Background: Many primary school students encounter the educational system positively from the outset. However, over the school years, students develop negative attitudes towards school, which peaks during secondary education. According to the literature, we conceptualise this process as school alienation: a decreasing sense of belonging in terms…

In the context of university higher education at undergraduate level, the model of student-institution integration, proposed by Tinto & Cullen and later refined in some of its parts, has often been used to explain the process of dropout/persevere, and even to anticipate such events. This paper approaches the evolution of the Tinto's model…

This manuscript addresses learning communities (LCs) as a strategy to retain graduate students until program completion. Definitions of LCs and their early development are presented. The benefits of LCs to groups of students with common interests are discussed. In addition, reasons for early graduate student attrition are included. Common models…

The urban studies learning model described in this article was found to increase students' self-esteem, imbue a more flexible and open perspective, contribute to the capacity for self-direction, produce increases on the feeling reactivity, spontaneity, and acceptance of aggression scales, and expand interpersonal competence. (Author/WI)

This paper is one component of a collaborative research project being conducted by the National Commission for Employment Policy to explore the education, training, and employment issues that affect at-risk youth, aged 9-15 years old. The paper begins with a description of the dropout problem in the United States, noting that although the dropout…

This book provides a synthesis of wide-ranging research on student attrition at American colleges and universities and outlines actions that institutions can and should take to reduce attrition. The key to effective retention is shown to lie in a strong commitment to quality education and the building of a strong sense of inclusive educational and…

Older teens living in families receiving Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) face serious sociodemographic disadvantages. When combined with the characteristic risk-taking behaviors of adolescence, these disadvantages pose a threat to TANF teens' immediate and future physical, psychological, and emotional health and to their long-term…