In 1996, Ohio's Terra Community College undertook a project to substantiate the need for a comprehensive orientation program and to develop such a program, including a pre-college session and a college orientation class. Information was gathered through a literature review, suggesting that orientation creates a bond between the student and the…

The transition from undergraduate to graduate school is a point when female students may lose interest in pursuing engineering degrees, and the percentage of women enrolled in engineering graduate programs is small in comparison to that of males. To attempt to mitigate the potential isolation of women graduate engineering students, the Women in…

This report describes the status after 5 years of the diverse groups of students who first entered institutions of postsecondary education during the academic year 1989-90. It describes their economic and demographic characteristics, their educational objectives, the types of institutions they attended, their experiences while enrolled, and their…

This report presents information on each of the groups of freshmen who entered Illinois public universities between the 1983-84 and 1991-92 academic years regarding retention and persistence of baccalaureate students, the proportion that graduate, and the length of time needed to complete the Bachelor's degree. The report shows that: (1) 55…

Examining the flow of students between the credit and noncredit programs at the City College of San Francisco (CCSF), in California, this report analyzes the patterns of student enrollment, attendance, persistence, and transition between programs from fall 1984 to fall 1994. Following a brief introduction and a discussion of terminology and trends…

Rather than studying the structural paths through which variables affect student persistence in education, this paper offers a reduced form model that focuses on precollege, demographic, and certain current achievement and financial aid variables. This approach does not specify structural paths, but it does have the advantage of requiring only…

This paper discusses the role of institutional researchers in changing attitudes within institutions of higher education on the importance of efforts to improve student retention. It describes activities undertaken at Virginia Tech to determine why students voluntarily withdraw from the university in the context of changing attitudes within the…

Teach for America (TFA) is a national teacher corps of outstanding individuals who commit themselves to teach for 2 years in urban and rural areas that are experiencing persistent teacher shortages. TFA selects corps members through an intensive application process, operates inservice institutes to prepare them to enter the classroom, clusters…

The concept of family literacy is firmly rooted in a substantial research base from several disciplines: adult literacy, emergent literacy, child development, and systems analysis. Research from these disciplines was reviewed to determine the benefits of family literacy. The results show that family literacy programs do work and that at least four…

This paper discusses retention techniques that can be used with minority students at predominantly white colleges, focusing on four phases that are critical to the retention and academic achievement of minority students: acceptance, acclimatization, responsibility, and productivity. In the acceptance phase, the college community should attempt to…

Teachers can assume different roles in a distance education environment, but teachers should appreciate their importance in helping learners persist in a distance education activity. In order to discover what distance education students regarded as helpful teacher behaviors, a questionnaire was designed and mailed to 334 1993-94 graduates of the…

Several retention strategies have been developed at Miramar College in San Diego, California, to reduce attrition and enhance institutional effectiveness. One of these, the PLACe tutorial center, is dedicated to empowering students to attain educational success. In spring 1992, developmental English students who did not use the PLACe Center had a…

This study explored personality variables measured by the 16 Personality Factor (16PF) test and their relevance to success, as defined by the final course grade, in college calculus courses with 94 students. Two personality variables were significant predictors of success as determined by the final course grade. A Statistical Analysis System…

This project recruited and provided preservice training for individuals from underrepresented groups who were interested in working in urban areas with young children with special needs and their families. The project was implemented within the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) Exceptional Education program in collaboration with the…

This paper reviews research published in the last 20 years which evaluates the performance of general education development (GED) certified students at public two-year community colleges. First, information is provided on the role and enrollment conditions of today's community colleges in America, focusing on the growth of community college,…