1. Introduction. -- 2. The varying requirements and pathways for completing high school : The conflicting goals of high school ; The requirements for completing high school ; Alternative pathways to high school completion. -- 3. The nature and extent of the dropout crisis : What does it mean to drop out of school? ; The debate over dropout and graduation rates ; Measuring dropout and graduation rates ; The vast differences in dropout and graduation rates. -- 4. The individual consequences of dropping out : Labor market outcomes ; Crime ; Family formation ; Health ; Civic engagement ; Well-being ; Intergenerational mobility. -- 5. The social consequences of dropping out : Consequences for the economy ; Consequences for the larger society ; Total economic losses from dropouts. -- 6. Understanding why students drop out : The process of dropping out ; The reasons students report for dropping out. -- 7. Predictors of dropping out : Individual predictors of dropping out ; Institutional predictors of dropping out ; Explaining racial and ethnic differences in dropout rates. -- 8. Learning from past efforts to solve the dropout crisis : Alternative approaches to improving dropout and graduation rates ; What works? ; What have we learned from large-scale reform efforts?. -- 9. What should be done to solve the dropout crisis : Current efforts ; Moving beyond current efforts.