As a step in considering the addition of dropout statistics to the Common Core of Data (CCD) collected by the National Center for Education Statistics, telephone and personal interviews about the feasibility of implementing a standard national dropout statistics collection were conducted. Interviews were held from May through September of 1990…

The Military Applicant Profile (MAP) was developed to serve as an applicant screening instrument to reduce attrition in the all-volunteer Army. Since 1979, it has been used operationally to screen 17-year-old non-high school graduate males. The Army Research Institute was asked to explore the extension of MAP to older (above 17) nongraduate males,…

The JOBSTART demonstration program addresses the employability problems of school dropouts by testing a program of basic education, occupational skills training, support services, and job placement assistance for young, economically disadvantaged dropouts who read below the eighth-grade level. The program is being offered at 13 diverse sites,…

This document contains the final report on a study of factors associated with dropping out of high school. The analyses presented are based on data from the initial and first follow-up rounds of the High School and Beyond survey of the sophomore class of 1980. The introductory chapter discusses the background of the dropout problem and influences…

In 1988, a telephone survey was conducted of students at Prince George's Community College (PGCC) who were enrolled in fall 1987, but who were not registered for spring 1988. The purposes of the study were to ascertain students' reasons for not returning to PGCC and to determine what the college could have done to influence the non-returning…

Retention research in the four-year college setting has traditionally assumed that students intend to achieve a degree, and that when a student leaves school, either the college or the student has failed. In an effort to demonstrate that such assumptions do not apply when examining retention among two-year college students, Brookdale Community…

Based on studies of student attrition at Mid-Florida Technical Institute (MFTI) and Valencia Community College (VCC), this handbook presents an action plan model for the identification of reasons students fail to complete postsecondary vocational programs. Introductory material reviews the purpose of the handbook (i.e., to assist program…

A study examined the extent of and the causes for student attrition in vocational education health careers programs in California. During the ten-month study, researchers utilized the following methods of data collection: analysis of data on enrollees, leavers, and completers that were gathered from California State Department of Education records…

At the completion of the 1986-87 school year, the Albuquerque (New Mexico) Public Schools (APS) conducted a cohort survival and withdrawal study to follow-up 5,976 students who had begun the ninth grade within the district in 1983-84. Current records were matched with those from the 1983-84 school year to determine whether members of the…

This project proposes the development and implementation of a model system for collecting, documenting, and reporting to the Atlanta (Georgia) Board of Education information that will indicate the number, ages, and grades of students dropping out of the Atlanta Public School System (APS). Furthermore, this project will demonstrate an effective…

A study was conducted to provide descriptive information about dropout rates by various subgroups, their reported reasons for dropping out, and some activities after leaving school. As part of the longitudinal study, High School and Beyond, the National Center for Education Statistics surveyed 30,000 sophomore and 28,000 senior high school…

The purpose of this study was to determine what Ontario high schools might do in order to increase student retention. Four approaches were taken. The first focuses on the social ecology of high schools, looking at how they relate to their environment. The second focuses on organizational characteristics that others have reported are associated…

This study was conducted to determine causes for attrition among students in an Adult Basic Education (A.B.E.) program located in a non-metropolitan area. Dropouts and completers were compared by demographic characteristics and by sources of difficulty (nonschool-related, school-related, and affective) in attending class. In addition, causes for…

A model of student attrition was synthesized from psychological, sociological, and educational sources, and contains six sets of variables: background, organizational, personal, environmental, attitudinal, and intent to leave. The model was tested with 1,909 full-time and unmarried university freshmen at a major midwestern university. The sample…

Methodology and findings are summarized for a three-year research project undertaken by a consortium of 28 Northern California (Nor Cal) community colleges to identify and help the potential dropouts among full-time, entering freshmen. The report first discusses the creation of the Nor-Cal consortium and then examines each of the three research…