The purpose of this guide is to help practitioners learn about the at-risk student and dropout problem, and to suggest strategies which increase the chances that those who are at risk of dropping out of school will complete formal education programs. The guide begins with a brief discussion of the extent of the problem and of the social and…

A goal adopted at the 1990 Education Summit in Charlottesville, Virginia, aims to increase the high school graduation rate to 90 percent by the year 2000. The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) reports three types of dropout rates: (1) event rates report the percentage of students who left high school without finishing work toward a…

This position paper was written to answer a series of basic questions frequently asked about attrition and retention at Empire State College (ESC), New York. The questions addressed in the report are: (1) What is the attrition rate at ESC? (2) How does ESC's attrition rate compare to other colleges? (3) Who are the leavers? (4) When does attrition…

A study was undertaken to investigate the degree completion rates and the retention rates of cooperative education (co-op) students in eight colleges in Washington and Oregon. Four were community colleges and four were four-year institutions. The subjects in the study included 400 randomly selected community college co-op students, 400 four-year…

Students leave school for many reasons. Pregnancy, family circumstances, economic necessities, substance abuse, lack of academic success, or disciplinary actions can influence a young person's decision to quit school. There is no single solution to the dropout crisis. Just as there are a variety of causes behind a student's decision to drop out of…

The impact of financial assistance on students' decisions on whether to discontinue college studies was investigated. Students enrolled in either two- or four-year institutions were included. Grants, loans, and college work-study funds were considered as financial aid. A casual model was used to illustrate how withdrawal was affected by…

This report contains detailed descriptions of three program recommendations regarding public school choice. The recommendations are a result of a study conducted by the New Jersey Department of Education, in which public school choice and magnet schools were examined. The three recommended programs described are (1) Intradistrict Choice Program;…

This paper, which was presented as testimony at the State of New York hearing on dropouts, presents three causes for the high dropout rates of Black and Hispanic students and offers some solutions. It is noted that in large cities dropout rates range from as high as 50% to 70% among Blacks and Hispanics. The reasons cited for these high rates are:…

The large number of dropouts estimated by the California State Department of Education has caused concern for educators, lawmakers, and the general public. A 1985 investigation of the graduation rate of the 1979 freshman class of San Juan High School was conducted which also sought to identify logistical problems with the collection of data needed…

This is a case history of the steps taken by a private institution of higher learning (10,000 students) in the east to cope with the problem of attrition. (Author)

In the Rockland, Massachusetts, Adult High School Diploma Program, nearly 400 adults are being given credit for the skills, knowledge, and talents they have acquired in the nonschool world. (Author)

A total of 1,150 returning students identified themselves in a questionnaire answered by 86% of all regular Toronto high school students. The results produced the following profile of the "typical" returning student. He is male (60%); dropped out of a Toronto school (75%); dropped out once (86%); dropped out at age 15, 16 or 17 (76%);…

More students from lower socio-economic status homes leave school because they have lower achievement and poorer attitudes. Home background has little direct influence on the decision to leave. Other factors studied were type of school, locale (state), and sex. Type of school had little influence on the decision to leave school. Differences…

AT LEAST 60 OF THE 625 STUDENTS WHO DROPPED OUT OF THE SYRACUSE, NEW YORK, PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN 1959-60 LATER RETURNED TO SCHOOL, AND MANY GRADUATED. AN ATTEMPT WAS MADE TO DISCOVER WHY THESE STUDENTS RETURNED, WHAT KINDS OF STUDENTS WERE MOST INFLUENCED BY ADVICE TO FINISH HIGH SCHOOL, AND WHICH STUDENTS EXPERIENCED THE MOST PRESSURE TO RETURN. SOME…