This study evaluated the effectiveness of an educational and treatment program for high school dropouts initiated by a private alternative school contracting with a graduate school of social work. The Cassata Program, a joint effort by the Cassata Learning Center and the University of Texas at Arlington, was designed to improve students' academic…

A study was conducted to investigate the validity of Tinto's model of college withdrawal in a public four-year college and a private two-year institution. The model consists of six sets of variables in a causal sequence; i.e., background characteristics, initial goal and institutional commitment, academic and social integration, subsequent goal…

This book collects articles that examine the patterns of dropping out evident among American youth, and the policies developed and implemented to reduce the incidence of dropping out. The following chapters (and their authors) are included: (1) Introduction (G. Natriello); (2) Can We Help Dropouts? Thinking about the Undoable (D. Mann); (3) Large…

Equity in vocational education cannot be addressed until the question of urban cultural pluralism has been fully analyzed. This question involves problems of minorities, the disadvantaged, and those with limited English proficiency. Barriers facing urban youths enrolling in vocational education include close-knit ethnic pockets attempting to…

A study was conducted at William Rainey Harper College (WRHC) to obtain a profile of degree students who withdrew from courses at the college between 1979 and 1982. Study findings, based on forms completed by 10,148 of the 29,410 students who withdrew from courses during this period, included the following: (1) 11.5% of all course enrollments…

This report reviews the research literature from 1975-1983 on potential secondary school dropouts and strategies for effective dropout prevention programs. The information provided is intended to help communities in modifying and/or constructing treatment programs for potential dropouts. The report is divided into three sections. In the first…

In order to design programs that will work well with Indian students, the Indian Education Section of the urban Minneapolis Public Schools is seeking accurate data about its 1,800 American Indian students through a conceptual research model that focuses on demographics, background and socialization variables, and school performance. Among the…

The relationship between academic advising and student attrition was examined at a private liberal arts college. A cohort analysis of students entering the college between 1971 and 1975 indicated that faculty members in the first year of their contracts had relatively more of their new student advisees subsequently withdraw than did the same…

A project was designed to identify student needs contributing to high vocational technical school dropout rates and to develop strategies for effective rate reduction. Project staff objectives were to (1) identify problems impeding potential dropouts from training success, (2) alleviate potential dropouts' critical needs, (3) implement meaningful…

Factors that influenced the withdrawal of academically ineligible black students from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill were investigated. It is suggested that students who involuntarily withdraw are rarely consulted as to their reasons for leaving and that academic ineligibility may mask many of the same reasons for withdrawing as…

The persistence of the freshman class (5,052 students) of 1974 at Indiana University's Bloomington campus was investigated. The students were classified into three groups according to their enrollment status in the fall of 1976. Two-thirds were persisters who were enrolled for their third academic year. Among the students who were no longer…

As part of the project to universalize primary education in Pakistan by the mid-1980's, 1977 participation rates of boys and girls in rural primary schools in the Federal Capitol Territory have been determined through school mapping procedures. In three of four Territorial headquarters areas about 35% of boys and between 7% and 16% of girls attend…

Two aids used in the identification of potential dropouts are examined. The Mink Scale (a teacher-rated scale) is based on classification of social, psychological, and educational forces related to dropout proneness: (1) academic ability and performance, (2) negative identification with education, (3) family and socioeconomic status, and (4)…

This study examines the responses of the 1,474 students who withdraw from Los Angeles City College during the spring semesters of 1973, 1974, and 1975, and who completed the exit questionnaire. In spring 1975, 65 percent of the withdrawees were of non-Caucasian background, and 46 percent were male. About 40 percent of the males, and 20 percent of…

The Mink Scale is designed to differentiate between potential dropout and non-dropout students at the junior high school level. Items of the scale represent social, psychological, and educational factors established in previous dropout studies. A pilot study in five Appalachian counties compared scale responses for 189 (dropouts) former students…