Considerable research on effective instruction in the virtual classroom exists. Yet very little is known about the extent to which instructor presence (IP) based on the Community of Inquiry model (CoI), are directly related to retention and student success. CoI includes three components of IP: teaching (TP), cognitive (CP), and social (SP). These…

As of 2014, four percent of all 16- to 19-year-olds in the United States had left high school without graduating for a total of 690,000 youth. The current rate of youth leaving schools represents a decline from a high of approximately fourteen percent 40 years ago. The possible reasons for improvement include improved academic measurement and…

This brief is based on an econometric study conducted in 2016 by Thomas Malone and Dr. Jonathan Zaff. The nation's high school graduation rate has been rising over the past decade and is now at a historic high. As of 2014, however, four percent of all 16- to 19-year-olds in the United States--a total of 690,000 young people--had left high school…

Honduras has made steady progress in expanding post-primary school coverage in recent years, but many rural communities still do not provide a middle (lower secondary) school. As a result, Honduras has implemented a number of middle school alternative programmes designed to meet the needs of at-risk populations throughout the country. This article…

The rate of student departure from adult literacy programs is as high as 80% within the first 12 months (Porter, Cuban, & Comings, 2005). An examination of the literature reveals two perspectives concerning learner persistence: a "control perspective" and an "acknowledgement and accommodation perspective." The control…

The vocational education and training (VET) sector is a major pathway to post-school education for indigenous students, yet questions are being raised about the capacity of the VET system to provide successful outcomes for the indigenous apprentices and trainees it attracts. Within a system plagued by high cancellation rates in general, indigenous…

Intercultural Development Research Association (IDRA) is an independent, non-profit organization with a vision for schools that work for all children. It partnered with Coca-Cola in 1984 and began a dropout prevention program just as it was conducting the first comprehensive study of school dropouts in Texas. Its annual studies since then have…

The primary goal of a districtwide dropout-prevention program is to develop, implement, and enhance instructional and programmatic components that have proven effective in educational research and practice and thus resulted in fewer students dropping out of school prior to high school graduation. This paper describes the development and…

In response to increasing student attrition rates, Topeka Technical College, Kansas, a proprietary school run by Education America, Inc., adopted a commercial retention program that included faculty and staff training and a success course for students. An evaluation was undertaken to determine the effectiveness of the program, involving a review…

Answers to questions most often asked about the second National Education Goal are provided in this document. Goal 2 states that "by the year 2000, the high school graduation rate will increase to 90 percent." Among the areas covered are school strategies to improve graduation rates, community and business roles, incentives to stay in…

An expert on second language acquisition examines and refutes five commonly offered arguments against bilingual education: (1) it is responsible for the high Hispanic dropout rate; (2) most immigrants succeed without bilingual education; (3) the United States is the only nation that has bilingual education; (4) bilingual education failed in…

Specific goals of this study of the national dropout problem are to: (1) define the problem; (2) identify demographic characteristics of dropouts; (3) describe economic and social consequences; (4) identify programs and practices that prevent students from dropping out; (5) identify federal and state initiatives; and (6) identify private sector…

The number of American Indian and Alaska Native students who leave the Anchorage School District without graduating or transferring to another school system has shown a slight but steady decline since the completion of "Alaskan Native Early School Leavers Study" in May 1982. The reasons for students leaving school have remained much the…

A 1993-97 study researched the evolution of Intermediate and Advanced General National Vocational Qualifications (GNVQs) in Britain. Data were collected from a nationally representative sample of 225 centers; 5,100 GNVQ students were surveyed individually. Findings indicated that, of the 5 original and 10 added GNVQ subjects, GNVQ programs were…

The performance of the Peninsula Academies of Electronics and Computer Technology was assessed for the program's third year of operation in two host schools in the Sequoia Union High School District. Data were collected for approximately 190 Academy students and for a comparison group of non-Academy students. Academies students missed fewer days…