Solutions from Dropout to excellence_final gude

'Solutions: from dropout to excellence'
IES Josep Segrelles
Institute "Raffaele Piria”
Franziskanergymnasium Kreuzburg
Střední odborná škola a Mateřská Škola
Agrupamento de Escolas de Alfândega da Fé
2016 – 2018 - AK2 - Nº 2016-1-ES01-KA219-024918

Introduction
The Erasmus+ project entitled 'Solutions: from dropout to excellence' will focus on mainly
two objectives: dropout prevention and guiding students towards excellence.
As it is widely known, there is a strong relationship between the extent of school studies
completion and the rate of unemployment. That is why we wanted to investigate about the
main reasons for early school dropouts among young people. Our main aim was to discover
common causes among the partner schools of this project in order to avoid their negative
effects on social development and economic growth.
Seeing current social trends, we are firmly convinced that reducing early school leaving
implies an important change in our concept of Education. We have to adapt to new
international trends so that we can provide our students with the necessary tools to face the
present ever-changing job market. That‟s why we consider reinforcing entrepreneurship
education as a key skill for our students to develop and become more employable and more
„intrapreneurial‟ in their work within existing organizations, across the social, public and
private sectors.
On the other hand, young Europeans are continuously facing huge difficulties with regard
to the recognition of their skills and qualifications when moving within EU member states,
due to the lack of information among our youngsters. We consider extremely important to
promote all the existent EU actions such as Erasmus+, European Qualifications Framework,
Europass Diploma and Certificate Supplements, which are not sufficiently well known,
understood or used. We reckon that a better use of these actions will raise the awareness of
their availability and master their common use. This will improve students' curricula following
the European guidelines, which will be also of great interest for the dialogue between
education institutions and the labour market.
Following these premises, this report draws on the work of the Erasmus + project
„SOLVE‟, which comprised a team of teachers and students from different European
countries participating from September 2016 to August 2018.
The European perspective, then, has been vital to our project and it could not have been
carried without transnational cooperation. Taking this scope into account, our main objectives
have been: prevention of early school dropouts, proposal of solutions to avoid this problem
and attainment of excellence by gaining knowledge and abilities in aspects such as Europe,
volunteering and the real labour market. These are challenges shared by all the European
countries in the partnership. By means of this project, we have had the

opportunity to share common solutions through the transfer of knowledge and expertise
between the partners and between the countries.
Bearing such objectives in mind and being convinced that having direct contact with
multicultural experiences enrich participants in many different ways (both personal and
professionally), partners have shared their results and have had the opportunity to have
direct contact with other schools, other ways of facing educational problems and new ways
to find possible solutions.
Having enriched their knowledge, the products resulting have the European „touch‟ we
have been looking for, which will make them exploitable in all the EU countries. This will
raise awareness on the project all over Europe and get as many people as possible benefit
from it.
In sum, such idea of sharing has been the motivation to write this guide, which we intend
to be a source of information and materials, where the main results are going to be freely
available to anyone willing to use them.

About the partnership
Our partner schools have always been interested in adapting to new trends in education
so they are highly involved in investing either in materials (supplying classrooms with
technology) or teacher training (organizing training courses on PBL, ICT and cooperative
learning) in order to acquire up-to-date skills which allow us to participate in all kind of
development and entrepreneurial projects in different areas of the curriculum.
With this aim, we intend to use new methodologies and tools to develop the appropriate
learning environment encouraging, thus, creativity and innovation. Of important relevance is
the fact that we all have been participating in previous European Programmes such as the
former Comenius projects and E-Twinning, during which we have had the opportunity to
work collaboratively with a number of schools in Europe, with which we still keep contact and
cooperate.
The activities organized by our schools promote active citizenship, respect of the
environment, and motivation to study and work. We want our students to open their mind by
knowing students like them that live in other parts of Europe but have same problems and
desires.
With these aims, we decided to cooperate and form a partnership which, with this project,
tried to reach the following goals:
- to study in depth the aspects, problematic and educational itineraries of European
dimension,
- to promote a positive attitude towards Europe,
- to form European citizens who are responsible, conscious, available to integration
and cooperation,
- to improve the communication in foreign languages and IT,
- to develop international collaboration,
- to offer the pupils the opportunity to be open to new market of study, work and culture,
- to know others realities and to understand the changes,
- to promote the regional development,
- to learn about understanding and tolerance, and
- to raise awareness among students, teachers and also the local community about the
importance of entrepreneurship.

Short review of who we are
SPAIN
IES Josep Segrelles is a state grammar school and a
vocational school funded by the Culture, Science and
Education Council in the Valencian regional government.
Founded in 1963, it has about 65 teachers in two different
shifts (morning and evening) and around 800 students.
Albaida, „The White‟ in Arabic, is located in the Spanish province of Valencia and is well
connected to bigger cities like Valencia (90 km. away), Gandia (30 km. away) or Alicante (95
km away). Our region occupies urban and rural areas. Agriculture is a complementary
activity to the main economic activity in the area: textile industry.
Students at our school start compulsory secondary school at the age of 12 (1st year ESO,
Spanish Educational System) and finish at 16 years old (4th year ESO). Then they have the
option to continue on with upper–secondary until they are 18 years old. Our students are
taught in four different languages Spanish and Catalan, which are both our official
languages, English and french.
During the last years the number of foreign students has decreased due to the present
economical crisis, being the most important origins Equator, Morocco and Bulgaria.
Nevertheless this figure is still very low since it is lower than 1% of the total.
GERMANY
Franziskanergymnasium Kreuzburg in Großkrotzenburg (Germany) is a
private grammar school for pupils aged between 10 and 19 which is run
by the Franciscan order. The school has about 1350 students and 100
teachers.
The so-called “Kreuzburg“ is situated in a small town near Frankfurt am
Main and has a special focus on Christian principles which can for instance be seen in
school prayers, religious education as a mandatory subject and church services at school.
The school used to have Franciscan monks as teachers. Today, most of the teachers are
secular but still come from a Christian background.
Teaching at Franziskanergymnasium Kreuzburg is not only about conveying information
and preparing students for their future jobs, it is also about appreciating the students as
individuals and teaching them Christian values. In this context the school offers a wide range
of after-school activities and weekend seminars to further students' individual development

and the team spirit within groups of learners. As a result students identify strongly with their
school and are often willing to take responsibility in various social areas.
CZECH REPUBLIC
Our school, Střední odborná škola a Mateřská Škola, Liberec, is a state
school which consists of several types of schools. There is a grammar
school, a technical vocational school and an apprentice training centre.
Furthermore it is the only school in the Czech Republic offering the
field of study for electricians for equipment and devices which focuses
on lifts and lifting equipment. Na Bojišti, Liberec
cooperates with job training offices. The school has achieved excellent results, especially in
the field of vocational training.
In total, the school has over 900 students and 80 teachers. About half of the students
commute to school from nearby towns and villages, some students have to stay in the hall of
residence and only go home for weekends.
During the school year the students take part in many voluntary activities. After the
school-leaving exams the students either continue their studies at universities or they start
working for the institutions mentioned above.
ITALY
The Institute "Raffaele Piria" is located in the historical center of
Reggio Calabria's city in the south of Italy. The school has a long
tradition in vocational training and looks to tourism as a key
combination for the development of the area and possible job opportunities for young
people. It occupies an important position in the area of the educational institutions, due to
the multiple realized experiences, for the quality of his professional and structural resources
in continuous evolution.
The school is provided by all kind of equipment that offers its students a learning
environment technologically advanced and creatively stimulating.
From the perspective of autonomy and therefore of broadening and consolidating the
educational programme, the Institute has always maintained the specific aim of creating and
maintaining stable links with the territory, with the local context, with local authority, and the
people operating in them.

PORTUGAL
The school is located in a region called Nordeste Transmontano,
where Bragança is the major city. It is a state school with almost 450
students from 4 to 18 years old and 60 teachers. The most important
economic activities are rural activities, such as olive oil production,
wine, almonds and cherries. In the last decade some specific
programmes have tried to improve some economic growth to the residents with the
partnership with some renewable energy companies.
The school is provided with science labs, computer rooms, library, etc. and all the
classrooms are equipped with computers, projectors and some interactive whiteboards. All
the students have full access to internet.
The school has been developing activities aiming at students‟ motivation and
improvement of their school results for a long time by developing methodologies which have
gradually evolved from the traditional methods to the most modern ones.

Foreword
The European Union defines „early school leaving‟ as „those young people who leave
education and training with only lower secondary education or less, and who are no longer in
education and training‟, that is leaving education and training systems before the end of
compulsory schooling; before reaching a minimum qualification or before completing upper
secondary education.
The term ‟school drop-out‟, on the other hand often refers to „discontinuing an on-going
course, e.g. dropping out in the middle of the school term‟. Therefore, drop-out from
education can occur at any time and can be experienced by different age groups.
In this report, the terms „early school leaving‟ and dropouts are used as synonyms and
describe all forms of leaving education and training before completing upper secondary.
Bearing this in mind, our research shows that dropout is a complex problem caused by a
cumulative process of disengagement due to personal, social, economic, education or
family-related reasons. Schools play a major role in addressing this problem, although they
cannot work in isolation. Reducing dropouts can help towards the integration of young
people into the labour market. That is why reducing the average European rate of early
school leavers to less than 10% by 2020 is one of the education headline targets of the
Europe 2020 Strategy1. This goal is crucial for the growth of our economy, especially at a
time when the current financial and economic crisis is having a serious impact on young
people and their families.
The first chapter of this guide presents the main conclusions and lessons learnt by the
SOLVE team and aims to develop a comprehensive approach to deal with dropouts in our
schools and guide our students towards excellence. The report includes some
questionnaires for the research carried out, materials to implement a protocol against
dropouts at schools and guides to lead our students towards excellence in their future lives
in the labour market (see annex 1). The research has been carried out in our countries,
however the materials we include could be used to look into the situation in other schools.
Likewise the protocol and guides can be implemented or taken as a model to reach similar
goals in other regions and centres which are also worried about early dropouts and want to
prepare their students to be excellent.
It is important to mention that this report is not an exhaustive presentation of all aspects of
early school leaving and do not present all the actions which can be done to reach
excellence. Nevertheless, a number of important topics have been tackled and, although
some of them could require further consideration, this can help our colleagues in education
have a frame to start working.

Chapter I: From Dropouts
Early school leaving in Europe
Research focussed on school dropout emphasises the need to prevent drop-out from
occurring and the need to intervene as early as possible. Concentrating on the number of
young people who have not completed upper secondary education may shift attention to
measures helping them to re-enter education and training systems and to complete their
education.
In 2012, 12.7% of all 18 to 24 years olds had not completed upper secondary education,
which represents some 5.5 million young people. Data show that some groups of young
people are more at risk of dropout than others and in most countries, boys are more likely to
leave school prematurely than girls. Young people from a migrant background often display
a higher average rate of dropout, and the risk of early school leaving is especially high for
disadvantaged minorities.
Leaving school before completing
upper secondary education is
often the result of a progressive
process of disengagement
triggered by problems related to
school, or to certain personal
circumstances young people
face. It can be associated with
the socioeconomic or family
background of pupils. Limited
access to quality education or to
an individual's preferred choice of
s t u d y m a y b e e s p e c i a l l y
p r o b l e m a t i c i n r u r a l o r
disadvantaged areas.
According to these factors, the
following figure shows dropouts
in 2012 in the European Union.
In 2012, 40.1% of early school
leavers were unemployed; of whom, it is reported that approximately 70% would like to work.
Overall the unemployment of young people under 25 years old was, comparatively, at 22.8%

across the EU. Studies on the long-term effects of youth unemployment show that exclusion
from the labour market can have long-term negative effects on future employment prospects.
The differences in figures between countries might be due to certain characteristics of the
education system, but also to historical, economic, and social reasons. The specific social
and economic conditions of the countries can only partly explain these differences because
the existence or nonexistence of targeted policies against early school leaving will definitely
help fight dropouts in our schools, as well.
A better understanding of dropouts in Europe requires a closer examination of the
situation in different regions, which will lead us to a clearer understanding of young people,
their family and social background, their employment prospects and the education and
training offer available to them. That is why we decided to look into the closer context of the
partner schools in order to obtain a clearer idea of what was happening to our pupils.
Figures in the partnership member regions
Each partner school carried out a research in order to settle down the context in which the
future actions have to be implemented. The starting point was different since our schools are
located in very diverse areas in Europe. Moreover, the nature of the schools themselves in
relation to students, social and economic context, etc. make that the figures differ from one
partner to another. Nevertheless, it is the same goal what unites us and the conviction that
helping each other will lead our pupil‟s success in the future.

THE CZECH REPUBLIC
The national early school leaving rate remains low in the Czech
Republic. It increased from 4.9 % in 2010 to 6.2 % in 2015. The area
with the highest dropout rate is the North-West. 72 % of Roma
children who leave school early.
95% of pupils who complete their compulsory schooling continue studies at higher
secondary level. Between the age of 17 and 19, 73% of them acquire a professional
qualification which is recognised on the labour market. The unemployment rate for young
people under 25 years of age stands at 19% in 2013 . (Eurostat – 2013)

The following graphs, on the other hand, show the amount of students who did not finish
or finished their apprenticeship education in the Liberec Region…specifically in the cities
Česka Lípa, Jablonec nad Nisou, Liberec and Semily.
Next
figure
refers
t o
completed education in the city of Liberec. The women are shown in red and the men in
blue. The most popular completed education for men and women is either apprenticeship or
the graduation exam.
The following numbers are for the last school year 2015/2016. There were 93 students in
total who dropped out.
- 13 transgressed
- 6 did not advance
- 3 were excluded
- 71 missed study
- 93 in total

This graph shows the number of students who dropped out of our school in the first term
of this school year 2016/2017. Most of the students missed their education or did not come
to classes.
Finally, it is important to mention that our classes are transport and follow up graduation
studies. 75 per cent of the students who left our school wanted to find a job. The rest of the
students could not manage with the studies or went to a different school.
In this last part, a table shows the list of the most common causes and reasons for
dropouts in the Liberec Region. The graph is divided into the years of study, from the first to

the fourth. The most common reasons from dropouts are transfers to other schools and
disciplinary problems.
Despite the number of dropouts, it is important to mention that, according to the
Unemployment Office, in general young people can still find current job offers with an
appropriate focus on their education and experience. Since 2004 programme of the
Unemployment Office EURES – service enables mobility across Europe.
SOURCES
https://www.nemasmaturitu.cz/inpage/caste-priciny-nedokonceneho-ci-nizsiho-stupne-vzdelani/
http://zpravy.idnes.cz/petina-studentu-strida-stredni-skolu-d8a-/domaci.aspx?c=A130407_193053_domaci_brd
http://www.educaops.cz/projekty.html
http://www.schooleducationgateway.eu/cz/pub/practices/early_school_leaving.htm
http://www.infoabsolvent.cz/
http://www.ucitelskenoviny.cz/?archiv
http://www.mpsv.cz/cs/10
https://www.czso.cz/csu/vykazy/vykazy-sber-dat
https://portal.mpsv.cz/upcr/kp/lbk/kop/liberec/statistiky

GERMANY
Early school leaving is an obstacle to economic growth and employment.
It prevents productivity and competitiveness, and fuels poverty and social
exclusion. With its shrinking workforce, Europe has to make full use of its
human resources. Young people who leave education and training early
are bound to lack skills and qualifications, and face a higher risk of
unemployment, social exclusion and poverty.
T h i s
h a s
b e e n
recognized in the Europe 2020 strategy, which has set the goal of bringing the share of early
leavers from education and training among those aged 18-24 to below 10%. Still, in 2015
there were more than 4 million early school leavers across Europe, only 40% of whom are
employed.
Young people with a migrant background are more at risk of early school leaving; the risk
is especially high for disadvantaged minorities. The recent steep rise in the inflow of
refugees and migrants has heightened the challenge of integrating pupils with migrant
background, helping them to acquire necessary skills and competences.

In the first and the second chart you
can see the youth unemployment
rate of six countries in percent and
the development and changes of
these rates from 2009 to 2013. The
chart compares the data of
Germany, Spain, Italy, France,
Greece and the US. It shows that
Greece and Spain have by far the
highest number of teenagers who
leave school before graduation with
a dropout rate of 59,3 % and 55,5
%. Germany deals the lowest early
school leaver rate, which makes up
about 7,9 %. Italy has a decently
high early school leaver rate with
38,7 % and has also had to see the
numbers rise from 2007 on.
In contrast to countries such as the US which managed to reduce its dropout rate, Italy,
Greece and Spain have had big increases of dropout rates in this period of time.
330,000 people at the age of 15-24 are unemployed (7.7%) in comparison to 6.1 %
unemployment rate for the whole German population. The unemployment rate of teenagers
and young adults in our home state of Hesse is lower than the national average and makes
up 5% flat.

In the last ten years youth unemployment rates have decreased over 50% in Germany.
The EU comparison shows that Germany„s numbers are significantly lower than e.g.
Greece„s or Spain„s with 14% respectively 19% - having the highest rates in the Eurozone.
The first chart shows the number of unemployed people in Germany between the age of
15 and 20 in the years 2005-2015. You can conclude that the number of unemployed

t e e n a g e r s a n d y o u n g a d u l t s h a s
significantly plummeted in this time span so
last year the number hit an all-time/historic
low. The second chart compares the figures for the different types of school education of 15
to 20-year olds in 2015. It shows that there is a number of school dropouts with about 2000
early school leavers but it is comparatively low.
In Germany, the Bundesländer (states) of the former GDR (in the North East of Germany)
have a considerably higher number and rate of dropouts than states in the West and South.
Nationally, the dropout rate is about 5%.
76.000 students dropped out from school between the age of 15 and 16 in 2005 with the
number including all three types/levels of school. The lowest dropout rate is at 6% in Baden-
Württemberg, the highest rate is at 11.6% in Sachsen-Anhalt. One of the main reasons to fail
school is having immigrant roots. 7.9% of early school leavers have migrant background.
However, studies show that the causes for dropouts are diverse. Areas with a high
unemployment percentage put students at risk to not graduate. Moreover, students attending
special needs schools have a comparatively much higher rate of leaving school without a
degree.
Of the remaining, the most common reasons for dropouts are frustration, low
performance levels, anxiety, health issues conflicts with friends, family or in school and
bullying. Students are tired of school and complain about a lack of perspective before they
drop out. Usually early school leaving is the result of individual, family and social problems.
One example for a structural problem is the fact that repeating a school year results in the
students being often significantly older than their peers which shows in conflicts and/or a
lack of self-confidence. Technically, 55% of students leave because of behavioural disorders
followed by the second biggest segment “disabilities“, which makes up 36%.

The following chart shows which types of education the people from ages 15-20 have.
The map, on the other hand,
the total number is actually very low. The diagram here shows that students at the age of 15
attend different types of school, with the slightly largest part pursuing a university entrance
exam at a Gymnasium.

“In our district, the "Main-Kinzig-Kreis”, an even lower percentage of 4.8% drops out
without a degree. Its unemployment rate is 4.9% in general – which are about 10.500 of the
412.000 inhabitants in the district. Similarly, 4,7 % of 15-24 year olds are without a job.
Districts in the North East (of Germany), such as the Uckermark District, just north of Berlin,
know the highest numbers of the young unemployed with more than 13%.”
The following survey was developed by our after-school club with the help of our school
psychologist has been used a statistical analysis as part of his professional training.
A decision was made on a set of questions/statements that tried to test significant
differences between sample groups (determined by age, sex or performance) or to test
reasons for school dropouts. However, the sample size for dropouts was too little, which was
the reason why students‟ attitudes towards changing schools or dropping out was tested.
The questionnaires were handed out and collected surveys from 75 9
th
graders and 63 11
th
graders.
Instructed by the school psychologist who not only helped us to develop and create the
survey but also to find statistically significant results, we sorted the data according to
different variables that we had agreed upon when we made the survey: male vs female, 9th
vs. 11 the graders, and low vs. high performers.
After having organized the data the psychologist taught us how to analyse the average
values and the standard deviation for each set of data which he then used to test the
significance of our findings.

In this figure you can see the overall results of our survey. The charts show that quite a
high percentage of students think about/have thought about changing schools and some
students also think of dropping school. Numbers 1- 4 refer to the possible answers students
had to tick for each question. 4 means that the students completely agree with the statement
and the number 1 means that the students don‟t agree at all. As you can see students from
the 9th class agreed to each question/statement less than people from the 11th graders.

This chart shows the comparison between students of different age groups. We asked
students in the 9th and the 11th grade. In the following slides the light blue grids are for the
9th class and the orange for the 11th class. You can see that the students in grade 11 think
more often about dropping out from school than the students in the 9th grade.
The number of students from both groups who currently consider dropping out or plan to
drop out is (substantially) smaller than the number of students who have thought about
dropping out in the past. But for all statements the numbers for 11th graders were much
higher than those for 9th graders.
In the last figure you can see the comparison between the different sexes. Females are
shown in orange and the male are depicted in blue. You can see that girls think more often
about changing schools than male students and even at the moment a bigger number of
girls consider changing schools.
Sources:
https://www.destatis.de/DE/PresseService/Presse/Pressemitteilungen/2015/08/PD15_288_133.html
https://www.destatis.de/DE/PresseService/Presse/Pressemitteilungen/2014/09/PD14_326_217.html
https://www-genesis.destatis.de/genesis/online/logon?sequenz=tabelleErgebnis&selectionname=21111-0014&transportieren=true

https://statistik.hessen.de/sites/statistik.hessen.de/files/bil_sch_presentation_enquete.pdf
http://www.spiegel.de/lebenundlernen/schule/schulabbrecher-so-viele-gibt-es-in-ihrem-landkreis-a-110908.html
http://www.pedocs.de/volltexte/2014/8712/pdf/ZfPaed_2_2011_Hillenbrand_Ricking_Schulabbruch_Ursachen.pdf
http://web.ard.de/themenwoche_2007/zukunft/kinder-sind-zukunft/kinder-wollen-lernen/schule-ohne-abschluss/-/id=520618/
nid=520618/did=553692/csi64b/index.html

ITALY
The UE has arranged five goals to be realized by the end of 2020,
concerning occupation, research and development, climate, energy,
education, social integration and reduction of poverty. One of the
most important point for us, as young students, is to reduce early
dropping out to 10% from current 15% and increase the share of the population aged 30-34
who have completed tertiary education, from 31% to almost 40%.
The scholastic dispersion has been a subject of debate in policies such as education and
training promoted by the European Union for years. Early School Leaving is a social
phenomenon and its causes are not purely educational, but the quality of school education
has a strong impact on its incidence. By improving the quality of education in schools and
the school system, all students will be helped and, therefore, the risk of dropping out will be
reduced.
Many students fail to complete
their schooling. This can
cause serious problems for
individuals, their families and
the country. We will examine
the reasons why students
leave school early, and
suggest some possible
solutions.
This chart shows the top
reasons for early dropout are
the following:
In 2010 Italy failed to achieve
the “Lisbon Strategy” goal to
reduce the school dropout rate
to 10%. The economic
crisis contributed to the increase of NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training) rates:
22.7% of the whole population aged 15-29 do not work or study. The female population is
more affected by this phenomenon: 24.5% of women against 20.1% of men aged 15-29 are
NEET.

An Italian student in three drops out state high school without completing it, because he
feels inadequate or as a result of too many changes, for example.
When young students decide not to attend anymore, they throw away anything which has
to do with school, not only books, but even outings, friends, sport activities. There is a great
number of students in Italy who drop out right after the years of compulsory school and, at
the age of twenty, when they are adults, find themselves empty-handed, feeling lost.
What are the main causes of scholastic failure? Early school leaving is often due to social
unease: bullying, violence in stadiums, petty crime, drugs, deviant behaviour in general, etc.
According to a report carried out by Save the Children‟, entitled „To free children from
educational poverty‟ what point are we at?”, Sicily and Sardinia have clearly rates of
scholastic dispersion superior to the Italian average, followed by Campania, Calabria and
Puglia.
Primarily on evidence there are the results of a survey of an action of contrast to early
school leaving, carried out in the school years 2013/2014 and 2014/2015 in the four regions
involved in the survey: Calabria, Campania, Puglia and Sicily. It involved 828 schools and
51.116 students, using 30 result indicators, the most remarkable of which reveals that 94.5%
of students did not suspend school attendance and 88% passed successfully.
The following figure shows the situation in our school (Credits: Scuola in chiaro):
Early school leaving in Calabria concerns 17% of pupils. In Calabria 17% of pupils
prematurely abandon school, stopping after getting a middle school licence.
Another alarming fact related to many cases is the one recorded in the area of Locri, a
Calabrian town where 165 pupils had more than 50 absences in one year, going beyond the
accepted limit by law related to compulsory school. The problem that today there are still
such persisting levels of scholastic dispersion involves the shared responsibility of schools,

teachers and parents in the social exclusion of Calabrian boys and girls and so we are called
upon to think about.
In order to think of solutions, we have decided to meet a psychologist and this has made
us understand how necessary it is to be helped by an expert on communication and
behaviour, when we try to solve the problems of school dropouts. We have talked about the
need of family-school collaborative relationships. The presence of a psychologist at school
can be very helpful in recognizing the reasons for dropping out, as well as in creating
integration strategies with the participation of all students and teachers.
Sources:
http://www.generativita.it/it/analysis/dispersione-scolastica-molti-problemi-trasversali-e-
qualche-soluzione-/56/
http://www.laricerca.loescher.it/istruzione/593-drop-out-storia-di-un-rovesciamento.html
http://www.nuovapedagogia.com/abbandono_scolastico.pdf
http://osdspa.jimdo.com/bibliografia/
http://www.vita.it/it/article/2016/03/30/scuola-scende-il-drop-out-in-italia/138816/
http://www.indire.it/eurydice/content/index.php?action=read_cnt&id_cnt=16778
http://www.indire.it/lucabas/lkmw_img/eurydice/Q_Eurydice_31.pdf
http://www.vita.it/it/article/2015/12/21/la-tecnologia-in-classe-fa-crollare-i-drop-out/
137773/
http://www.indire.it/2016/03/25/dispersione-scolastica-in-italia-abbandono-precoce-
scende-al-15/
http://www.vita.it/…/scuola-scende-il-drop-out-in-i…/138816/
http://www.indire.it/eurydice/content/index.php… ( 30/3/2016)
http://www.indire.it/eurydice/content/index.php…
http://www.indire.it/lu…/lkmw_img/eurydice/Q_Eurydice_31.pdf
http://www.vita.it/…/la-tecnologia-in-classe-fa-cro…/137773/
http://www.indire.it/…/dispersione-scolastica-in-italia-ab…/
http://osdspa.jimdo.com/bibliografia/
http://www .consiglioregionale.calabria.it/upload/istruttoria/
1%20Estratto%20Asse_Por_.pdf

PORTUGAL
The result of the Portuguese research presented the data on school
abandonment and failure at the national level, which are shown
below. research was made on official websites, such as the National
Statistical Institute and PORDATA and at the local level in the
Educational Project of the Group. For a broad knowledge on this
topic, there some readings of research papers were made.
We will present some considerations about school dropout and failure, afterwards, the
data at the national level, as well as about the Grouping and finally the measures that the
Grouping has implemented to promote educational success.
Dropouts are characterized by the early departure of school, before completing
compulsory schooling and / or reaching the age of 18.
School failure, on the other hand, is a problem of school achievement, which translates
into disapproval.
School failure and dropout have a relation of interdependence, because many young
people, who leave school early, have academic pathways marked by school failure.
The causes of failure are varied and can focus on various actors, such as students,
families, teachers, schools, curriculum and society.
The factors that can influence are:
Students
- Lack of vocation;
- Characteristic instability in adolescence. This often leads the student to reject
school, to disinvest in the study of subjects and often to indiscipline;
- Delays in cognitive development;
- Lifestyles.
- Difficulty in matching the school requirements, with the most diverse requests
(frequent night outs, computer games, sports, etc.);

Families
The responsible factors may focus on:
- Authoritarian parents;
- Family conflicts;
- Litigious divorces may lead to the students feeling rejected and begins to
disinterest in their school career, adopting an undisciplined behaviour;
- Social background, especially families with low economic resources, where
there is a higher percentage of school failures;
- Cultural values of families of low economic resources, according to s o m e
sociologists, opposed to the school objectives and role (individual merit, spirit of
competition, etc
- Time spent in the children‟s education.
Teachers
- When we speak of teachers, consideration should be given to teaching
methods, didactic resources, inadequate communication techniques according to
the characteristics of the class or of each student, lead to a poor pedagogical
relationship that negatively influences the results, as well as the management of
the discipline in the classroom.

The data collected shows that in Portugal dropout rates are 13.7%, being 16.4% male
and 11% female. The grouping does not have any situation of dropping out since
2006/2007 and cancellation of registration of students over 18 (some for the development
of educational modalities for the county) oscillates between 0.0% and 1.2%.
All in all, focusing on solutions, a wide range of measures have to be implemented to
improve the autonomy and responsibility of the students; standardize the elaboration of class
statutes; motivate for learning through the diversity of strategies; promote habits and
methods of study that are autonomous and adapted to individual needs. The planned
activities are the availability of a class time for activities to support the study and valorisation
of merit, dedication and effort in the work and in the school performance of the students
through the maintenance of the Best Class Award and the Value and Excellence
Frameworks ; Implementation of tutorials.
Sources:
Official websites about dropouts and failure in Portugal
https://www.ine.pt/xportal/xmain?xpid=INE&xpgid=ine_base_dados
Statistics of Portugal, Official dates, Instituto Nacional de Estatística
http://www.pordata.pt/Portugal
Statistics of Portugal Pordata: Fundação Francisco Manuel dos Santos
h t t p : / / w w w . p o r d a t a . p t / P o r t u g a l /
Taxa+de+abandono+precoce+de+educa%c3%a7%c3%a3o+e+forma%c3%a7%c3%a3o+tot
al+e+por+sexo-433
Statistics of Portugal, Pordata: Fundação Francisco Manuel dos Santos
http://observatorio-das-desigualdades.cies.iscte.pt/index.jsp?page=indicators&id=27
Observatory of Inequalities, Indicators: early school leavers

SPAIN
The following graph represents the percentage of
population from 18 to 24 years who dropped out of school
and formation in the different countries of the European
Union in 2015.
As we can see, Spain was the country where most people dropped out of education that
year, leading the EU‟s objective for 2020 by a 10% (20%).One of the priority objectives of
the European Union in 2020 is to put the dropout rate of education and training below 10%.
Spain, due to its high percentage, has been proposed to reduce it below 15%.
So far in 2016, this rate has fallen by 0.6%, while if we take as reference the last 12
months, the decline is 1.2 points. The rate of early school dropout is 23.2% among men, and
15.4% among women.
Five years ago - in 2011 - early school leaving stood at 26.32% and moved to 24.7 in
2012; to 23.6% in 2013; to 21.9% in 2014; and to 20.0% in 2015.
In this way Spain is closer to the target set by the European Union for the year 2020 and
that sets for our country an early school dropout rate of 15%. This objective is achievable
thanks to the professionalism of the teachers, the commitment of the families and the effort
of the students.
Next, we will tackle with dropouts in the Valencia region.
This statistics table shows the percentage of population from 18 to 24 years who haven‟t
completed the Compulsory Secondary Education and don‟t follow with any type of education
or training.
When we represent this data on a chart, we can observe clearly that dropout is more
common in men than in women and, in general, over the years, dropouts data has improved,
decreasing from 33,1% to 27,34% in men, from 23,52% to 15,37% in women and from
28,36% to 21,44% in both genders.

What are the main causes for such dropouts? A number of them are presented in the
following diagram.
AGE
GENDER
FAMILY
STABILITY
SOCIOECONOMIC
STATUS
IMMIGRANT
CONDITION
IMMIGRANT
CONDITION
ETHNIC GROUP
Questionnaires were collected from 5,538 adolescents between the ages of 12 and 20
(77.3 % of the total response), 48.6 % were females. Problematic use of the Internet was
observed in 13.6 % of the surveyed individuals; problematic use of mobile phones in 2.4 %
and problematic use in video games in 6.2 %.

Problematic Internet use was associated with female students, tobacco consumption, a
background of binge drinking, the use of cannabis or other drugs, poor academic
performance, poor family relationships and an intensive use of the computer.
Factors associated with the problematic use of mobile phones were the consumption of
other drugs and an intensive use of these devices.
Frequent problems with video game use have been associated with male students, the
consumption of other drugs, poor academic
performance, poor family relationships and
an intensive use of these games.
Internet Coefficient OR (CI 95 %) p
Female −0.682 0.51 – 0.43–0.60) <0.001
Good relationship with family −0.567 0.57 – 0.45–0.71) <0.001
Binge drinking 0.398 1.49 1.20–1.85) <0.001
Cannabis 0.485 1.62 (1.27–2.09) <0.001
Smoking 0.820 2.27 (1.78–2.90) <0.001
After-school
activities
1 day −0.760 0.47 (0.33–0.66) <0.001
2 days −0.702 0.50 (0.40–0.62) <0.001
3 days −0.833 0.44 (0.36–0.53) <0.001
Problematic use
of Internet
Occasional problems 0.219 1.25 (1.04–1.49) 0.016
Frequent problems 0.299 1.348 (1.053–1.727) 0.018
Constant −0.554 0.58 <0.001
Mobile phones Coefficient OR (CI 95 %) p
Female −0.787 0.46 (0.39–0.54) <0.001
Good relationship with family −0.690 0.50 (0.40–0.63) <0.001
Binge drinking 0.370 1.45 (1.17–1.79) 0.001

Cannabis 0.374 1.45 (1.13–1.87) 0.003
Smoking 0.843 2.32 (1.83–3.00) <0.001
After-school
activities
1 day −0.733 0.48 (0.34–0.67) <0.001
2 days −0.658 0.52 (0.42–0.65) <0.001
3 days −0.876 0.416 (0.34–0.50) <0.001
Problematic use of
mobile phone
Occasional problems 0.611 1.843 (1.52–2.24) <0.001
Constant −0.359 0.699 0.006
Video games Coefficient OR (CI 95 %) p
Female −0.704 0.49 (0.41–0.60) <0.001
Good relationship with family −0.645 0.53 (0.41–0.67) <0.001
Binge drinking 0.392 1.48 (1.17–1.87) 0.001
Cannabis 0.406 1.50 (1.15–1.97) 0.003
Smoking 0.954 2.60 (2.00–3.37) <0.001
After-school
activities
1 day −0.725 0.48 (0.34–0.69) <0.001
2 days −0.678 0.51 (0.40–0.64) <0.001
3 days −0.906 0.40 (0.33–0.50) <0.001
Problematic use of
video games
Occasional problems 0.042 1.04 (0.85–1.28) 0.692
Constant −0.4130.66

To sum up, this study offers information on the prevalence of addictive behaviours of the
Internet, mobile phones and video game use.
The problematic use of these ICT devices has been related to the consumption of drugs,
poor academic performance and poor family relationships.
This intensive use may constitute a risk marker for ICT addiction
Exploratory models of multivariate logistic regression related with poor academic
performance (dependent variable)
Sources:
●
http://www.mecd.gob.es/servicios-al-ciudadano-mecd/estadisticas/educacion/
mercado-laboral/epa2015.html
●
https://www.educacion.gob.es/educabase/menu.do? type=pcaxis&path=/
Formacionyml/EPA2015/Aban&file=pcaxis&l=s0
●
http://www.mecd.gob.es/prensa-mecd/actualidad/2016/10/20161027-abandono-
escolar.html
●
http://www.mecd.gob.es/servicios-al-ciudadano-mecd/estadisticas/educacion/
indicadores-publicaciones-sintesis/cifras-educacion-espana/2013-14.html

CHAPTER II: ACTIONS TO PREVENT
D R O P O U T S : P R O T O C O L &
VOLUNTEERING
Action protocols
According to the results of our research, each country has elaborated a protocol to be
used in their schools in order to reduce the number of school dropouts as well as to increase
motivation in our students to go on studying and training.
Such protocols are a practice guide focused on dropout prevention practices designed for
use in secondary schools, especially on students who are at risk for dropping out of school.
The primary aim is on practices that address staying in school, progressing in school, and
completing school. The following questions lead the five protocols elaborated for the project
and which are described below:
- Which dropout prevention strategies and practices are effective in keeping at-risk
students in school?
- Which dropout prevention strategies and practices are effective in helping at-risk
students progress in school?
- Which dropout prevention strategies and practices are effective in helping at-risk
students graduate from high school?

CZECH REPUBLIC
Protocol about solutions to dropouts, SŠaMŠ Na Bojišti, Liberec.
THE AIM OF THE PROTOCOL
The main aim of this protocol is the identification of and support for
struggling students. It furthermore tries to connect students and parents
to school and helps prevent and reduce the dropout rate at our school.
THE REASONS FOR DROPOUTS
There are 6 main reasons for dropouts a tour school. They are:

Disciplinary problems and absence

Exclusion (unable to make friends)

Inappropriate choice of field of study

Lack of interest

Personal and family reasons

Too much academic pressure
We will describe them a little closer and talk about how our school tries to prevent the
problems of dropouts.
Disciplinary problems and absence
Our school deals with disciplinary problems quickly with the help of the parents.
Communication with parents is very important. In case of a problem online communication is
available or parents are invited to school for a meeting. In all other cases problems are
discussed at parents‟ evening.
All information about timetables, absence and notification for tests and exams is on the
Online School System (Školaonline). It is accessible for parents and students.
Exclusion (unable to make friends)
For students to feel at home and make friends our school organizes Harmonization Week,
which includes trips with the class teacher and a psychologist. Students take part in ice-
beakers and various games, including team work.
Other school events for students to interact include:

annual trips to the Tatra Mountains

Ski training for selected classes

Genève International Motor Show

Excursions to the National Theatre

Lack of interest
To motivate students and keep them interested in school we have various projects and
competitions where students can show their talents and use their language skills.
Projects:

Erasmus+ Solutions: From Dropouts to Excellence

Student mini-enterprises in 5 regions of CZ

InGenious Project

Competitions

Automechanik Junior

Czech-Slovak Automechanic

Language Olympics

Sport competitions (football, volleyball, etc.)
Personal and family reasons
Drug Abuse Prevention is very important a tour school. It helps reduce peer pressure and
improves self-control. I tis recommended to consult with the school advisor.
The guidance counsellor is in charge of the integration of students and is always in close
contact with families and students.
Our school also offers Psychological pedagogical counselling, which supports students
with educational problems, career choices and learning disabilities.
Too much academic pressure
Sometimes there is a fear of failing their parents, panic attacks or substance abuse
because of academic pressure. Teachers look out for warning signs.
In order to help students, cope the teachers offer consultation hours where they explain
assignments and prepare students for their graduation exam.
We also have a programme called “Students help Students”. Students with excellent
learning results tutor weaker students

GERMANY
Measures to prevent early school drop-outs at the Kreuzburg
Gymnasium:
1.Volunteer work internships

Assistance for highly gifted students

After school care

School psychologist

Liaison teacher

Project: School and Economy

Tutoring - Students helping students
General information
Obligatory for students in Year 10 since 1995
What are the goals of social work internships?
Students are active and help people in need training of social skills becoming aware of
the importance of volunteerism for the local community. New experiences new future
perspectives.
2. Assistance for highly gifted students
General information
Individual support and coaching of highly gifted students by experts at school
How can intellectual giftedness be diagnosed?

Universal screening

Questionnaire

Psychological tests (e.g.: intelligence tests)
What problems do highly gifted students face? How does this programme help them?

Bored - They need a challenge

No structure - Teacher helps them to find out suitable learning strategies

Don´t know how to handle thinking - differently from the majority mentoring to
make them feel comfortable and embrace their giftedness

Feeling lonely Communication with other talented students

3. After school care - The THS
General information
Institution for students (Year 5 - Year 9) after school
What is the intention of after school care?

Supervision of homework and preparation for lessons/exams

Giving individual support and further training options

Offering different free-time activities

Cooperation with teachers and parents finding solutions

Main intentions: education – care – providing a structured daily routine
4. School psychologist
General information
Weekly consultation-hours
Provides support and advice for any kind of personal and academic issues
What is the school psychologist´s experience with dropouts?
When interviewed, he mentioned that there have been zero cases that came to see
him to talk about dropping out, but multiple students that sought advice regarding changing
school or retaking the class.
5. Liaison teacher
General information

All teachers can run for this office

Annual election by students
Qualities students expect from a liaison teacher

good listener

empathetic

solution-orientated

sympathetic
How does she help students?


Talks to students who have problems

They may come to her in breaks or after school

"Lawyer" for students

Mediation between students and between students and teachers
What is her experience with dropouts and what are her solutions?

Number of students have fear of having to leave school

Students feel useless points to their talents and makes suggestions of how to
use their gifts Offers to talk to teachers providing assistance in subject‟s students
perform badly in close cooperation with school psychologist
6. Project: School and Economy
General information

Project has existed since 2014

Occupational counselling

Weekly consultation-hour and different projects for Years 10-12
How does the project support students?

Providing brochures and reading material, e.g. local universities‟ list of study
programs, study abroad programs, European initiatives, gap year offers;

Connecting students and alumni as well as students and companies

Compulsory internship in Year 11

Helping students to choose the right profession after school on the basis of their
talents and skills

Shows new future perspectives
7.Tutoring - Students helping students
General information
Project for students by other students
Students from Year 10-12 tutor students up to Year 9
Students work in groups of four or five
Tutoring is offered in Math, German, English, French, Latin
How do older students help younger ones?


Explaining content and reviewing basic knowledge

Helping with homework

Test preparation

ITALY
One of the most important points, as young students, is to
reduce early dropping out to 10% from the current 15% and to
increase the share of the population aged 30-34 who have
completed tertiary education, from 31% to almost 40%.
Many students fail to complete their schooling. This can cause serious problems
for individuals, their families and the country. We will examine the reasons why
students leave school early in our region, and suggest some possibilities.
In Calabria 17% of pupils prematurely abandon school, stopping after getting a
middle school licence. There are different reasons but we can find 11 main reasons
REASONS
●
Being bullied
●
Being bored
●
School environment
●
Low self-esteem
●
Family issues or problems
●
Teacher and school problems
●
Being held back

●
No one cares of student’s attendance
●
The student has to make money to support his/her family
●
School is not relevant to the student’s life
●
Failing too many classes
In the last few years our school has developed some projects in order to
recognise pupil multiple intelligences and to find solutions for school dropout, one
of them is our Erasmus + ka1 219 “Solutions from dropouts to excellence”
Our school psychologist, our headmaster and our teachers have had a great role
in recognising the reasons for dropping out.
Psychologist and teachers working in team have helped the students first in
recognising their skills and then supported them in improving their abilities to
achieve better results.
In every class we have a teacher coach (coordinator) a tutor that try to
understand mediate and solve, with the team, not only learning problems.
BEING BULLIED BEING BORED
Low self-esteem Teachers' help Promoting creativity / Stimulating
enthusiasm
Protagonist for one day We organize a music band

SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT
To reorganise the environment to be involved in competitive activities
LOW SELF-ESTEEM
Free artistic expressions - Art is communication
We also prepare videos as you can see in our channel in You
Tube:
https://www.youtube.com/user/iteRaffaelePiria

Our school has organized seminars on “Solidarity” and on
theories of multiple intelligence

Anything that is worth teaching can be presented in many different ways.
These multiple ways can make use of our multiple intelligence
Howard Gardner
WORK-LINKED TRAINING – law n. 107/2015 art. 4 - ASL

VOLUNTEERING
We organize many activities with the students
We have an online School system with access for parents and students, a
directly way of communication with parents: activities done in class, homework, test, oral
question, etc.
Meetings with parents:
we have twice or three times a year meeting with parents – all the teachers together
and twice a month – every teacher one hour.
PAI
We are preparing, for the next school year, the PAI program “Annual Plan of Inclusion” its
means the strategies pedagogical and educational that the school provides to include all the
students, with BES (Special Education Needs), DSA (Special learning difficulties), foreign
students and with economic/social problems.

The changes must be done step by step, here they are other proposals:

To encourage and to increase mutual information between local authorities,
school and families.

To organize courses of communication for teachers, students, parents and staff

Regular information meeting for students, parents and teachers.

To revise individual Learning Plan (ILP ) not only for students but a l s o f o r
entire classes.

To provide program option for students, if it possible.

To run training events and courses for teachers.

Family formation.

To create a strong peer community at school.

To provide and support encouragements to help every student, with special
needs, foreign students etc.

To organize alternative education pathways:

programs and strategies (adapted to the multiple intelligences – music, theatre,
sport etc.)

PBL method (as we start with eTwinning projects) more use of TIC .

In the questionnaire filled by our students they asked for new methodological
approaches to be more motivated.

To apply a new Italian law on Cyber bullying (law n. 3139-b/ 17
th
May 2017) for
preventing and combating the phenomenon of Cyber bullying.

PORTUGAL
SCHOOL DROPOUTS PROTOCOL
School abandonment in Portugal and specifically in our school is
not much, because students have to stay in school until they are
18. Even so, whenever a student starts missing school for a large period of time without a
proper justification, the school reports the student‟s situation to the
legal authorities and Child Protective Services, that start a
process and then they check the reasons of absence and
implement measures so they can be reintegrated in school.
School failure is the most worrying situation of students in our
school. In order to help students to achieve
their goals and succeed in school our school
has established some measures, which will
help students with their difficulties, because the
measures are oriented towards them. To help
reducing the growing unsuccess rate in the
subjects of Portuguese, Maths and Sciences
the students are given extra classes, where
they are taught in a more individualized way and according to their difficulties. In Science
classes, they also have, more experimental classes so they can have a more practical
learning.
Students with learning difficulties also
have the possibility of having study
support classes, where they are
tutored by teachers, and where
students can learn new ways of
organizing their study and new learning
processes.
The
School Psychology and School Health
Services are also very important because
these services give the students the support
they need in solving some health issues,
motivation and vocational counselling.

Foreign students or those who come from different cultural environments are also helped
in order to fully integrate them in our school.
In more specific cases, there are also school tutors who guide the students in a more
personal and individualized way who try,
sometimes, to solve not only learning
problems but also personal problems the
students may have.

SPAIN
INTRODUCTION
This protocol is aimed to students under 18 who have
neither completed the compulsory secondary education nor
have intention to continue with any kind of further studies or
formation.
EARLY SCHOOL DROPOUT is a complex problem which may be influenced by a wide
variety of factors which have to be addressed in order to find realistic solutions that may
allow us reengage students in school life and help them find the best way to qualify and get
involved in the world of employment.
We can divide these influencing factors into four main categories:
1. Strictly individual or personal which may refer either to cognitive or to motivational
reasons
2. Educational or School factors related to contents and school demands with the
classroom working procedure, organizational models, etc.
3. Family factors: this includes from specific family features which have a positive or
negative influence on students and a strong difference in the concept of education between
the specific family and the school.
4. Broader social and cultural factors: including mass media, as well as trending role
models and social values
All this circumstance can lead to School failure, thus, according to research, dropout is
not a sudden decision but the consequence of various factors which have been giving
signals for some time. Regardless of the reasons which may lead to dropout, student
engagement in school and learning has proved to play an important role in school
completion and most experts suggest that students must actively participate in school and
have a feeling of identification with school in order to remain in school and graduate.
With that aim we have divided our protocol into three stages:

PREVENTION

DETECTION

INTERVENTION
1. PREVENTION
The first step when addressing dropout is analyzing the school context.
For that we will consider: Student‟s origin: (schools of the region which send us their
students) and students‟ socio-economical context

In our school context we will take advantage of our Transition Program which consists of
regular meetings among representatives of the Primary schools which send students to our
Secondary school with the Head teacher and the departments of instrumental subjects such
as Spanish, Valencian and Maths.
This allows our head teacher to have early information about at-risk of dropout students
and inform future teachers, tutors and the Support Department in order to monitor the
student‟s adaptation to the new environment.
WELCOME & RECEPTION program for new STUDENTS
Our school organizes a reception program which consists of
NEWCOMERS’ PARENTS’ MEETING with the Headmaster, Head teacher and
Psychologist both at the beginning at the beginning of the course.
A PARENTS’ MEETING at the beginning of the course their son or daughter‟s tutors.
Student’s reception. Every school which sends us students has an appointment to visit
the school so that students become familiar with the new environment they will have.
In these meetings students and their families are informed about the compulsory nature of
the fulfillment of the right to education.
They are also informed about the rules established in the in the School Regulation
especially regarding Attendance and Absenteeism, distribution of classes, subjects, levels
and all the available resources that the School Community offers in order to have fluent
communication between families, teachers tutors and School Administration
Representatives. Parents and Students are given a leaflet with the teacher‟s availability to
meet them (1 hour per week), and aforementioned information.
With these meetings we increase the chance of knowing at-risk of dropout students even
before entering our school, and when necessary, we use the resources specified to the
INTERVENTION stage.
2.DETECTION ACTIONS
As we have previously stated Dropout is a complex problem influenced by different
factors which can trigger this giving up desire in any moment of a student‟s educational life.
With the aim of detecting new cases we have created an At- RISK STUDENTS PROFILE
TEST which includes INDICATORS which allow us to see as precisely as possible which are
the factors that are mostly influencing the student and, consequently choose the best
strategy for their reincorporation to the educational system prematurely.

The Test can be done whenever a student is suspicious of losing track of his or her
school involvement, either by the tutor or by the Support Department.
The indicators are divided into three main categories
a) Learning difficulties.

School difficulties and curricular lag.

Failed subjects.

Personal history of school failure

Scarce knowledge of the language of instruction.

Late start of schooling and / or have not regularly attended the stage of early
childhood education.

Truancy

Absenteeism
When these are the reasons which may lead to dropout. The tutor will be in charge of
monitoring the student, meeting him individually, contacting and meeting the family and
communicating the rest of the teachers and the head teacher in order to adopt the
necessary. measures:
if having difficulties with a subject, the teaching may adapt the contents
b) Behaviour and social difficulties

Deficit in social skills

Low self-concept. and self-esteem.

Having suffered or suffering harassment or bullying or discrimination

Lack of motivation and personal interests far removed from school.

Disruptive behaviour, problems of discipline

Little identification with the school (including perception of the school as hostile
environment and even rejection of teachers and studies).

Desire for economic autonomy of the young person.
c) Family and economic difficulties which favour school dropout:

Teachers are systematically questioned, unauthorized or discredited from the
family context.

They lack adequate conditions or favorable environment for the study.


They are not provided with the school material.

The school homework is not monitored and / or supervised.

Lack of commitment to the educational center, attending meetings and calls.

In situations of difficulty of their children do not request help to the school to be
able to apply measures and low school expectations towards their children

The non-exercise of authority by the parents

Deficit in skills and basic educational strategies to value and reward the effort of
their children, or establish clear limits and norms and enforce them (little authority
and consistency in the educational agenda).

Family history of absenteeism and early school leaving.

Families that require the intervention or action of external agents, social services
or others.

Families who use their children to perform certain jobs or occupations.

Group of friends with little interest in studies.

Social environment is not motivating even belonging to groups where school
absenteeism, failure and school dropout is the ordinary.

Neighborhood environments with social problems.
3.INTERVENTION
Once AT-RISK STUDENTS have been identified we have designed a clear and complete
ACTION PLAN, which establishes who, how, and how often will monitor, supervise or
reinforce the student depending on the problem to solve.
On the one hand, it is also important to say that Promoting school completion implies
a change of focus in the way we have traditionally understood education, that is, we should
move
FROM TO
a deficit orientation A strength-based orientation
a narrowly defined system of operation A comprehensive interface of systems
implementation at a single period in time Implementation over time
a programmatic “one size fits all” orientation Creating a person-environment fit

On the other hand, all the strategies that we have developed have an unavoidable
common factor that is Student’s engagement with school, and, for most of them creating a
sense of belonging is necessary for success. So, for each specific problem we will use one
or more of the suggested engaging strategies which will involve the home, school, and/or
peers. Consequently, a focus on facilitators of engagement is a promising approach to
guiding the development of effective interventions promoting school completion.
> To solve Learning difficulties, we must enhance Academic engagement

Curriculum adaptations, each subject teacher,

Remedial education (e.g., reading remediation)

Computer-assisted learning –student

Test-taking and study skills assistance – Tutor and Support department

Tutoring: tutor, teachers

Homework assistance: Peers

Extracurricular activities : Peers / teachers

Professional development for school staff: teacher courses
SCHOOL STRUCTURE
Class or grade reorganization (schools within schools, PEER HELP, MENTORS, ETC)
Small class sizes/small “learning communities” (FBB, PMAR)
> To solve behaviour and social difficulties we must enhance:

Behavioral engagement includes attendance, suspension, and class
participation.
o
Attendance monitoring, tutor & head teacher
o
Suspension, head teacher & mediation committee
o
Class participation, students/teachers/peers

Psychological engagement includes identification with school and sense of
belonging.

SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS: voluntary peers supervised by teachers or Support Dpt.

Mentoring

Peer support

Social events

Community service/volunteer service/tutoring (“helper-therapy”)

Recreational, wilderness, etc. program

Department
PERSONAL/AFFECTIVE (Support Dpt. and voluntary peers or teachers)

Counseling

Skills training (life skills, social skills/social competence)

Cognitive behavioral therapy (e.g., problem solving skills)


> To solve family and economic difficulties we must engage families with :

Family outreach (teachers, tutors, head teacher)

Feedback to parents and students on performance (teachers, tutors)

Parent or teacher consultation enhancement (via email, Itaca application, phone,
meetings, etc.)

Parenting skills program (parents association)
WORK RELATED/ FINANCIAL SUPPORT (always through the Support department)

Internships

Career exploration

Vocational training

Job placement assistance

Living allowance

Bonuses and sanctions applied to welfare grant

LINKING TO SERVICES (always through Head teacher supervision)

Social Services case management

Health services

Transportation assistance

Child care/day care

Residential living services

Grant information an application

Volunteering projects as a part of the implementation of the
protocol
Volunteering is a great way to make a difference in our school communities, discover a
new interest, explore a possible careers, network with new mentors, make friends and have
fun. Moreover, it is crucial to raise social responsibility as an important part of our high
school programmes.
There are lots of teen community service opportunities that are engaging, starting with
service clubs at our high schools or in our communities. That is why volunteering has been
considered in our project as a measure to reduce school dropouts, motivate at-risk students
and also help peer-students who, because of some other reason, have problems at school.

CZECH REPUBLIC
Our voluntary project.
A volunteer is someone, who helps other people and doesn´t expect
anything in return. It makes other people help others. When we help
others it comes back to us. Younger students in the Czech Republic
have to do their state exams in Maths, so our volunteer project gets
older students to help younger ones. We want to mentor younger students, who have
problems in Maths and need to pass their exams.
Comic description:
1. Another school day. Students are getting their tests back with marks. Jakub got an
F. - Jakub-
2. Jakub is leaving class with tears in his eyes and meets his older friend Patrick. -
Patrick- - Jakub- - Patrick-
3. Patrick starts to teach Jakub. - Patrick- - Jakub-
4. Now it´s time for Jakub to rewrite his test. - Jakub is thinking-
5. Wow! He got an A.
6. Jakub is happy. He has improved his mark so he is on the way home, but he
meets his younger friend Vojta, who is crying with his test in his hands. - Jakub- -
Vojta-
7. End) Thanks to this volunteering program at school made by students everyone
has good marks. It is awesome.

GERMANY
Developing the Big Brother Reading Project
Following the steps suggested by the web quest, which had been created be our Spanish
coordinators, we first thought about volunteer work in general and spent some time talking
about our strengths, hobbies and skills. Then we watched promo videos of different
volunteer organizations, for example the Big Brother, Big Sister Project or Habitat for
Humanity. Based on the first two steps we made 3 groups working on one project proposal
each and advertised the projects later in front of the whole group. One project idea was to
introduce middle school students to the high school curriculum. The second was a little bit
similar to the Big Brother Project and the third one was to integrate immigrants into our
community. We soon thought of ways to combine the last two projects. But then we got news
of a reading project, in which volunteers read to children from refugee families. Learning
about studies showing that access to education and a wide range of vocab and topics at
young age is key to the person‟s later career success, and hearing that the younger you are
the easier it is for you to learn reading, we decided to develop a similar reading project.
Another reason which supported that decision was the fact that we realized that in the
middle of our school‟s 50th anniversary year and most participants‟ transition from middle to
high school, making time would be a problem.
Let‟s move on to the question what the Big Brother Reading Project is?
Our target group should be primary and preschool students whom we want to read to and
teach how to read. We started contacting nursery schools, preschools and local elementary
schools in late September and one primary school showed interest in cooperating with us.
After having secured the support from our head master, we got into planning the specifics of
the project. One senior class student reads every second Thursday about an hour to 1-2

elementary school kids after school. The books will be chosen from a wide range of topics,
which we find in local libraries.
Our goals
1. We hope to help children (in particular of immigrant background) to improve their
pronunciation, e.g. practice difficult sounds. But not only do we hope to improve their
pronunciation, but we think that reading helps to develop a better overall
understanding and feel for the language, especially for sentence structure and
context. Similarly, the project is intended to expand the children‟s vocabulary and
knowledge of many topics and areas of life. For this reason we understand that we
can‟t only read the children‟s favorite books but – as mentioned before – we want to
go to local libraries to rent books about different subjects, for example farm life,
sports, girl stuff or adventures.
2. Doing so we hope to improve the students‟ grades in school allowing them to actively
use the newly gained knowledge and words. Equally, studies prove that reading at a
young age helps to express yourself easily, naturally and more correctly.
3. But above all we try to awake the children‟s interest for books and reading by
motivating them through the project. Reading should be fun and we hope to leave that
impression.
4. We want to build relationships; between us and the children. Younger children look up
to teenagers, listen and learn. We want to grow into mentoring role models learning to
take responsibility. Moreover, we want to get to know each other better. Maybe,
maybe – we will spend time together if we have a really good relationship, for
example going to a playground or walking around the village.
5. Since we want to build good relationships with the primary school kids, we want to
have fun, too. We hope that we can undertake several activities besides reading as a
group, for example paying games or doing sports such as table tennis or soccer. It
should be a voluntary project which benefits both, the primary school kids and us,
through new experiences and different views on various topics.
Future outlook and pressing needs.
We realize that, as of today, the number of students involved in the project is small.
Advertising the idea at fairs, meetings and events we hope and expect to involve more
students in our project in order to fulfil our goals to expand the project. We are not content
with only reaching a dozen of students but want to reach at least the whole class or cover
the total number of elementary school students in need of assistance.

Finally, we dream of promoting this project to other schools in the area raising awareness to
the weak and outcast and to make sure that no child, in particular no refugee or immigrant
child, is left behind being bound to an uncertain future due to the increased risk of dropping
out of school.

ITALY
We should like to explain how we organize our activities of
volunteering.
First of all we met with all the students of the Erasmus group and we
thought about how we can spend our free time volunteering, helping people in need in every
possible way.
During this meeting, we expressed our three wishes that we think could help us in our
volunteering action:

to help people

to pick up new experience

to be active people in society and to be socially conscious
Our school offers students who wish to be volunteers many voluntary activities, working
with many associations in our town, such as:
AIDO (Associazione italiana per la donazioni di organi / Italian association for organ
donation))
Avis (Associazione volontari italiani del sangue / Association of Italian voluntary blood
donors)

Pa.Ci (Palestra Civica / Civic Training Ground)

Attendiamoci (Let‟s wait for one another)

Ce.Re.So (Centro Reggino Sole / Reggio Sun Centre)

Scatti di valore (Worthy photographs)

Inconti con animatori e responsabili del Seminario Pio XI (Meetings with activity
organizers and managers of Theological Seminary ” Pio XI”)

Volunteering activities in some churches
Our project involve all the people inclined to help their neighbour.
Is clear that the volunteer represents an example of committed citizen that makes himself/
herself available for nothing, in order to facilitate the social integration of disadvantaged
people.
We understood that to be a volunteer a person has to be available, generous and he/she
has to have interest in other people. We would like to be the mentors of every person who
need help regardless of age, sex, religion and race.

After deep reflections we spoke about the activities that we would like to do to reach our
aims and they were: food collection for the poor and service at a soup kitchen. Is evident that
this project was aimed at the poorest and it was created and realized by our Erasmus group.
The activities we did together were food collection for poor people and service at a soup
kitchen. The project, as we have seen, was created at school and then all the group split our
town into areas to do the activity.
We collected the food in the supermarkets of our town and we served at a soup kitchen in
Saint George Extra church.
The comic strip that we have done represents our experiences.

PORTUGAL
Volunteering is something that people do and don‟t receive anything in return. There are
some types of volunteering and school volunteering consists in
helping someone who has a lot of difficulties.
Many schools have some initiatives such as: creating a student‟s
study room, promoting the use of the school library and the one
which is in the comic strip is the support of the students association to the students who
have difficulties.
My name is Sofia Araújo and I‟m here today as a member of the Erasmus+ project but also
as a member of the student‟s association. The student‟s association is a group of students
that represents and stands for the other students. We, as representatives of this group,
decided to implement actions related to volunteering here in our school.
This comic strip represents our aim through a fictional story. Carlos is a boy who as
difficulties and he is considering dropping out of school. Ana and Pedro, on the other hand,
are two students with good grades who are well integrated in school. They realize Carlos‟s
situation and try to help him, taking him to Clara, who is in the study room with other
students in the same situation as Carlos. Later, Carlos becomes a great student and helps
others the same way others helped him.
And that‟s the aim of this project: creating a propitious environment where students at risk
of dropping out of school can expose their difficulties to someone who understands them or
someone who is closer to them than teachers. And saying this, I‟m not trying to undervalue
teachers work. I am 100% sure that teachers have the most important role in student‟s
school education. However, for us, students, it‟s easier to expose our doubts to
someone of our age and to someone who thinks like us.
For example, I experience that every day. Normally when my classmates have doubts
they don‟t ask teachers for help, they come to me or to another student they know that can
help them. Based on the actions of my classmates and, to be honest, the actions of any
ordinary student, we decided to implement this kind of action, a simple action that has a
huge impact in a student‟s life.

SPAIN
SOLVE - VOLUNTEERING PROJECT
ORIGIN
Our volunteering project called SOLVE began when we
realized that newcomer students had problems when
they were adapting to the new educational centre and
they were relating to teachers and other
students.
It is a help among peer project; that is, mediation is facilitated thanks to help
among the students themselves and, since people who are responsible for help
aren‟t from a higher level, there is more confidence to deal with possible problems
that appear during the school year.
FUNCTIONS
In this project we are mainly in charge of:
1. Detecting the cases which have difficulties.
2. Mediating and, to the extent possible, problem-solving (schoolmate-
schoolmate, schoolmate-teacher…)
3. Encouraging the integration to the school context.
MEMBERS
The members of the voluntary service group are the 25 students that take part in
the project called From Dropouts to Excellence in the framework of Erasmus +,
which take 1st and 2nd year of baccalaureate. Among the members we have
established a group of coordinators formed by 5 students of 2nd year of
baccalaureate that will be replaced by 1st-level baccalaureate students in the 2nd
term.
With this project we intend to encourage the participation of students in the next
courses so that they persist during the following courses. In this way, every school
year will allow the incorporation of new volunteers ready to join in the practice of the

skills and abilities required by this project. The submission of a request to be a
volunteer will be done at the end of each course.
OPERATION
The operation of this project is based on the division of the different tasks between
the components that form part of the voluntary work, as well as regulating the
operation through meetings in which we verify that everything is going properly.
Firstly, we gather every week because of the numerous tasks for the preparation
of the course commencement. As the course progresses, the meetings will be
monthly or quarterly.
In these meetings, apart from dealing with the aforementioned topics, we suggest
new ideas to improve coexistence and think about our experiences to anticipate
possible problems. Those in charge of supervising them are the teachers Neus
Blasco and Isabel Guerrero.
When a problem arises, the students will have to contact with us, and we will
solve it in the best way whenever we are able. Otherwise, we will appeal to the most
suitable professionals for each situation:
1. Teachers
2. Tutors
3. Coexistence committee (where the orientation department is present)
4. Head of studies and/or headmaster
ADDRESSES
This project is based on peer help, so the students themselves are in charge of
helping the youngest of the center with the possible problems that arise throughout
the course.
1. On the one hand, we have assigned a mentor who studies 3rd year of ESO
to each newcomer of 1st ESO to advise them in any doubt about the centre

such as facilities, teacher‟s way of work, relationships between classmates
and even help in changing languages for foreign students.
2. In addition, we did a welcome for high school students from other centres,
mostly from IES Porçons of Aielo de Malferit, in order to explain the
operation of their new centre.
3. On the other hand, from the 2nd term, each 4th ESO student will receive
the advice of a mentor who studies 1st of baccalaureate. In this case, the
aid will focus on the educational path that the student wishes to follow: to
advise him on the selection of optional subjects, to guide them in the
different itineraries that can follow from 4th of ESO, how to request access
to CCFF studies, etc.
MATERIAL
In order to carry out the meetings of this project we have the library and the
English department‟s classroom.
Otherwise, we have designed some T-shirts that allow to identify ourselves as
volunteers of SOLVE. In this way, at least during the first week of classes, students
who require any kind of help can locate us easily.
On the other hand, we have distributed informative posters with messages and
photos of the volunteers throughout the educational centre in order to present the
project to the hundreds of students of our institute IES José Segrelles.
ACTIVITIES
Throughout the year we will carry out some activities:
1. Breakfast on the first day of class for the students of 1st and 3rd years of
ESO, to present to each student their mentor.
2. We will also organize talks on topics of interest to students. These are
designed to be taught by other students, so there is a relationship between
peers and therefore establishes greater confidence. The subjects will be
considered during the course and requests will be given by the students.
Some examples are: topics related to the study, the experiences of the

students themselves, the application of financial aid and the possibilities of
living unique experiences and improving the speaking skills of a foreign
language.
3. In order to organize and carry out all these activities, the 25 volunteers of
the project will receive training talks that will be given to the teachers of the
training cycle of Social Integration of our center.
4. Guide to show our high school to students coming from other centers:
facilities, operation, etc
EVALUATION OF THE ACTIVITIES
Once the talks are done we will provide some surveys to the participants to see
what they liked and what we can improve in the next courses. We will also pass
some questionnaires at the end of the course to students who have been mentors
and mentors to know what the other students think of the center and each year
improve this project. Finally, we will have a record of the cases that we solve to find
out if this project really works and is being beneficial to the center. The cohabitation
committee and the tutors will also make a report with all those cases that have been
resolved with the mediation of the students in order to assess the experience.

Chapter III: The European Union
helping us
GETTING HELP FROM THE EUROPEAN UNION
Why should we motivate our students to have a European experience? Here are 6 good
reasons for that.
1. Careers: Many employers worldwide actively seek or value an international study
experience when recruiting. By having an experience abroad, our students will gain the
skills, knowledge and experience that employers value. With strong international business,
creative and research sectors, Europe is a great place to build a career.
2. Support and friendship: European countries are welcoming and friendly for students from
all around the world, with a lot of social activities to help you feel at home and happy. Did you
know that 7 of the world's 10 happiest countries are in Europe? So Europe is also a great
place to live.
3. Cultural experience: Have a unique adventure. Studying or working abroad is also a once-
in-a-lifetime chance to discover new countries…From the snowy north to the sun-soaked
south, across Europe you will find breathtakingly beautiful landscapes, buzzing cities and
vibrant cultures waiting for you.
4. Scholarships and costs: Europe invests in education systems to help make education
affordable for students, whilst maintaining high quality standards. In fact, in some European
countries, study programmes are free of charge.
5. Diversity: Study what you want and the way you want.
6. Languages: Learn in English or another leading global business language. There are 24
official languages in the European Union… but did you know that most countries across
Europe offer study programmes in English too? In fact, English is a very usual
communication language within Europe.
How did we inform and motivated our students about all these possibilities in Europe?

ITALY
Two activities were carried out by the Italian team:
1.- Seminar for disseminatioin of the project with focus on European UNion opportunities.
2.- Interviews to former EU grants recipients:
https://youtu.be/0a972_zOIzg
SPAIN
For the promotion and dissemination of the resources the EU
can offer our students IES José Segrelles organized different
activities:
1.- Informative talk with experts from the regional education
department: GO EUROPE

All materials can be found in the following website:
http://www.europedirect.gva.es/ca
2.- Former students seminar: What can the EU offer us?
3.- Interviews to former EU grants recipients:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&time_continue=5&v=1IZTM8MV0m4

Chapter IV: Towards the Labour
Market
Early school leaving has significant societal and individual consequences. This includes
the increased risk of unemployment, poverty and social exclusion. The current economic
crisis may have diverging impacts on ESL. The crisis has hit sectors typically employing low-
skilled young people (e.g. construction, tourism, retail). This has reduced the labour market
„pull‟ effect observed during the boom years and in some countries may have encouraged
young people to remain in school or return to education and/or training. At the same time,
high unemployment rates can discourage young people from engaging in education and
training if obtaining a qualification is no longer perceived as a guarantee to secure
employment. Poverty and the unemployment of parents increases the risk of young people
leaving education and training prematurely; young people growing up in low-income families
may feel they need to leave education and training in order to contribute to the household
income.
Avoiding such situations of unemployment was mandatory and the main goal of our
project. That is why the last part of this project was devoted to Labour Market. We tried to
fill our students with all kind of experiences and tools from which, in the future, they could all
benefit the moment they finish their building and start their careers.
So, what happened in Frankfurt?
FRANKFURT AND THE ECB, AN EXAMPLE OF A EUROPEAN WORKING CITY
To experience the impact and importance of Frankfurt as one of the major financial and
economic hubs in Europe, offering a wide range of jobs, not only in the banking sector,
our group planned a trip to the city including a tour around the financial district.
Similarly, Europe feels very real in Frankfurt with the ECB tower as a prominent reminder
of the impact of the European Union on the financial and architectural life in the city, in
Germany and in the rest. Here, Europe feels very present. Hearing a variety of European
languages spoken on the streets, in bars and in and around the ECB building, living and
working as European citizens becomes real.
When we arrived, we were immediately impressed by the building, its enormous size and
architectural design. Although most people know that it exists, only a few of us were
actually aware of what the ECB is, which was why we were happy to have the honour to

not only to see its impressive facade, but to get an idea of what happens inside, of its
meaning and role for the European economy.
Subsequently, we got invited to take a seat to watch a presentation showing us more
detailed information about the ECB. Adding to that, we learnt crucial facts about the
ECB‟s history. For instance, we were told about the essential reasons for implementing
an economic and currency union in Europe as well as a common monetary authority.
Afterwards, we had the opportunity to explore the newly remade visitor centre by
ourselves. The huge multicoloured walls showed Europe`s biggest achievements while
giving us an understanding of the responsibility of ECB for Europe and the Euro.
Furthermore, there were several quizzes, like the instruction of matching different coins‟
prints to the correct countries. The trip‟s highlight was a look inside the model of the ECB
conference room, which we could visit and take a seat in. Apart from that, there was a
video showing the progress of a real conference including all members.
Lastly, it was still time to ask some questions before we moved on to experience more of
the economic and cultural history of Frankfurt.
To put it in a nutshell, the excursion was quite informative and showed the ECB‟s
significant influence on the European economy, which was emphasized vividly with
illustrating pictures and descriptions.
WORK RESEARCH WORKSHOP
On April 18th our Erasmus+ students attended a conference led by a specialist of this field,
Udo Först.
Firstly, the students introduced themselves to obtain a first contact. They practiced the
structure of a job interview focusing on the three main attitudes that had to be taken when
being interviewed.
The first one was being polite, that is to say, arriving punctually and talk properly, among
others. The second one was attention. The importance of showing attention and interest to
what the employer has to say is fundamental to cause a good impression. The third was the
confidence, the key to deal with the situation calmly.
In order to practice these strategies, especially the second one, students were divided into
groups. Each member explained his/her personality, weaknesses, strengths and working
experience.
To finish with the workshop, a job interview simulation was carried out to develop the ideas
learnt. Udo Först replied all the students‟ questions and all their doubts were satisfied.

CVs AND PORTFOLIOS
On the 19th of April, all teachers involved in the project met at school in the morning to
examine and evaluate the CVs presented by the students.
Some criteria were established to choose the best one, such as completeness, accuracy,
originality; but all agreed with the proposal of the German teachers to choose one CV for
each country, so that nobody would be disappointed.
Then each teacher examined carefully all CVs; they showed a great variety and were
different from one another: some students wrote technically precise and complete European
CVs, others created something unusual using different materials, like wood or plastic, giving
them an original form, while others, in addition to the official CV on paper, made a video CV.
In the end, teachers from each country chose the best CV for each school, and in the
afternoon, during the Travel Exhibition, the winners were announced. Each received a
symbolic prize accompanied by words of appreciation and encouragement.
So the meeting concluded to the great satisfaction of all participants.

Conclusion / Endnotes
The Erasmus+ project entitled 'Solutions: from dropout to excellence' will focus on mainly
two objectives: dropout prevention and guiding students towards excellence. When referring
to dropouts the entire school community will be involved in the research of the particular
causes in every participant school. By studying official figures and previous interventions or
studies in every country we will clarify the state of the issue and assess the influential
circumstances for early school dropout. Causes may be related to family environment,
emotional development, economic situation or academic possibilities. Conclusions will be
compared in the transnational meetings to agree with the basic features to be included in the
common protocol which will be the result of the first part of the project. Such Dropout
Prevention Protocol will include solutions for dropouts and the creation of a Volunteering
Project with mentor students which will accompany and guide new students whenever a
problem arises by contacting the acknowledged person (council, teachers, parents,
psychologist, etc.).
The second part of the project will guide students towards academic and personal
excellence. They will learn better ways to succeed in their studies by developing personal
skills (e.g. learning styles and multiple intelligences) and important competences (self-
sufficiency, problem-solving, entrepreneurial abilities, social and organizational skills,
improvement in ICT, language competences and cooperative work) which will raise their
awareness of their strengths and weaknesses to succeed in their studies and future jobs. As
students have to face huge problems to get accreditation for their educational or professional
background when visiting other European countries, we will launch a campaign to promote
all European tools we can benefit from (Europass, Eures or Language Passport) and work
on all important aspects to gain access to the labour market with their professional
achievements presented in a proper way to be recognized all around Europe (portfolios,
cover letters, video curriculums). All this will lead our students from dropouts to excellence
through Europe and by means of all tools we teachers can offer them for their personal and
professional success.
Agents of all kinds will, direct or indirectly, play an important role in the project. It intends
to have an impact on around 8000 people including: Erasmus+ team (teachers, students,
parents and other members of the school community), former Erasmus and Comenius
students, business people and local authorities.
Activities are practical and varied to produce different results to ensure dissemination and
sustainability of the project in all Europe. They are also motivating, available and doable by
all partners. They allow us employ different pedagogical scopes (conferences, seminars,
workshops, emotional education, cooperative learning and the use of new technologies) as

well as exchange experiences and good practices either personally (during the meetings) or
virtually (streaming, video-conferences or social networks).
Methodologically we consider some key aspects essential to create a realistic and
innovative project which emphasizes enjoyment and engagement: cooperative learning and
PBL, spaced learning, different learning styles, communicative effectiveness, use of ICT and
new technologies and transnational cooperation.
Results are closely linked to the activities to have the widest impact possible on the target
groups. The most remarkable are:
- E-Twinning project; Erasmus+ and Open Education Resources platforms, social
networks, Erasmus+ Corners;
- Project promo video, logo; start-up leaflets, travelling touristic exhibitions,
international video chats;
- Webquests, presentations, graffiti, RAP song, comic strips, online informative
videos; Storify stories; parents‟ evenings;
- Reports, articles and pictures;
- Seminars and workshops for all agents, parents' evenings;
- European accreditations and qualifications campaign; dropout prevention protocol,
volunteering project and final guide (printable and digital): „Solutions: from
Dropouts to Excellence‟.
We consider the project to be extremely profitable as it will help students to see the link
between their studies and their future jobs in all the European Union. It will involve the whole
school community and benefit present, former, future students and teachers but also
parents, local institutions and business people will also be involved in the last part of the
project by conveying their necessities to our students. Transnationality will widen students‟
vision of the European Union possibilities, motivating them to improve academic results and
communicative skills offering them real experience in cooperation and collaboration.
Through direct experience and contact with other ways of living, learning and travelling,
students will acquire new ideas and find new solutions to old problems.

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