This report explores the situation of at-risk students in small and rural schools in Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas, and compares this information to the at-risk student situation nationwide. In order to explore both the complexity and the degree of risk of dropping out in rural school settings, research questions were posed…

Florida Community College at Jacksonville (FCCJ) enrolls over 6,300 students annually in college-credit telecourses and computer-based courses. At the midpoint of each term, all students who have withdrawn from a distance education course are surveyed regarding their reasons for withdrawing and their perceptions of possible improvements. In winter…

This report describes a cohort of secondary school students, from grades 7 through 12, who were enrolled in District of Columbia Public Schools in October 1993, but who did not return by the official membership count of the following school year. This group included dropouts, transfers, court-ordered withdrawals, deaths, and serious illnesses. The…

This practicum paper uses previously unavailable data from the Chicago Board of Education and the 1990 census to update a 1992 study of Native American dropouts in Chicago public schools. An overview of Chicago's American Indian population focuses on the Uptown area, a low income neighborhood in which one fifth of the city's Native Americans…

A 1-year research project was undertaken to discover how the arts could help keep at-risk high school students in school. The project was conducted in three phases. In phase 1, recent literature was reviewed to define criteria for the at-risk student and to identify implications for the arts in dropout prevention programs. Phase 2 consisted of…

In spring 1992, Charles County Community College (CCCC) conducted a telephone survey of non-returning fall 1991 students to determine their reasons for not returning to CCCC. In order to obtain comparison data, a questionnaire designed and administered by Prince George's Community College (PGCC) (Largo, Maryland) in 1988 was used with one minor…

Using linked individual and census tract data from the 1980 U.S. Census, it is found that when a teenage boy drops out of school depends not only on his family background and the increase in earnings associated with graduating, but also on the characteristics of the neighborhood in which he lives. Both the good and bad dimensions of neighborhood…

This study used weekly conversations with 25 freshmen at Boise (Idaho) State University (BSU) and analyses of students' journal entries to examine reasons for BSU freshmen leaving school during or after their freshman year. The 13 students who were successful (reenrolled in the spring and following fall semesters and maintained satisfactory…

This monograph focuses on the first year of college and the need for structured first-year programs that help at-risk students make a successful transition to college. It provides a detailed discussion of the elements of a structured first-year program, including: (1) participation in the admissions process for at-risk students; (2)…

In 1988, a National Dropout Statistics Task Force (comprised of representatives from 27 states, 3 U.S. territories, and the District of Columbia) was created to work with the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) to develop procedures for uniform counting of dropouts and dropout rate reporting. A standard definition was constructed for…

This paper describes a multi-faceted approach to improving student retention at an urban public university. It is noted that the students at this institution are older, working people; few live on campus and participate in what would be considered traditional student experiences. The paper examines the physical setting and external environment;…

This paper on postsecondary outcomes illustrates a technique to determine whether or not mainstream models are appropriate for predicting educational outcomes of American Indians (AIs) and Alaskan Native (ANs). It introduces a prominent statistical procedure to assess models with empirical data and shows how the results can have implications for…

The National Household Education Survey (NHES) was conducted for the first time in 1991 as a way to collect data on the early childhood education experiences of young children and participation in adult education. Because the NHES methodology is relatively new, field tests were necessary. A large field test of approximately 15,000 households was…

In a yearlong project, Britain's Business and Technology Education Council (BTEC) investigated why some students leave their educational programs before achieving their certificates or diplomas. The project drew information on completion rates from the BTEC database. Views of BTEC centers' staff were canvassed through a national survey covering…

Although the emphasis on adult literacy/basic education is increasing, the high dropout rate from programs in these areas is a concern. Why learners choose to participate or not to participate in such programs can be understood in terms of three sets of factors. Learner-inherent factors include self-evaluation, goals, and capabilities. Life…