Achieving this goal will require some adjustment in the Nation's priorities for dropout prevention and a more sophisticated conception of the dropout problem. Although most attention has focused on the identification, support, and retention of at-risk students, the majority of dropouts are not those who seem to be most at risk. Most dropouts are white and are not from broken homes, poor, or pregnant. The identification effort has achieved some success, but claims for the success of dropout prevention programs are difficult to document. Four issues related to current policies and practice require attention: (1) the consequences for graduation rates of the trend to develop national standards, (2) the rationalization of State graduation requirements, (3) the educational implications of incentives to raise the academic motivation and effort of students, and (4) the development and testing of theory-based studies of school persistence and retention. 49 references