NCJ Number
112065
Date Published
1987
Length
62 pages
Annotation
Each year in New York State, approximately 44,000 students leave high school without a diploma.
Abstract
These youth are condemned to insurmountable obstacles in trying to be productive citizens, and the State is condemned to less growth and more tax expenditures for dependency. Changing this situation will require a rethinking of attitudes toward failure and a re-examination of the role and scope of schools in society. Schools and children must be provided with the resources necessary for 100-percent high school completion rates, and systems must be developed that serve all youth from birth through age 21. Specific proposals to achieve these goals include an equal start program providing comprehensive educational and other services for pregnant teens and teenage parents, Prekindergarten programs for all at-risk children, a computerized student identification and tracking system, and a case management approach to providing role models and services for at-risk children. Area learning centers should be provided as an alternative educational experience, and in-school and out-of school youth employment programs should be expanded. Intensive, comprehensive, residential general education development programs that provide remedial education and career development also should be developed. A State Interagency coordinating council should be established, and mechanisms for quality assurance and parental involvement should be incorporated into all efforts.