Effects of School Dropout Prevention Programs for Pregnant and Parenting Adolescents: A Meta-Analytic Review (original) (raw)
Related papers
Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research, 2013
Dropping out of secondary school is associated with numerous detrimental consequences, including low wages, unemployment, incarceration, and poverty. Fortunately, many school-and community-based prevention and intervention programs are available for the general population and at-risk students. The objective of this systematic review was to summarize the available evidence on the effects of prevention and intervention programs for increasing school completion or reducing school dropout among primary and secondary students. Overall, dropout programs (152 studies; 317 independent samples) were effective in reducing school dropout (or increasing school completion). The random effects weighted mean odds ratio for the general programs was 1.72. Using the average dropout rate for control groups of 21.1%, the mean odds ratio of 1.72 translates into a dropout rate of 13% for intervention groups. Moderator analyses indicated that study methods were associated with effect size magnitude. Effect sizes were therefore adjusted for methodological characteristics to examine the effects of different program types net of the influence of method. Effects were generally consistent across different types of programs and for different types of participant samples. Overall, results indicated that most school-and community-based programs were effective in decreasing school dropout. However, higher implementation quality tended to be associated with larger effects. Given the minimal variation in effects across program types, the review shows that-regardless of type-dropout prevention and intervention programs are likely to be effective if they are well implemented and appropriate for the local environment.
2002
Students who eventually drop out of school have a long-term disadvantage in becoming productive citizens. The traditionally structured U.S. high school system does not facilitate high school education for at-risk students. Some schools, however, do organize themselves around the needs of the at-risk student population. This study analyzed the impact of a 6-month dropout prevention program in a nontraditional school of a large urban school district. Participants were students enrolled in the alternative high school program. A treatment and a comparison group were randomly assigned for participation in the study. First, the overall pattern of school attendance was analyzed. Second, a random sample of both treatment and comparison group members was assessed in terms of changes on attendance percent rates. Third, a comparison in terms of students dropping out was conducted. Finally, a cost-effectiveness analysis was utilized to examine the data. Findings support the dropout prevention intervention. Implications for practice and future research are discussed. (Contains 15 references.) (SM) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. Running head: Facing the Challenges of At-Risk Students Facing the Challenges of At-Risk Students in Urban School Districts: The Impact of an
Peer Reviewed: Reframing School Dropout as a Public Health Issue
Preventing Chronic Disease, 2007
Good education predicts good health, and disparities in health and in educational achievement are closely linked. Despite these connections, public health professionals rarely make reducing the number of students who drop out of school a priority, although nearly one-third of all students in the United States and half of black, Latino, and American Indian students do not graduate from high school on time. In this article, we summarize knowledge on the health benefits of high school graduation and discuss the pathways by which graduating from high school contributes to good health. We examine strategies for reducing school dropout rates with a focus on interventions that improve school completion rates by improving students' health. Finally, we recommend actions health professionals can take to reframe the school dropout rate as a public health issue and to improve school completion rates in the United States.
Journal of Adolescence, 2020
This is a brief report of a systematic review and meta-analysis which examined the effectiveness of early childhood educational programs for preventing teenage pregnancy by synthesizing randomized control trials. Methods: The search terms included 'children', 'early childhood intervention', and 'teen pregnancy'. Databases, bibliographies, grey literature, and policy reports were searched in February and March 2018 and included studies with interventions implemented with participants from birth to 5 years old. Results: Only four randomized control trials were eligible for inclusion. Individually, only two of the studies reported a significant effect of early childhood education. There was a significant effect for the primary outcome of teenage pregnancy prevention in the meta-analysis (RR 0.70, 95% CI 0.54-0.89). However, the evidence was very weak. The meta-analysis results were weighted heavily by one study. Additionally, the included studies were conducted decades ago, lacked rigor, and varied considerably by curriculum, enrollment age, length, and intensity. Conclusions: Given the few number of studies, and issues with rigor and heterogeneity, it is unclear whether the results of this review represent a true effect of the intervention. Importantly, this review highlights the paucity of randomized control trials examining the effectiveness of early childhood education for preventing teenage pregnancy. Future studies need to be designed to address the methodological challenges noted here to determine what facets of early childhood education most effectively prevent teenage pregnancy. Randomized control trials, while challenging to implement, are best suited to determine the true causal effect of early childhood education for preventing teenage pregnancy.
Harding et al (2020) Systematic review of programs for pregnant and parenting teens
Maternal and Child Health Journal, 2020
Introduction Expectant and parenting teens experience many challenges to achieving self-sufficiency and promoting their children’s healthy development. Teen parents need support to help them address these challenges, and many different types of programs aim to support them. In this systematic review, we examine the research about programs that aim to support aspects of teen parents’ self-sufficiency by promoting their educational outcomes and healthy birth spacing. Methods We conducted a comprehensive literature search of published and unpublished literature to identify studies of programs to support teen parents that met this review’s eligibility criteria. The quality and execution of the eligible study research designs were assessed to determine whether studies’ findings were at risk of bias. We then extracted information about study characteristics, outcomes, and program characteristics for studies considered to provide rigorous evidence. Results We identified 58 eligible studies. Twenty-three studies were considered to provide rigorous evidence about either education, contraceptive use, or repeat pregnancy or birth. Seventeen of these studies showed at least one favorable effect on an outcome in one of these domains, whereas the other six did not show any significant or substantial effects in these domains. These 17 studies represent 14 effective programs. Discussion Effective programs to support expectant and parenting teens have diverse characteristics, indicating there is no single approach for promoting teens’ education and healthy birth spacing. More rigorous studies of programs to support teen parents are needed to understand more about how to support teen fathers and the program characteristics associated with effectiveness.
Regional Educational Laboratory Northeast Islands, 2012
REL Technical Briefs is a report series from Fast Response Projects that helps educators obtain evidence-based answers to their specific requests for information on pressing education issues. REL Technical Briefs offer highly targeted responses across a variety of subjects, from reviews of particular studies or groups of studies on No Child Left Behind Act implementation issues to compilations or quick summaries of state or local education agency data, appraisals of particular instruments or tools, and short updates of Issues & Answers reports. All REL Technical Briefs meet Institute of Education Sciences (IES) standards for scientifically valid research. This REL Northeast and Islands Technical Brief describes updates to a database first described in the Issues & Answers report, Piloting a searchable database of dropout prevention programs in nine low-income urban school districts in the Northeast and Islands Region (REL 2008-No. 046) and updated previously in another Issues & Answers report, Dropout prevention programs in nine Mid-Atlantic Region school districts: additions to a dropout prevention database (Issues & Answers Report, REL 2011-No. 103).
School Dropouts in the United States
Students who drop out of high school before graduating are of concern to families, educators, and policymakers. To obtain information on the scope of the dropout problem, three sources of national data were reviewed: (1) the Bureau of the Census' Current Population Survey; (2) the Center for Statistics' Common Core of Data; and (3) the Center for Statistics' High School and Beyond study. The results of the review revealed that calculation of dropout rates is difficult because of definitional and data problems. National data over time on the incidence of dropping out do not exist. Poor academic performance was found to be the best predictor of who drops out of school. Many young women cite marriage or pregnancy as reasons for dropping out, and students who are rebellious, delinquent, or chronically truant drop out at higher rates than do other students. Dropouts have more difficulty finding and holding jobs and earn less money than do high school graduates. An estimated 40% of high school dropouts return to the educational system and an estimated 30% of dropouts eventually receive a high school diploma or an alternative credential. These findings have implications for educational policy and research, especially in the area of dropout prevention/intervention programs and programs offering alternative high school credentials. (Data sources are described in detail in the appendix.) (NB)
A critical review of the literature on school dropout
Educational Research Review, 2013
This paper reviews the growing literature on early school leaving. We clarify what is at stake with early school leaving, and touch upon underlying problems and methodological issues raised in the literature. The paper investigates the levels, the methods and models with which the topic has been studied, and discusses potential (dis)advantages of each of those.