Times of San Diego • April 28, 2014
San Diego has lowest dropout rate among large school districts

KPBS • September 7, 2012
San Diego Schools use mentoring to keep at-risk students on graduation track

1. participation in special education services in the category of emotional disturbance;
2. learning disabilities or ADHD and who have behavior improvement goals on their IEPs; or
3. risk of referral for special education services and school failure because they have at least one indicator each in the categories of behavioral risk, academic risk, and participation risk (e.g., numerous office discipline referrals, failing courses, and multiple absences per month).

• To examine the effectiveness of Check & Connect in a different school organization and culture, by implementing the program in real-life conditions, in primary and secondary schools.
• To document the conditions for maximizing the quality of implementation of Check & Connect.
• To verify if the size effects are related to fidelity of implementation and to what specific components of Check & Connect.

The project is being implemented in two school boards from the Greater Montréal Area (urban and semi-rural areas). Primary and secondary schools from each school board are voluntarily participating. The primary school experiment is being implemented in 20 schools and mobilizes 12 mentors for 114 targeted students from 4th, 5th, and 6th grade. The secondary school experiment is implemented in 10 schools and mobilizes 37 mentors for 173 targeted students from 7th-10th grade. Among these mentors, 45% are teachers and 55% are non-teachers (educational psychologists, special education teachers). Only 5 mentors are full-time mentors. Each targeted student was paired with a control subject of the same sex, age, and level of risk. The control group includes 101 students from primary schools and 164 from secondary schools.  This is a random control trial experiment. Interventions are planned for a 2-year period.

The evaluation of effects relies on a pretest measure (Fall Year 1) and three post-test measures (Spring Y1, Fall Y2, Spring Y2) on multiple dimensions of school and social adjustment. Engagement measures are taken weekly as part of the monitoring (check) components. Measures of engagement in the classroom are taken monthly for the control group students (absenteeism and suspension measures are taken weekly).  The evaluation of the quality of implementation includes weekly reports on the dosage of intervention (number of times mentors met with students, duration and nature of the intervention according to C&C definitions), and 4 evaluations during the year on the quality of the mentor-pupil relationship. The impediments to and facilitators of the implementation of Check & Connect are documented during the official observations conducted by the research team 3 times a year.

Report of the Action Group on Student Retention and Success in Québec • 2010
 Knowledge is power: Toward a Québec-wide effort to increase student retention: Report of the Action Group on Student Retention and Success in Québec (PDF)

The Montreal Gazette • February 14, 2009
Staying the course: Our city has a wealth of culture, knowledge, history, dropouts. For Montreal to recognize its potential, it has to find a way for students to recognize theirs

Chicago Tribune • December 11, 2012
CPS heads targets K-8 'dropout pipeline'