The ability of every student to successfully complete high school is fundamental to continued success and quality of life. As such, Alberta Learning's 2000-2003 Business Plan has set a target for improving high school completion by 19-year-old students from 70% to 75%. A key step to achieving this target has involved completing a study of barriers…

The ability of every student to successfully complete high school is fundamental to continued success and quality of life. As such, Alberta Learning's 2000-2003 Business Plan has set a target for improving high school completion by 19-year-old students from 70% to 75%. A key step to achieving this target has involved completing a study of barriers…

The purpose of this document is to compare and contrast "Removing Barriers to High School Completion--Final Report" (2001) with the qualitative study entitled "Early School Leaving: A Young Offender Perspective" (2001). The study is organized into four sections. The first section presents an overview of early school leaving…

This essay is a companion document to a statistical study of student dropouts conducted by the San Diego City Schools. Various definitions of dropout are presented, as well as a discussion of types of dropout or attrition rates: (1) annual dropout rate; (2) enrollment ratio dropout rate; (3) cumulative tracking dropout rate; and (4) estimated…

In fall 1987, a study was conducted at Central Community College (CCC) to investigate patterns in student course withdrawals at the college's three campuses. At CCC, students may enroll in a "whole" course (i.e., all credits represented by one listing on the schedule) or in one or more parts of the course by individual units. For example,…

High school dropouts are usually academic underachievers who adjust to social environments with difficulty. When they leave school, they develop even greater behavior problems and have more trouble getting employment than do high school graduates. To prevent dropouts, schools try to find funds for dropout prevention programs, work with agencies…

Findings from research on student retention and adult education participation can guide educators in improving the persistence of adult students. In order to increase student persistence, programs and teachers should: address real needs; create a supportive learning environment; minimize problems and barriers; communicate accurately; and monitor…

This practice-application digest addresses what vocational education can do to reduce the almost 30 percent dropout rate among U.S. students. The first section describes factors that place students at risk, focusing on factors included in the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction's definition of the term "at-risk." In the next…

A study examined patterns of attrition in the California Conservation Corps (CCC), a state-funded program that is offered for the dual purpose of conducting useful conservation work and promoting the employability of youth. The attrition analysis was based on the actual intake program and separation experience of 3,224 corpsmembers who entered the…

Educator and researcher specializing in student retention, Tinto discusses own experience leaving doctoral program to join Peace Corps, reviews internal and external causes of attrition, characteristics of successful retention programs, and role of teaching in retention. Favors establishing a sense of community on campuses to enhance students'…

Stepwise discriminant analysis coupled with logit regression analysis of freshmen data from Brandon University (Manitoba) indicated that six tested variables drawn from research on university dropouts were useful in predicting attrition: student status, residence, financial sources, distance from home town, goal fulfillment, and satisfaction with…

Students who left school entirely during the 1984-85 school year, and others who withdrew from regular school and subsequently returned to the district's High School Diploma Program (HSDP), completed questionnaires providing information about their educational values, reasons for leaving school, perceptions of their academic abilities,…

Several years ago, a coalition of Chicago civic groups met to determine the scope of the urban dropout problem and develop strategies for dealing with it. The resulting research program rejected both attrition and survey analysis approaches in favor of direct examination of all student records for three graduating classes (1982, 1983, and 1984)…

This research summary examines the policies and issues that affect the school dropout problem among youth with disabilities. It clarifies the dropout problem, examines government and school policies that affect school holding power, and recommends responses. Information is based on a current dropout prevention research project, findings from five…

The report focuses on students (a Representative Group and a Black Group) who persisted at the University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP) to graduation and discusses some of the factors traditionally associated with persistence to graduation. The report showed that significant numbers of students who have departed the university did so while in…