Translating after-school to in-school: An evaluation of an apprenticeship-based dropout prevention program

A great body of research is dedicated to the topic of eliminating the United States' high school dropout problem. Approximately 1.3 million students drop out of high school each year, resulting in multiple economic and social hardships. To ameliorate this problem, numerous programs have been developed to engage students in their education and curtail the dropout process. One type of program that has been shown to positively impact youth is apprenticeship programs. Apprenticeship programs involve young people working under a mentor professional in a particular field to learn that particular craft through hands-on work and training. Research has shown that these programs help adolescents develop numerous positive qualities such as confidence, reflective abilities, and critical thinking skills. The current study is an evaluation of an apprenticeship program that uses apprenticeship experiences as a way of motivating middle school students to become engaged in school, and ultimately complete high school. In order to assess whether or not the program was accomplishing its desired goal of improving participants' school performance, 93 participants' grades in math, English, science, and social studies, as well their average number of F's in these subjects from one trimester before the program and one trimester after the program were analyzed to assess for significant differences. Findings demonstrated that students' English grades significantly increased after participation in the program, and their math grades increased in the expected direction, though the increase was not sufficiently significant. Furthermore, students' average number of F's in math, English, science, and social studies significantly decreased after participation in the program. Analyses of students' science and social studies grades, as well as analyses of their number of tardies and absences, did not produce any significant findings. Based on these results, recommendations to the program were made for future evaluations, as well as suggestions for future research to all programs seeking to utilize apprenticeships as a positive youth development tool.