By the end of this chapter, students should be able to:
- Compare and contrast the traditional and progressive approaches to education.
- Describe the alternative forms of education that have flourished since the 1990s.
- List the major components of the No Child Left Behind Act. What are the major criticisms of the No Child Left Behind Act?
- Know why the transition to middle school is so stressful for adolescents, and describe solutions that have been proposed to alleviate this stress.
- Be familiar with the characteristics of successful secondary schools.
- Contrast college prep, vocational, and general curricula.
- List public school alternatives, who attends them and why, and, their effectiveness.
- Describe the factors that predict which adolescents will drop out of school before they graduate.
- Know why adolescents from low socioeconomic backgrounds are more likely to drop out of school than middle-class adolescents.
- Discuss additional factors that affect school success including congruence between school and home, family relationships, social adjustment, financial considerations, and school stress.
- What is the relationship between adolescent pregnancy and dropping out.
- Discuss the effects of dropping out on salary and employment.
