To reduce the number of school dropouts and youth homicides and to change poor social outcomes for children and youth at risk, it is necessary to consider socially imposed risk factors and reconceptualize ways of thinking about risk. Chapters in this collection discuss risk factors and show that schools can become supportive environments that respond to student strengths and needs. The following chapters are included: (1) "At-Risk Youth: The State of the Art" (Robert F. Kronick); (2) "The Politics of At-Risk Youth" (Sung Roe Lee and Robert Cunningham); (3) "The Real World: Teenage High School Leavers Speak Out about Alcohol, Other Drugs, and Life Problems" (Sandra L. Putnam, James E. Malia, and Suzanne F. Streagle); (4) "Home and School Correlates of Early At-Risk Status: A Transactional Perspective" (Jean E. Dumas); (5) "New Learning and Agency in the At-Promise Student" (Graham E. Higgs and Nancy L. Tarsi); (6) "Effects of Alternative Educational Programming on Intrinsic Motivation among Ethnic Minority Adolescents" (Cynthia Hudley); (7) "The Neglected Factor: Television and At-Risk Youth" (W. Thomas Beckner); (8) "An African-American Female and School" (Rosa Kennedy); (9) "African-American Mothers' Roles in Their Children's Education" (Rhoda Barnes); (10) "Chestnut Ridge Learning Center: A Theory Put into Practice" (Katherine Higginbotham); (11) "Appalachian Culture and Schooling" (Eva Thaller); (12) "The Tribally Controlled Community College: New Directions in Native American Education" (Gabrielle Elliott); (13) "Early Intervention Prevents At-Risk Students" (Lawrence M. DeRidder); (14) "Grading and Assessment Practices that Place Students at Risk" (Charles H. Hargis); and (15) "Epilogue: A Call to Higher Education To Keep Pace with Reaching At-Risk Students" (Robert F. Kronick). Each chapter contains references. (Contains five figures and eight tables.) (SLD)