The strategies of student evaluation and the patterns of results are compared for The Universidad Nacional de Educacion a Distancia (UNED) in Spain and The Open University of The United Kingdom. Both universities operate a system of undergraduate subject credits leading to a degree, but the length of the courses of the two systems differ. UNED…

Many developmental educators have been assigned increased responsibilities for campus-wide enrollment management activities. A new system is needed for educators to more accurately sort through the rapidly growing database of information related to student retention. This will enable the reader to more quickly identify promising practices for…

A study tested the hypothesis that the majority of family day care providers do not continue in their job for more than 5 years. It was expected that those who continued as providers or went on to do other things in family day care would: (1) belong to professional organizations; (2) have had training in family day care; or (3) be in family day…

This study investigated the relationship between the profiles of the current west central Florida classroom teacher and the "Likely Leaver" candidate in order to make recommendations addressing the combination of factors which lead to teacher attrition. Data were gathered from a random survey of Florida elementary, middle, and secondary…

The study examined how the coping behaviors and achievement motivation of 181 athletes (aged 18-66) with cerebral palsy or other physical disabilities influence participation in the normalized activity of competitive sport. The project examined the following cognitive aspects of performance: (1) reasons for becoming involved in sports; (2) how the…

Twenty-one fourth-year college students of Mexican-American ancestry attending the University of Arizona were interviewed to determine the unique qualities contributing to the students' persistence. The study used empowerment as its organizing model and identified institutional factors contributing to student success and persistence. Institutional…

In 1985, the California legislature directed the California Postsecondary Education Commission to study the attrition rate of students in engineering education in order to learn if ethnic minority and women students had a higher drop-out rate than all engineering students and, if so, to determine the reasons for their high attrition. In that…

This document for participants comprises the proceedings of a fourth national conference on the retention of black college students. The conference consisted of 6 general sessions, 6 special sessions, 40 concurrent sessions, and several special activities. A total of 103 selected papers were presented. The following key topics were explored in…

The report studies the interaction between black students' academic performance and their vocational identity, and the impact this interaction has on their higher education experience. Using data from the Maryland Longitudinal Study for 339 black students at the University of Maryland-College Park (UMCP), students were placed into one of four…

A study to obtain follow-up information on graduates from small Iowa school districts was conducted in 1988 to identify rural youth's "educational pathways" during the first 5 years after high school graduation. The sample of high school graduates was randomly drawn from 11 of 98 rural Iowa school districts with an enrollment fewer than…

One hundred elementary school teachers were surveyed to assess: their perceptions of the prevalence of intrinsically- and extrinsically-oriented work incentives in their schools; their perceptions of the prevalence of aversive work conditions in their schools; and their commitment to teaching. Analysis of the data revealed that: (1) the perception…

The Mentor Teacher Induction Project (MTIP) was designed to address the needs of beginning teachers during their "induction" into the teaching profession, and to increase the retention of new teachers in the profession. The central research question addressed by the project was: What will be the effect on beginning and student teachers…

The needs of adult college students (25 years old or older) and support services that could promote achievement and retention of these nontraditional students are considered, based on the literature on current research. Of concern are students enrolled in credit courses at two-year or four-year institutions. Attention is directed to four kinds of…

The influence of financial aid on college student persistence was studied using causal modeling. The study population was 227 full-time freshmen, who enrolled in fall 1982 at a liberal arts college at a large commuter institution. All the students received financial aid. The model, which included background and academic variables, accounted for…

High school graduate projections from late 1987 to the year 2004 are made for total public and nonpublic high school graduates for all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Patterns in historical data are analyzed at the state level and aggregated to the regional and national level. The projections are based on a cohort survival method, which…