Helping Students Get to Graduation: A Case Study of One School District's Re-Engagement Centers

Abstract

Since the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act in 2001, school districts throughout the United States have faced increasing pressure from state and federal governments to raise graduation rates. This focus on graduation rates has resulted in innovative efforts by many school districts to get students who have dropped out back on track to graduate. In this thesis, the researcher studies six re-engagement centers being used as a dropout recovery strategy by one mid-sized school district in Nevada. The thesis explores the questions of how these re-engagement centers operate and whether they include components that are recognized as important for effective dropout recovery programs by providing an in-depth description of the centers and comparing their features to recognized best practices for dropout recovery. This study has the potential to enhance these re-engagement centers and can provide guidelines for other school districts looking to design and implement effective re-engagement centers of their own.