Secondary Intervention
Overview
The Meadows Center for Preventing Educational Risk (MCPER) is committed to helping address a significant problem facing educators and society today by decreasing dropout rates and increasing school engagement. Dropping out of school has significant individual, societal, and economic consequences that greatly affect an individual’s ability to remain competitive in a world with increasing demands for high levels of literacy and academic knowledge. Students who drop out of high school and who cannot read and write proficiently may not be able to participate fully in society in the future, contributing to problems such as increased crime and decreased economic productivity (August & Shanahan, 2006). For example, dropouts from the class of 2006 cost the nation more than $309 billion in lost wages, taxes, and productivity over their lifetimes (Alliance for Excellent Education, 2007). In response to these problems, the Meadows Center is engaging in research and product development that will result in materials and policy to guide leaders in their efforts to curb the current trends.
Links
IES Dropout Prevention Practice Guide
IES Helping Students Navigate the Path to College Practice Guide
Research Findings/Ongoing Work
MCPER and the Greater Texas Foundation completed two briefs that synthesize and “translate” the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) Practice Guide Dropout Prevention (see link above): one for administrators and policymakers and one for teachers. MCPER also developed a brief that summarizes the research and recommendations found in the IES Practice Guide Helping Students Navigate the Path to College (see link above). For more information about our research projects, visit our Research and Projects pages.