The report provides information on the special education professional personnel in Michigan schools from 1979 through 1987. The first section covers instructional-ancillary personnel and student counts with specific information on personnel distributed by age, by assignment, by educational attainment, and by region; personnel and student ratios;…

A study was conducted at Butte College to determine the effectiveness of a developmental writing course (Eng 102) by examining comparative achievement and persistence in a subsequent freshman composition course (Eng 210) and comparative persistence and achievement in course work in general. Analyses of data on all 3,497 students who enrolled in…

Increasingly, a majority of postsecondary students are following nonlinear paths in the pursuit of educational and career goals. Practical steps are described that can be taken to track and evaluate the success of such students. A particularly promising practice involves data sharing and exchanges with state agencies and other higher education…

A study investigated sources of stress among 61 elementary and secondary school teachers who had attended an inservice stress clinic. Teachers completed test or survey instruments which collected data on problem situations for classroom teachers, including personal information on their teaching situations, job satisfaction, consideration of…

A retention taskforce was established at Sinclair Community College (SCC) in Ohio to develop a plan to increase student retention. The 24-member taskforce, representing key areas within the college, worked for 15 months to prepare the plan. The plan was designed to be comprehensive, touching upon all points where the students interact with the…

The author describes a visit to a commercial cooking class at the Springfield Area Center (Illinois) and the successful teaching and career education in action that was observed. (EA)

The essential subject matter of this book is the college dropout problem. In a study of persisting and nonpersisting students, home and college environments were considered as well as personal and academic characteristics to determine if any of these areas were related significantly to the student's decision to leave or remain in college. The…

The results of a computerized tracking system and followup studies of nonreturning students indicate that the nonreturning student statistic at Mercer County Community College (New Jersey) has been due to intermittent enrollment, changes in personal plans, and completion of individual student objectives, rather than to the failure of the student…

It is difficult to draw meaningful conclusions from existing studies of the academic performance of college transfer students because of the fact that the findings of one college are generally not applicable to another institution. However, the university concerned with the retention and achievement of its transfer students can use these studies…

The relationship of boys' and girls' level of aspiration (LOA), achievement motivation, manifest anxiety, and intelligence to persistence behavior was explored in this study. Forty boys and 40 girls (ages 11-13) from two Catholic schools participated in this study. To measure subjects' persistence and LOA, subjects were given 5 sets of puzzle…

The influences of the receipt of student financial assistance and the amount of assistance received on persistence in college over a four-year period were examined. The sample included all recipients of aid, all nonrecipients who applied for aid but were not eligible, and a representative sample of controls selected from the 1970-71 entering…

Research and programs concerning college student retention are considered. Based on research studies, reasons why students depart prior to graduation are examined. The literature about corrective actions that can be taken and University of Tennessee data about student retention are discussed. A recent study at the University of Tennessee,…

TO IDENTIFY FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH PERSISTENCE IN TEACHING AND TO SUPPLEMENT A 10-YEAR LONGITUDINAL QUESTIONNAIRE SURVEY OF THE 1954 CLASS OF CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK STUDENT TEACHERS, 50 ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS, WHO HAD BEEN TEACHING FROM 7 TO 10 YEARS SINCE GRADUATION, WERE INTERVIEWED. THE SUBJECTS WERE DRAWN FROM A TOTAL…