The Department funded two new projects in FY 2006.

Arizona Department of Education
Phoenix, Arizona

The Arizona Department of Education (ADE) will collaborate with reservation-based public school districts; tribal leaders, youth and community members; colleges and state and tribal social service and behavioral health agencies to develop and implement a culturally appropriate dropout prevention model program for two school districts with among the highest dropout rates in the state: the White Mountain and San Carlos Apache Tribes. Evidence-based dropout prevention strategies will be adapted and tested with over 1,000 students attending the high schools on the two reservations, and the project will share the new model with other tribal school districts.

Key strategies will include: a) Native American community involvement in program development; b) establishment of a Native American Dropout Prevention Workgroup within ADE; c) Native American youth leadership development with a Popular Opinion Leader model; d) establishment of teams to encourage school attendance; e) intensive tutoring to increase AIMS test scores; f) mentoring of re-entered students by Tribal employees; g) culturally competent training for teachers in engaging Native American youth; h) social marketing promoting education through tribal media and tribal sporting events; and I) behavioral health, substance abuse prevention, teen parent support groups, and other supports for staying in school.

Texas Education Agency
Austin, Texas

To address the needs of students who are at risk of not completing high school and students who dropped out and are re-entering high school, the Texas Education Agency will collaborate with Communities In Schools, a stay-in-school program which offers comprehensive student evaluation and case management models; Texas' regional education service centers, institutions designed to aid state, district, and campus administrators in their efforts to increase student achievement; and Big Brothers Big Sisters, a nationwide organization which strives to build caring and productive relationships between students and adults.

The Texas School Dropout Prevention and Reentry Program has four major objectives: 1) to expand current personal graduation plans by replicating comprehensive models; 2) to increase partnerships between high schools and other organizations to leverage dropout prevention and reentry resources; 3) to develop statewide capacity for implementing specific intervention strategies; and 4) to evaluate the effectiveness of the state's school dropout prevention program and inform state dropout prevention policy. Offering a comprehensive set of support services through partnerships with government and community-based organizations will allow schools to more effectively address both the academic and social pressures shown to influence dropping out.

The Department funded two new projects in FY 2005.

Minnesota Department of Education
Roseville, Minnesota

The Minnesota Department of Education will collaborate with the Minnesota Departments of Human Services, Public Safety, and Employment and Economic Development to decrease the dropout rate among minority and low-income students in districts involved in the initiative.

The project plans to accomplish five major goals: (1) develop a comprehensive dropout prevention model for implementation in selected high schools and middle schools; (2) develop individual student assessment and school environment assessment tools; (3) increase statewide and local coordination to address dropout prevention; (4) provide support and technical assistance for local educational agencies; and (5) increase the likelihood of continued implementation of successful dropout prevention components and sustainability of grant success beyond the funding period. Using the National Dropout Prevention Center's effective strategies as a starting point, the initiative aims to use inter- and intra-agency workgroups to manage project implementation, develop comprehensive and community-tailored guidance for dropout prevention programming, and to put into action individual student assessments and school environment assessments in seven selected high schools and their primary feeder middle schools across Minnesota.

New Hampshire Department of Education
Concord, New Hampshire

The New Hampshire Department of Education will collaborate with the University of New Hampshire's Institute on Disability, Alliance for Community Supports, Center for Effective Behavioral Interventions and Supports, New England College's Main Street Academix, and the Family Resource Connection. Under the umbrella of the state collaborative, Systems of Care and Education, the project will provide training and technical assistance to 10 participating schools. Project objectives and activities address four performance indicators: (1) reducing the state event dropout rate by 20% or more in the 3 years; (2) developing a system and support process for re-entering high school students such that 50% of those who re-enter attain academic success and complete their secondary education; (3) reducing the rates and severity of behavioral problems by establishing and supporting the Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports model in participating high schools; and (4) improving 10th grade math and reading/language arts scores among students at participating high schools. A state-level interagency committee will oversee the project to ensure participation of key policy-level stakeholders in education, vocational rehabilitation, juvenile justice, foster care, children's mental health, workforce development, and families including those underrepresented groups among others.