Four children's books on learning disabilities are profiled: "Trouble with School: A Family Story about Learning Disabilities" (Kathryn and Allison Dunn); "The Don't Give-up Kid" (Jeanne Gehret); "Keeping a Head in School: A Student's Book about Learning Abilities and Learning Disorders" (Mel Levine); and "What Do You Mean I Have a Learning…

Discusses a pilot study in which art therapy was integrated into the ninth-grade English classroom (N=50) of an urban high school. Data from three measures (to reduce drop-out rates, decrease school failure, and improve students' attitudes about school, family, and self) indicate that the program was a success. (RJM)

Descibes a study that identifies student academic behavior prior to transfer and the relationship of this behavior to academic persistence. Results indicated that the completion of the associate degree with a GPA of 3.0 or higher increased persistence rate to an equal level with students native to a university. (Contains 33 references.) (KC)

Reports the findings of a study examining developmental mathematics courses at two-year colleges in the Virginia Community College System. Argues that remediation is a core function of higher education and a good investment for society, as well as for colleges and universities. Discusses data on credit hours, enrollment, attendance, class size,…

Compares first-year undergraduates at 4-year institutions by the sticker price levels they faced using data from the National Postsecondary Student Aid Survey of the National Center for Education Statistics. Discusses student characteristics, finances, reasons for attendance, academic differences, satisfaction, and persistence. (SLD)

A study evaluated the effectiveness of a teaching package (graduated guidance and visual activity schedules) in teaching four children (ages 7-8) with autism to increase on-task and on-schedule behavior. Student performance rose to criterion levels upon introduction of the graduated guidance procedures and maintained when the picture activity book…

Examined effects of financial aid on within-year persistence by African Americans, Hispanics, and Whites enrolled in Indiana public higher education. Found that financial aid recipients persisted better than or as well as non-recipients within each racial/ethnic group. College grades and other college experience variables also had a substantial…

Describes the development and testing of a socioeconomic model that allows any institution to study student persistence in pursuing an education using existing data sources. Indicates how financial aid, student affairs, academic, and financial administrators can use the model for carrying out sophisticated price response research to plan…

This case study examined the effects of student financial aid on within-year persistence at an urban public university in the 1990s. Results indicated that aid packages remained adequate at this university. It appeared that state and institutional grants played an increasingly important role in maintaining affordability in this new context of…

Analyzed the effects of family income and financial aid on college students' persistence at Iona College, New York. Institutional data on family demographics, academic achievement, and financial variables indicated that financial aid did not significantly affect persistence. Although students from families with greater incomes tended to persist,…

Followed the progress of eight cohorts of first-year college students taking an orientation course between 1986 and 1993. Found that, compared to students who did not take the course, they fared significantly better in retention, graduation rate, grade point average, and other satisfaction, participation, and skills measures. (EV)

Examined how students' enrollment responses to college costs--both in college choice and persistence decisions--vary by social class. Found substantial class-based patterns of enrollment behavior in response to prematriculation perceptions of college costs and actual postmatriculation costs, consistently restricting postsecondary opportunities for…

First-semester college students completed college transition courses which incorporated information on emotional, communication, and critical thinking skills. Their ability to understand, regulate, and harness emotions, and their retention rate, were higher than students completing a transition course lacking the emotional skills component. (EV)

Examined sophomore-year grades and retention of a group of African-American engineering students to determine if positive freshman-year effects of participation in a minority academic support program persisted. Found that although grades diminished with time, positive effects on retention remained. (EV)

Investigates potential ethnic differences between Hispanic and Angelo-American college freshman that may increase their risk of drinking and problem behaviors in an attempt to understand Hispanic's low college retention rate. Findings identified key family, social, personality, and problem behaviors associated with students' retention rates and…