Student attrition from colleges in the United States is a widespread phenomenon, posing real stresses to students, their families, and to universities. We examined the causes of poor academic performance in students' first semester through interviews and questionnaires and administered a small intervention course to freshmen on academic probation…

Urban Alliance serves at-risk youth through its high school internship program, which provides training, mentoring, and work experience to high school seniors from distressed communities. The program aims to help youth move on to higher education or employment after graduation. The Urban Institute is conducting a six-year, randomized controlled…

This study examined the effectiveness of different topics/activities included in a freshman orientation course in enhancing the students' perception of their successful adjustment to college life and the impact of these subjects on the student level of persistence. The results support the Tinto stage model of persistence since the elements of the…

A survey was conducted to evaluate nationally the retention of undergraduates at institutions of higher education. In particular the survey sought to: determine the rates at which full-time students persisted in and completed higher education; identify factors that institutional representatives felt influence students to leave school; and describe…

In Australia, the Youth Allowance (a form of government income support) is being changed to require that most youth under 18 who receive it be engaged in full-time education or training. This change has positive and negative potential impacts on young people, schools, families, technical and further education, adult and community education, and…

The 1983-1984 evaluation of the TRIO/Special Services program at the University of Minnesota, General College, is presented. Program goals and course descriptions for the integrated course of study are described, as are counseling and tutoring services, student eligibility, and characteristics of program participants. A demographic profile for…

A third-party national evaluation of the basic grants section of the Adult Education Act was conducted in September 1990. The study drew on data from the following sources: 1990 mail survey of all federally supported local service providers; longitudinal study of local programs that provided information on the characteristics of more than 22,000…

This action research project implemented and evaluated a program for increasing student engagement and retention through the use of authentic assessment and cooperative groups. The targeted population consisted of one sixth grade class in an elementary school and two ninth grade classes in a high school located in different communities in the far…