The U.S. Education System and Adolescent Students At-Risk Essays

The U.S. Education System and Adolescent Students At-Risk In an age where getting a good education is increasingly a predictor of future success and stability, many of our youth are at-risk of falling behind in classes and dropping out of high school. Approximately half of all American adolescents engage in activities that put them at-risk and endanger their ability to succeed (Lingren, 1997). Not all of these adolescents will drop out of high school or end up on the streets, but a substantial number of them will not reach their potential in school and may carry feelings of failure with them the rest of their lives. Adolescents spend approximately seven hours a day, five days a week, in middle and high schools, making schools a logical place where at-risk adolescents might receive help. Realizing that this is a crucial time in their development, educators have instituted numerous school programs targeting these adolescents to help them succeed and catch-up to their peers. This paper will focus on adolescents who are at-risk educationally, and what strategies have proven effective at preventing dropouts and helping them catch up to normal levels for their grade. It will examine theories about how adolescents become at-risk, the needs of these students, several models of intervention, and overall characteristics of successful programs. Although most definitions of â€Å"at-risk† include individuals with severe learning disabilities and the mentally handicapped, this paper will focus primarily on students who appear to have the capacity to catch up to their grade level, and who are at-risk because of behaviors, environmental factors, or because they were not given meaningful instruction at an early age. Some observers estimate that â€Å"... ...mpscott, Massachusetts: Watersun Publishing Company, Inc. 17. Sanders, M. G. (2000). Schooling Students Placed At Risk: Research, Policy, and Practice in the Education of Poor and Minority Adolescents. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers. 18. Slavin, R. E., Karweit, N. L., & Madden, N. A. (1989). Effective Programs for Students At Risk. Boston, Massachusetts: Allyn & Bacon. 19. U.S. Department of Education (2003). Electronic source: Official U.S. Dept. of Education website: http://www.nochildleftbehind.gov/ 20. Washington, V. (1995). Project Head Start: Models and Strategies for the Twenty- First Century. New York, New York: Garland Publishing, Inc. 21. Wehlage, G. G. et al. (1989). Reducing the Risk: Schools as Communities of Support. Philadelphia: Falmer Press