Ohio's Occupational Work Adjustment (OWA) program is a one- to two-year ungraded vocational program for fourteen- and fifteen-year-olds who have been identified as potential dropouts from the regular educational program. Begun on a pilot basis in 1967, OWA served over 80,000 students in 499 programs during the 1981-82 school year. The goal of OWA, which finds its legal basis in the U.S. Department of Labor's Work Experience and Career Exploration Program, is to reorient these students toward successful completion of a vocational or academic high school program. Students staying in school in order to participate in the program are assisted in finding job placements in the school or in the community, working during two consecutive class periods each school day and up to 23 hours each week. Students in the program have special classes together dealing with job and social skills and with mathematics and language arts, as well as taking classes in the regular school curriculum. Certified teachers with specialized training act as program coordinators, diagnosing the students' academic needs, developing appropriate individual educational plans, and leading career exploration activities. This report also includes a review of the literature on the dropout problem. (Author/PGD)