Describes perspectives of several families whose children dropped out of school. Audiotaped interviews with 3 or more members of 12 families reveal hostile views toward schooling and a 2-generation history of poor academic performance. School was a series of academic failures, conflicts, disciplinary hearings, suspensions, and expulsions. Dropping…

Studied the impact of a $70-per-month increase in payment to foster parents, and other incentives, on the stability of foster care and the behavior of 4- to 7-year-old children in foster care. Children whose foster parents received payments exhibited a lower foster care dropout rate than other children. (SM)

Describes a study conducted at the Liberty University School of Lifelong Learning investigating the effects of student-teacher interaction on the academic integration and retention of 120 students taking general education courses. Finds no significant difference in overall completion rates of students receiving and not receiving faculty-initiated…

Once black students matriculate at a predominantly white college, they are often left to fend for themselves. Some schools, however, have launched retention programs that are effective. Characteristics of effective retention efforts, especially the importance of concerned, supportive faculty, are reviewed. (SLD)

According to this literature review, school practices such as placement of at-risk students in alternative, nontraditional programs, individualized counseling, low student-teacher ratio, heavy vocational emphasis, and peer tutoring successfully lower dropout rates, whereas remediation, retention in grade, tracking, and suspension only exacerbate…

Descriptive statistical data on the status of African-American college students in Pennsylvania is presented and includes application and acceptance rates, freshman enrollments, financial aid awards, first-year and overall dropout rates, and withdrawal reasons. Some comparisons of ethnic groups are made. Concern is expressed over declining…

Reviews approaches using computer-assisted instruction that may be effective strategies to use with at-risk students. Highlights include developing an Individual Educational Plan (IEP); criteria for selecting appropriate educational software; keeping parents informed; the use of multimedia; high standards and performance-based evaluation; and…

Describes a five-year follow-up of first-time, full-time community college students in Kansas, detailing academic, personal, and career experiences from first college entry to subsequent transfer/employment, as well as variables affecting progress. Over 75% achieved their objectives; financial problems, lifestyle changes, and change in goals were…

Describes an effective dropout prevention program at an Orlando, Florida, middle school. Staff identified 90 at-risk seventh graders, assigning 45 to 3 seventh-grade teaching teams and the remaining 45 to an experimental student team (the Dragons) promising to deliver a traditional curriculum in a nontraditional, nonremedial way. Shadow study of…

Profiles educational outcomes produced by rural schools, based on four indicators (student achievement scores, student participation rates, measures of student behaviors and attitudes, and measures of postschool outcomes) likely to be stressed in the unfolding public education performance debate. Although NAEP assessments compare favorably with…

The American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) was established to develop technically informed leadership within the Indian community by significantly and quickly increasing the number of American Indian scientists and engineers, ensuring professional growth, and developing Indian leaders through precollege culturally sensitive camps,…

The adjustment of 130 high school graduates and 70 dropouts, all with behavioral disorders, is investigated, focusing on employment, living arrangements, leisure activities, coping mechanisms, and difficulties with law enforcement. Employed versus unemployed individuals are compared in terms of gender, vocational training received in high school,…

Project Achieve, New York City's new dropout prevention program, might benefit from the failures of the city's earlier Dropout Prevention Initiative. Project Achieve will organize all ninth and tenth grade students into houses, integrate support and academic staff, and achieve maximum personnel continuity throughout a student's high school career.…

A discussion of the transition from high school to college outlines three principles of program planning for this group: helping first-year students see college as the beginning of a discovery process; exposing them to intellectual issues and experiences; and helping them accept responsibility for their own future. (MSE)

A study of 76 college students with learning disabilities (LD) participating in a liberal arts college LD program found that students with more inclusive, less structured supported programs within the secondary school settings were more successful in graduating from college. Although neither performance nor full-scale IQ interacted with these…