Abstract
Despite major differences across nations in approaches to the measurement of school dropout and completion, and hence of their dimensions, there is an ongoing struggle, internationally, to reduce dropout and increase completion rates. In each of the country case study chapters in this book, the reported number of students who do not participate in or do not complete upper secondary education is viewed as a serious concern by researchers and by the governments and education agencies in each nation. The issue is treated so seriously in some systems that ambitious goals and targets for improvement have been established. In Switzerland, for example, there is now a target completion rate of 95%, while Australia has established a target of 90% completion to be achieved by 2015. To bring about improvements, some systems have implemented major policy reforms and introduced a range of policy measures, though the scale, nature and effects of these measures vary.
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Markussen, E., Sandberg, N. (2011). Policies to Reduce School Dropout and Increase Completion. In: Lamb, S., Markussen, E., Teese, R., Polesel, J., Sandberg, N. (eds) School Dropout and Completion. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9763-7_22
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