The Prevention Researcher, Volume 16, Number 3, 2009, Item# 163

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Facilitating successful school completion is the responsibility of all adults who pay a role in youths’ lives. Besides those adults wihin the school system, adults within the home, neighborhood, and other community settings (like after-school programs and places of worship) as well as adults who make important policy and programming decisions play a vital role in keeping youth engaged in school and on track until graduation. This issue of The Prevention Researcher looks at how adults within the varied environments that youth inhabit can support youth to successfully complete high school.

The issue begins with an article about the Eco-Interactional Developmental model of school success. This model provides an understanding of the synergetic role that neighborhoods, schools, families, and peers can play in increasing the proportion of students who successfully complete high school.

Next we explore how the social interactions Latino students experience with adults in their lives can have a significant influence on their schooling. These interactions – with adults in the home, school, neighborhood, or other settings – play an important and influential role in promoting school success.

Our third article addresses community influence on youth development by taking a systematic approach to the role of community organizations in keeping youth connected to schools.

We do, of course, realize that youth spend a large amount of time within the school system. The fourth article in this issue focuses on the importance in keeping youth engaged in school and the role that adults within the school environment play in this regard.

Finally, we conclude with an article based on qualitative interviews with youth. These youth were at risk of dropping out but completed high school anyhow. This article gives a voice to resilient youth and provides their perspective on what kept them in school.

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