This study examined whether the use of trend analysis combined with analysis of persistence variables can be used to establish a model to forecast the first-year persistence of college freshmen. A linear model was created using data on 2,603 first-time freshmen at a moderate-sized comprehensive university from fall 1989 through fall 1993. The…

This report describes current practice regarding requirements for teaching nationally and in North Carolina, and summarizes research comparing traditionally prepared (TP) teachers and those who enter teaching through alternative routes (ALT). These comparisons revealed that alternative programs attracted a large number of candidates, including…

This study compared the academic performance of community college students who transferred to the Faculty of Arts at York University in Ontario (Canada) to the performance of students with Ontario Academic Credit (OAC) backgrounds admitted to the same faculty between 1987 and 1992. The academic performance of 155 community college transfer…

Since 1986-87, California's Los Rios Community College District (LRCCD) has annually collected data on students who transfer from the District's three colleges (i.e., American River College (ARC), Cosumnes River College (CRC), and Sacramento City College (SCC)) to the California State University (CSU) and the University of California (UC) systems.…

This paper reports on a study that examined teacher recruitment and retention practices in the Northern Mariana Islands public school system. The study was conducted due to shortages of special education teachers and related services personnel. Based on a review of school district documents on recruitment and retention practices and interviews…

This report describes a case study in the use of peer mentoring and cohorts to improve doctoral student retention and summarizes survey data reflecting the experience of eight universities. The University of California/California State University Fresno Joint Doctoral Program in Educational Leadership was designed to create cohorts of doctoral…

This paper summarizes findings of three special research projects on special education teacher attrition rates. An introductory section describes the purposes of the federally funded projects, identifies the institutions and school districts involved, and notes the varying availability of attrition rates from 1987 through 1993 in the five data…

The Goodwill Literacy Initiative evaluated its services during the 1994-95 program year. This time frame was chosen because several program enhancements were implemented that reflect the literacy initiative's mission to combine adult basic education with work force development. Three developments were aimed at student retention: a formal…

An educator in a bilingual family literacy program offers 10 suggestions for enhancing the retention of limited-English-proficient (LEP) adult students, accompanied by anecdotes of personal classroom experiences. Guidelines include: (1) being responsive to student expectations about teaching method and acknowledging cultural differences; (2)…

This paper discusses the characteristics of resilient children and how to build protective processes within and around children so that they overcome risk at critical decision-making moments in their lives. A research-based definition of resilience is outlined, and major protective mechanisms are discussed. Critical transitions for students are…

This paper presents a study that explored the persistence of both women and men towards careers in the hard sciences and examined the factors that encourage and/or discourage students' participation in science. Specifically, the study explored the relationship between men's and women's background characteristics, their college experiences, and…

A hearing was held over 2 days on amendments to Title V of the Higher Education Act, which addresses college educator recruitment, retention, and development and with authorization of programs designed to enhance the skills of current teachers and administrators and to encourage students entering college to become teachers. Among the witnesses…

In 1970, the City University of New York (CUNY) instituted a controversial open-admissions policy, which permitted the enrollment of large numbers of students in need of basic skills instruction. In 1990, a study was conducted to compare the 1989 freshman cohort at New York City Technical College with the first open-admissions cohort entering the…

This paper describes residential week-long seminars offered at the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching (NCCAT) in Cullowhee, North Carolina, Western Carolina University. The center was established in 1985 to reward and support outstanding full-time teachers in North Carolina and to enhance teaching as an art and as a profession.…

This study investigated reasons reported by elementary and junior high school teachers of students with mental retardation for continuing to work in the field of special education. The study thus sought to identify factors that might be helpful in finding ways to reduce the turnover rate of this population of teachers in Taiwan. Interviews with 27…