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Across the nation, dropout intervention efforts are focused on helping academically struggling students get the help they need to get to graduation day.

And now, increasingly, programs aimed at preventing dropouts (and recovering those who have already left school) are focusing on giving students the support and flexibility they need to overcome the non-academic obstacles that often stand in the way of a diploma.

But one area that is often neglected is the spiritual and psychological wellness of a student.

In this week’s edition of Research Wednesday, we look at a 2011 study published in the Journal of At-Risk Issues that found that psychological and spiritual components factor into whether a student stays in school.

In California, students who participate in programs that emphasize career-oriented education have a higher graduation rate than their peers who don’t.

Teenage moms in one Chattanooga school are banding together to offer each other support while counseling their peers not to get pregnant.

The girls are careful to tell their friends who see them with their children that parenting is not as easy as some reality TV shows make it out to be — and none of them would have gotten pregnant so young if they had the choice to make again.

Washington County Public Schools presented some dismaying news last week.

The Hagerstown, Md., school district’s dropout rate has increased for the past two years. In the 2009-10 year, the rate was 1.56 percent. That inched up to 1.80 in 2010-11 and then hitting 1.93 percent last school year, according to The Herald Mail.

It should be noted these numbers are down from the 5.5 percent rate in 2000, but seeing an increase in the dropout rate — even a small one — can be discouraging.

Donna Hanlin, assistant superintendent for curriculum, school administration and improvement, said part of the reason for the increase in dropouts was because of a more transient school population.

Research has shown that a transient student population does have negative impacts on student achievement  and the classroom environment.

District officials said they are considering an alternate high school to help these students earn their diplomas.

In this post, our first installment of a weekly feature called Research Wednesday, we’d like to share with you a study that shows that programs intended to help transient students only succeed when they address the underlying issues students are facing.