The first paper identifies the multiple problems involved in dropping out of school and examines the need for a multitude of policies to attack these problems. The author emphasizes the urgency of the problem and the need for action. Two papers analyze what is arguably the best national sample of data on high school dropouts, the "High School and Beyond" study conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics. The study produced data on the background and school experiences of a sizable sample of dropouts. Both articles show the usefulness of the data for a range of inquiries into the dropout problem. Another paper presents a case study of a New York City high school through an ethnographic analysis of its students and its dropouts. It focuses on the process by which students are allowed or forced to leave the school. Two papers address the likely impact of recent efforts to reform schools on those students least likely to graduate from high school. The final paper considers the implications the themes in the book for the development of an agenda for further research on the dropout problem. Key components of a comprehensive research program are suggested. Chapter notes and a subject index