This module, the first in a three-volume series, deals with dropout prevention, and is organized in two parts: a trainer's manual and a participant's resource manual. It is designed for inservice training of teachers, counselors, and administrators in vocational schools. Addressed in the individual chapters of the trainer's module are the following topics: acknowledging student differences and enhancing individual growth, understanding and working with priority students, and planning and implementing a student retention program. Each section contains goals, objectives, a list of required materials, transparency masters, exercises, a teaching script, and handouts. Appended to the trainer's manual are a report on the participation of priority populations in vocational education, guidelines for identifying attitudes and behaviors, procedures for counseling priority students, techniques for mainstreaming handicapped students in vocational education, an examination of the participation of boys and girls in nontraditional training programs, suggestions for using peer aides as a resource for improving retention, guidelines for using conferences to help meet student needs, directions for referring students to other professionals, and a bibliography. The participant's manual, for use by trainees, contains introductory material; a section on planning inservice programs; self-assessment guides for teachers, counselors, and administrators; handout material to accompany the trainer's manual; visuals; and a list of resource materials. (MN)