title: Programs to increase high school completion: a community guide systematic health equity review.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  High school completion (HSC) is an established predictor of long-term morbidity and mortality. U.S. rates of HSC are substantially lower among students from low-income families and most racial/ethnic minority populations than students from high-income families and the non-Hispanic white population. This systematic review assesses the effectiveness of programs to increase HSC and the potential of these programs to improve lifelong health among at-risk students.
  
  
  METHODS
  A search located a meta-analysis (search period 1985-2010/2011) on the effects of programs to increase HSC or General Educational Development (GED) diploma receipt; the meta-analysis was concordant with Community Guide definitions and methodologic standards. Programs were assessed separately for the general student population (152 studies) and students who were parents or pregnant (15 studies). A search for studies published between 2010 and August 2012 located ten more recent studies, which were assessed for consistency with the meta-analysis. Analyses were conducted in 2013.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The review focused on the meta-analysis. Program effectiveness was measured as the increased rate of HSC (or GED receipt) by the intervention group compared with controls. All assessed program types were effective in increasing HSC in the general student population: vocational training, alternative schooling, social-emotional skills training, college-oriented programming, mentoring and counseling, supplemental academic services, school and class restructuring, multiservice packages, attendance monitoring and contingencies, community service, and case management. For students who had children or were pregnant, attendance monitoring and multiservice packages were effective. Ten studies published after the search period for the meta-analysis were consistent with its findings.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is strong evidence that a variety of HSC programs can improve high school or GED completion rates. Because many programs are targeted to high-risk students and communities, they are likely to advance health equity.
authors.affiliation: Community Guide Branch, Division of Epidemiology, Analysis, and Library Services. Electronic address: rhahn@cdc.gov.
authors.forename: Robert A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Hahn
authors.affiliation: Community Guide Branch, Division of Epidemiology, Analysis, and Library Services.
authors.forename: John A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Knopf
authors.affiliation: Peabody Research Institute, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee.
authors.forename: Sandra Jo
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.affiliation: Office of the Associate Director For Science of the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention.
authors.forename: Benedict I
authors.initials: BI
authors.lastname: Truman
authors.affiliation: Hygeia Dynamics, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Bobby
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Milstein
authors.affiliation: UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School, Newark, New Jersey.
authors.forename: Robert L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.affiliation: UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, Los Angeles, California.
authors.forename: Jonathan E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Fielding
authors.affiliation: Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto.
authors.forename: Carles J M
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Muntaner
authors.affiliation: Analytic Tools And Methods Branch, Division of Epidemiology, Analysis, and Library Services.
authors.forename: Camara Phyllis
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.affiliation: Departments of Public Health and Psychiatry, Columbia University, New York, New York.
authors.forename: Mindy T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Fullilove
authors.affiliation: American Association of Public Health, Washington, District of Columbia.
authors.forename: Regina Davis
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Moss
authors.affiliation: Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Centre for Practice-Changing Research, University of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Erin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ueffing
authors.affiliation: Division of Adolescent & School Health, CDC, Atlanta, Georgia.
authors.forename: Pete C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Hunt
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D004522:Educational Status; D000069576:Health Equity; D006801:Humans; D012574:Schools
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