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The article focuses on the school-based support that youths who are heading households get from public schools in South Africa. It is based on the study that was conducted focusing on the extent to which schools support youths who head households. The study adopted the qualitative research methodological approach where three methods were used to construct data. The three methods used are observation, semi structured interviews and documents. Eight children from four public schools were selected as participants in the study. Data constructed was analyzed by using the Thematic Content Analysis approach. The findings reveal that youths who head households are faced with challenges that include among others, economic constraints, lack of resources, and humiliation. Furthermore, they do not get the necessary support from schools. The article argues that lack of support by schools adds to the challenges that children are confronted with in their daily struggle for survival. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this analysis, we consider how a potentially important triggering event in the life course—exclusionary school discipline—may affect students' high school outcomes. We extend the literature to focus on the long-term effects of exclusionary discipline that occurs in the early grades, when students are relatively young and when a significant share of exclusionary discipline first occurs. We further evaluate the potential, long-term effects of exclusionary discipline on different high school outcomes (non-completion, GED certification, high school diploma) in statistical models that account for observed and unobserved heterogeneity. Overall, we find robust and consistent evidence that very young children are not somehow more resilient or more protected from negative, long-term effects of suspension or expulsion in early elementary school. Moreover, previous research might underestimate the effects of (early) exclusionary discipline more generally by ignoring the independent effects on GED certification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Students drop out of school for a variety of reasons, yet are "pushed out" when they exhibit traits that are deemed undesirable to school officials, such as misbehavior and academic failure. While much of the previous research on pushouts views the phenomenon as a discrete occurrence often attributed to either misbehavior or academic failure, we recognize the underlying relationships between punishment and achievement, and therefore conceptualize pushing out as a process of both disciplinary involvement and academic exclusion over time. Using structural equation modeling (SEM) with a nationally representative longitudinal study of high school students (HSLS-09), we find that significant relationships among punishment and math achievement (including math attitudes, ability, and course-taking) have the effect of pushing students out of high school over time. We note the importance of race and ethnicity within these relationships and close with a discussion of policy implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

School belonging is a topic of growing interest given its connection with school dropout, academic achievement, students' behavior, and adolescent well-being. Until recently, most of this literature came from Anglo-Saxon contexts, mainstream schools, and quantitative analysis. As a result, there is still a research gap on this issue in different cultural contexts, social classes, and minority groups. This article makes a contribution exploring school belonging among adolescents from disadvantaged backgrounds, in an emerging economy (Mexico), and using a qualitative methodology that prioritize meanings and experiences of individuals. Focusing on three dimensions (stigmatization processes, school climate, and social relations with teacher and peers), we capture how the engagement of adolescents with their schooling process is shaped by institutional as well as sociocultural aspects. The study provides significant implications for a continuous professional development of high schools in disadvantaged contexts regarding student involvement, teacher support, and social recognition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the association between participation in a school-based group-mentoring program (Project Arrive) and academic outcomes in a group of ninth-grade students who had been identified as at high risk of high-school dropout (n = 239). Comparison participants were ninth-grade students with similar levels of risk (n = 980). Using inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) with a propensity score to reduce selection bias, and a partially clustered model to account for nonindependence of data in program students, we found that Project Arrive students earned more credits by the end of 9th grade and 10th grade; and reported increased instructional time by the end of 9th grade, than comparison students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A third of U.S. students are suspended over a K-12 school career. Suspended youth have worse adult outcomes than nonsuspended students, but these outcomes could be due to selection bias: that is, suspended youth may have had worse outcomes even without suspension. This study compares the educational and criminal justice outcomes of 480 youth suspended for the first time with those of 1,193 matched nonsuspended youth from a nationally representative sample. Prior to suspension, the suspended and nonsuspended youth did not differ on 60 pre-suspension variables including students' self-reported delinquency and risk behaviors, parents' reports of socioeconomic status, and administrators' reports of school disciplinary policies. Twelve years after suspension (ages 25-32), suspended youth were less likely than matched nonsuspended youth to have earned bachelor's degrees or high school diplomas, and were more likely to have been arrested and on probation, suggesting that suspension rather than selection bias explains negative outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the contribution of mentor support to the following aspects of high-school dropouts' lives: the personal (self-esteem, and the process of becoming less religious [BLR]), social (societal conditional positive and negative regard) and psychological (well-being and loneliness). The study, conducted among Ultraorthodox Jewish males, included 261 participants, aged 14 years to 21 years (M = 17, SD = 1.17), who were at different stages in the dropout process. Findings indicated a significant difference in the contribution of mentor support. Among youths still in their yeshiva high schools, mentor support made only a minor contribution to the process of BLR; for youths in a program for dropouts, mentor support made a positive contribution to most aspects of their lives. However, among dropouts, mentor support contributed negatively to all aspects that were examined in the current study. Findings highlight the importance of further illuminating the role of mentor support and adapting it to youths' needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A growing body of research is exploring the affects school disorder has on educational progress. It is also known that educational success and failure are linked to gender, racial, and ethnic disparities. Other issues, however, remain less explored. For example, how do perceptions of individual adolescents about disorder affect behavior? Or whether or how school-level physical and social disorder are related to gender, racial, and ethnic disparities. Do any of these factors affect the likelihood of dropping out? This study draws from the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002, with a focus on a subsample consisting of Black/African American, Latina/o American, Asian American, Native American, multiracial American, and White American public school students in 580 public schools. We analyze the role school disorder has on dropping out, among racial and ethnic minority adolescents. The results suggest that, in general, school disorder has greater influence among racial and ethnic minority youth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dropout is a major issue facing our country’s schools; however, many students who drop out of school later go on to finish their degree either by returning to high school or by earning a General Education Development (GED) credential. Despite this, there has been relatively little research on these students who “stopout” of high school. Drawing on a sample of high school dropouts, we build on research conceptualizing dropouts as having been “pushed” or “pulled” out of school by examining how routes out of school influence the process of return. Our analysis reveals that being either pushed or pulled has little differential impact on the reengagement process. But, particular reasons within the categories have strong effects on keeping students out of school and on the pathways that they take if they return. Implications are suggested for both school practice and for how researchers should best conceptualize dropouts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study evaluates the Youth Development Program (YDP), a component of the federal Workforce Investment Act (WIA). We examine whether the YDP reduced dropout rates among youth in secondary schools in seven school districts in the impoverished Mississippi River Delta in southeast Arkansas. Initially, the program seems to have an impact. Students who participate in the program are less likely to drop out of school than students in a comparison group. However, when other factors are taken into consideration, such as whether the student was “over-age” for their grade (and thus likely had been “held back”), the effect that program participation had on the likelihood of dropping out disappears. In short, we find that when controlling for other factors, no statistically significant relationship exists between program participation and dropout rates. We discuss the implications of the WIA’s YDP failure and school retention programs, more broadly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the connection between the reasons why some young people end their education without attaining a university degree and the effect of this decision on the probability of becoming a NEET in a set of European countries. Young people face the highest degree of disadvantage in the Mediterranean and East European countries, whereas in Continental European countries the school-to-work transition is smooth. We use the ad hoc module of the 2016 Labour Force Survey (LFS) and focus on young people aged 15 to 24. Our analysis reveals a positive relationship between the decision to drop out of education for health or family reasons and the probability of becoming a NEET. Conversely, when the reason for not completing university education is the desire to start working, and when the individuals who dropped out of university education gathered work experience during this period, the probability of becoming a NEET decreases significantly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]