NOR CAL, the Northern California Research and Development Group composed of 28 California community colleges, aims at identifying problems in community colleges and alternatives for solving them. This paper is a review of the NOR CAL Attrition Project, a 3-year study of potential drop-outs in California community colleges. The purpose of the…

Based on past experience in adult education (largely literacy education) in Tanzania, a new approach is suggested. Adult education activities should be organized around skills which are reinforcing in their own right, such as masonry, mechanics, carpentry, or vegetable growing, and with immediate use in the post-training environment. Literacy…

There are two types of poor: the upwardly mobile and the stationary poor. The children of the latter present the greatest challenge to the public school system. Living in crowded quarters, poorly nourished, and given little preparation for the outside world, these children seem destined to fail. Their semiliterate mothers and fathers, if they have…

Four brief reports of the 1968 Educational Commission are presented: an account of drop-outs at universities and colleges; an investigation of trend in social distribution of students at universities and colleges during expansion of education in postwar period; illustrations of mobility and interchangeability on labor market of persons with higher…

This report is the result of a study made to establish the extent of success and failure in degree courses and the reasons for failure. The material is presented in a series of tables that approach the subject from the following points of view: (1) progress of undergraduate students in universities by subject group; (2) progress of undergraduate…

A followup study of students who participated in an anti-dropout program in high school reveals that it was successful. (JD)

The author argues for the reauthorization of the Carl D. Perkins Vocational Education Act of 1984. Topics include the following needs: (1) increased productivity, (2) global competitiveness, (3) technological updating, (4) dislocated worker retraining, (5) quality of life, and (6) dropout programs. (CH)

Study was conducted to resolve contradiction between dropout estimates presented in federal reports and research results cited through reanalysis of High School and Beyond survey. Results suggest (1) dropout rate for students in general education is greater than for vocational students and (2) vocational education is serving students with…

The author critically examines the empirical base of Boshier's congruence model and related instruments, the Education Participation Scale and the Personality and Educational Environment Scale. He raises questions concerning the appropriateness of the model to explain participation and dropout from adult education. (Author/CH)

Examined the effects of an incentive procedure designed to decrease attrition in a behavioral worksite weight-loss intervention (N=48). The results indicated that the incentive procedure significantly decreased attrition. More participants in the incentive condition completed treatment (60 percent vs. 20 percent) and attended significantly more…

This Research Brief highlights key findings from a study that examined the labor market attachment of male dropouts who obtained the GED credential in Florida between 1994 and 1998. I compared these credentialed dropouts to the men who attempted, but failed, the GED exam during the same period. Credentialed dropouts had a higher probability of…

Stimulated by the finding of M. Murphy (2000) that each change of major increased a student's graduation probabilities by 40%, this study investigated changing major and graduation for seven fall first-time in college (FTIC) cohorts at the University of South Florida. Because a student must enroll at least two semesters to change majors, analysis…

Discusses the possibility of establishing 12-month school attendance in order to alleviate the difficulty employers have of absorbing graduates. It is felt this would ease the transition from school to work. (SB)

Educators are increasingly critical of State compulsory education laws. Argues that these regulations do little to assure that the basic goals of schooling are achieved. Commenting briefly on this thesis are Sidney P. Marland, Jr., B. Frank Brown, John Brubacher, Paul Salmon, and Juanita Jones. (Author)

Account of a 4-H photography project among Mexican American youth in the inner city of St. Paul, Minnesota, directed to dropouts and other problem youth. (Authors/JB)