"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) Standard Response: Senate HELP Committee Chairman and Top Republican Agree that Standards Movement Needs to Be Led by States,…

The study reported here determined the factors that affect teen involvement in 4-H programming. The design of the study was descriptive and correlational in nature. Using a purposive sampling procedure, a survey questionnaire was distributed to all (N=214) 4-H members attending the 4-H State Leadership Conference. The major findings of the study…

African-American boys are sent to the principal's office more often than any other group and disproportionately to their numbers in a school, according to Victor Cary, partner at the National Equity Project in Oakland, California. That is just one example of how the issues of society at large--racism, classism, sexism, language, and other…

Personality traits of coeducational students have been shown to correlate with early withdrawal intention from college (Lounsbury, Saudargas, & Gibson, 2004). The current study investigated the relationship between the Big Five personality traits as well as seven narrow personality traits in relation to withdrawal intention among 103 female…

In this paper we provide an overview of the literature on understandings of drop out/opt out from science, technology and mathematics (STM) higher education programmes. After outlining the literature on students leaving higher education programmes in general, we then explore the research on drop out/opt out from STM programmes in particular, with…

This report examines how successful America's high schools have been in raising high school graduation rates over the past decade and how severe the high school dropout problem actually is. It reviews existing empirical evidence on the school dropout problems of America's youth during the 1990s. It also presents evidence to support the view that…

Discusses the drop out rate and the at-risk youth problem. Summarizes what some implemented federal and state programs are doing and what some will do. Lists goals of several states. (MVL)

Noting that a better grasp of the dynamics of student development is needed if dropout prevention is to move beyond temporary and usually tardy palliative programs, this report reviews current research on the factors that determine whether or not students will complete high school. It also suggests avenues of future research in order to yield the…

To examine local dropout trends the Oklahoma City Public Schools (OCPS) documented the numbers and described the characteristics of those who dropped out in the 1985-86 school year. Local dropout rates were compared to those of other school districts and the nation as a whole. A dropout was defined as any student who is under age 18 and has not…

The New York state educational system must change to reduce the devastatingly high dropout rate among Hispanic, Black and American Indian students. A dropout is defined as a student who has been dropped from a school's enrollment and who has not graduated from 12th grade nor been transferred to another school. Research into the causes of dropping…

Data on dropout patterns in New York City Public Schools are provided and analyzed in order to identify issues to be addressed and contribute to the establishment of standards and criteria for program development. Part I introduces the key questions to be asked. In Part II, the term dropout is defined according to State Education guidelines; the…

This paper provides a synthesis of research and theory directly related to retention of adult students. In the first of five major sections, readers are provided with a brief discussion of the nature and significance of the dropout-retention problem. Section 2 reviews research findings relating to who drops out and why. Sociodemographic,…

This project consists of two parallel yet interrelated studies, one focusing on the full cohort of approximately 9,000 Level III (Grade 12) high school students in Newfoundland and Labrador at the end of the 1988-89 school year, and a second, which focuses on the full year cohort of 2109 students (grades seven to Level III) who dropped out of…

Reports a study examining the characteristics, study habits, and motivation of students who officially withdrew from the University of Adelaide (Australia) without failing. Causes of first year withdrawal were study being more difficult or less interesting than expected and weak academic motivation. Previously enrolled withdrawals were…

The purpose of this study was to identify the factors and data that influenced the key implementation decisions of a ninth-grade dropout intervention program in a large urban high school in 1987-1988. The school district was composed of 12 high schools, 15 middle schools, and 48 elementary schools, and served approximately 40,000 students. Data…