail Ashley Gaddis: agaddis@edc.org.

The Regional Educational Laboratory Northeast and Islands (REL-NEI) is run by Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC), the American Institutes for Research (AIR), and WestEd’s Learning Innovations program. REL-NEI is one of 10 Regional Educational Laboratories funded by the Institute of Education Sciences at the U.S. Department of Education. REL-NEI provides rigorous research that is relevant to national education priorities, responsive to local needs, and usable for policy and practice. Visit www.relnei.org.

This project has been funded at least in part with federal funds from the U.S. Department of Education under Contract Number ED-06-CO-0025. The content of this publication does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the U.S. Department of Education nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.

Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC) is a global nonprofit organization that develops, delivers, and evaluates innovative programs to address some of the world’s most urgent challenges in education, health, and economic development. Celebrating its 50th year, EDC manages more than 300 projects in 35 countries. Visit www.edc.org.