Presentation issue 14º

The Federation of the Association of Education Inspectors (ADIDE-Federation), through its journal Advances of Educational Supervision, addresses in this monographic issue a current issue and growing concern to the point of forming part of community education policies: Early or premature abandonment of education. A prior warning: early abandonment should not be confused with school failure, although the two phenomena are closely related. It is true that the abandonment focuses on post-compulsory education, but it is also true that important factors that push this abandonment are nested in compulsory education, in which success and degree are identified. Early school leaving is part of the Lisbon objectives, affects the structure of the system, both its supply and demand, with serious repercussions on social cohesion and the construction of a civic society in which equality accompanies freedom. It is not about increasing or extending basic education, an old goal born in the nineteenth century and the first third of the twentieth century, but to promote education throughout life. This requires not only investments, but a prior debate on the complexity of the phenomenon that will help us to improve individual development, qualification, mobility, social and territorial cohesion. That is, to draw the lines that drastically reduce the early or premature abandonment in the studies.

The debate on the early abandonment of studies has a great significance, since it directly affects the traditional concept of the right to education, while living under the pressure of the knowledge society with its qualification requirements within what is now called market. A debate that in this monographic issue is joined by a group of specialists from different academic fields whose proposals will deal with conceptual aspects, data analysis and action proposals.

José Antonio Marina, from the angle of philosophical reflection and demand, poses the problem propitiating ways of action that combine strategies and resources involving teachers, families and, especially, the interested party, that is, the student, last subject of the implementation of policies in favor of reducing early school leaving.

Juan M. Escudero and María Jesús Rodríguez, authors of the work entitled Refine the understanding and mobilize consistent policies to deal with early school leaving, and something else, advocate, in their own words, to refine the theoretical frameworks and the necessary data to deepen the understanding of the phenomenon of early abandonment. The most widely disseminated data on school risk or early abandonment, the application of explanatory schemes such as the Coleman Report, the data provided by qualitative research, the policies implemented to reduce it, improvement and inclusion projects are analyzed. attention to diversity, as well as critical points for decision making in relation to schools, teachers and administration. A work that seeks to deepen understanding of the phenomenon, why it occurs and what should be the lines of action for its reduction.

Alberto Vaquero García, full professor of Applied Economics and author of the article The reduction of school failure, pending subject of the Spanish educational system, analyzes the situation of the Spanish case from a comparative perspective, while proposing a series of action measures to reduce the unwanted phenomenon of early abandonment. After an analysis of the early abandonment compared between EU countries and autonomies, it focuses on the practical part: the analysis and actions aimed at reducing school failure through educational programs of second chance, the policy of scholarships and grants, diversification programs curricular, reinforcement and support (PROA), etc.

Fernando M. Faci, in his work Premature School Leaving in Spain, result of the research carried out with the support of the Government of the Autonomous Community of Aragon, places the reader in the definition of abandonment according to the guidelines of the Council of Europe, the methodologies used for its calculation and analysis, the academic considerations between early school leaving and early school leaving, European strategies for defining the problem and proposals for action, as well as the evolution of the general panorama and the European challenges to what is already considered a problem , the abandonment of learning.

Miguel Recio and Cruz Hernández collaborators of the Fundación Primero de Mayo dissected the effects of early abandonment in The early educational abandonment (AET), evolution and affected groups. After an analysis of the factors that can explain our early dropout rates, we are exposed to the most notable characteristics of abandonment at age 19, a critical age in the permanent and labor education of citizens.

María Padrós (University of Barcelona), Elena Duque (University of Girona) and Silvia Molina (Rovira i Virgili University), in a paper entitled Contributions of European research INCLUD-ED for the reduction of early school leaving, analyze the issue of reduction of early educational abandonment as a challenge, raising the urgent need to base educational policies and measures. Measures for the prevention and reduction of premature abandonment of education and training identified in the framework of the highest scientific research and resources carried out to date in Europe on school education: INCLUD-ED (Strategies for inclusion and social cohesion in Europe from education). Solutions that, according to the authors, are progressively being incorporated into the European agenda.

Javier Navarro Algás places us in reality throughout his work Keys to address school failure in Fundación Pioneros. Its aim is to show us how to face the reality of school failure in the Fundación Pioneros, an organization framed in the field of social education. For this, he divides his exposition into several parts: first, a brief reflection on school failure; in second, some general notes about the entity or Fundación Pioneros; third, about their values; and finally, the description of the work in the socio-labor insertion Center together with some brief references to the subject in other areas of the entity.

All these works place around 30% of young Spaniards between 19 and 25 years without completing secondary studies. A percentage of about 15 points above the average of the countries of the European Union. A fact that tells us about the problem, its consequences, the obligation to analyze the factors that explain them and, from there, distribute the weight of them and delineate policies of effective and efficient abandonment reduction. All the works that we present today critically address the reality provided by the data of early abandonment, the analysis of its causes and the implementation of strategies that contribute to reducing its effects. A challenge of the Spanish society which is no stranger to the magazine of the Federation of the Association of Education Inspectors of Spain, hence we have devoted that monographic issue to understand their challenges.

The editorial board.