Reducing the Risk

This book is the product of complex research in America into the issue of student drop-out from school, involving visiting classrooms and talking with teachers and students. The data collected was synthesized into several case studies for each school and subjected to further dialogue and criticism. The book focuses on 14 secondary schools that are successfully developing programmes to prevent students from dropping out and has three objectives in mind. One goal was to provide descriptions of good programmes in real schools carried out by practising teachers. A second objective was to provide practitioners and researchers with a general theoretical framework for understanding "at-risk" students and their schools. The third purpose was to influence local and state policy-makers in a position to make important decisions about the extent to which schools respond constructively to at-risk youth. The book concludes with a set of policy recommendations for states and local districts intending to introduce reforms and programmes to reduce drop-out rates.