THE PURPOSES OF THIS COOPERATIVE STUDY WERE TO LEARN (1) WHETHER POTENTIAL DROPOUTS CAN BE IDENTIFIED BY DEFINITE CHARACTERISTICS, (2) THE TYPE OF GUIDANCE SUCCESSFUL IN HOLDING STUDENTS IN SCHOOL, (3) REASONS STUDENTS GIVE FOR DROPPING OUT OF SCHOOL AND THE GRADES AND AT WHICH AGES THEY DROP OUT, AND (4) THE SCHOLASTIC ABILITY OF THE DROPOUTS. QUESTIONNAIRES WERE RETURNED BY PRINCIPALS AND COUNSELORS IN 181 RANDOMLY SELECTED SCHOOLS IN MINNESOTA AND 105 IN TEXAS. THE DROPOUT RATE IN BOTH STATES WAS DECREASING. FINDINGS SHOWED THAT MORE BOYS THAN GIRLS DROPPED OUT AND THAT THE 10TH OR 11TH GRADE, OR AGE 16, WAS THE MOST FREQUENT DROPOUT TIME. DROPOUTS USUALLY HAD UNDESIRABLE HOME ENVIRONMENTS, POOR ATTENDANCE RECORDS, LITTLE PARTICIPATION IN EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES, AND, OFTEN, LOW ABILITY, ALTHOUGH NOT NECESSARILY FAILING. COUNSELORS FELT THAT MOST OF THEIR SUCCESS IN WORKING WITH DROPOUTS WAS BY INDIVIDUAL COUNSELING AND GUIDANCE. WORK AND MARRIAGE WERE FREQUENT REASONS GIVEN FOR LEAVING SCHOOL. SOME CONCLUSIONS WERE THAT THE SCHOOLS MUST CONTINUE TO LESSEN DROPOUT NUMBERS BY EXPANDING GUIDANCE, BROADENING THE CURRICULUM BY INCLUDING NONACADEMIC COURSES AND JOB TRAINING, ESTABLISHING TECHNICAL SCHOOLS, AND ENCOURAGING EXTRACURRICULAR PARTICIPATION. REPORTS OF OTHER DROPOUT STUDIES AND A BIBLIOGRAPHY ARE INCLUDED. (MS)