A student-oriented curriculum approach was developed at Edison Community College to encourage retention and sustain students' interest in classes. The five elements of the program are student tutoring, a tournament, attendance monitoring, relaxation training, and retention goals (STARR). The tutorial component involves study teams of four or five…

This document reports on a national symposium that constituted the first phase of a research study designed to determine how to use intrinsic motivation and self-empowerment concepts to retain special needs learners who are potential dropouts in postsecondary vocational education programs. The first chapter (by Brown and Wotruba) contains the…

The report focuses on students (a Representative Group and a Black Group) who persisted at the University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP) to graduation and discusses some of the factors traditionally associated with persistence to graduation. The report showed that significant numbers of students who have departed the university did so while in…

The report is intended to provide educators, policy makers, legislators, and funding sources with the latest data on the progress of minorities in higher education. Included is information on high school completion and college participation rates for 18-to-24-year-olds. Data from the U.S. Department of Education's Higher Education General…

Responding to a state legislative mandate establishing the Iowa Educational Excellence Program, a coalition comprised of the Iowa State Education Association, the Iowa Association of School Boards, and the Iowa Department of Education was formed to examine and address the growing needs and concerns of teachers, including teacher compensation. The…

Components of a student retention program at Eastern Michigan University are examined; for each effort to improve retention, project objectives and design, results, and recommendations are presented. Retention initiatives, decided upon as a result of a campus-wide mobilization of effort, include: a student-focused orientation system, a fast track…

A longitudinal study was conducted at William Rainey Harper College (WRHC) to provide basic institutional data about student performance and achievement based on an analysis of student academic records. Samples of 200 full-time and 200 part-time students were selected from successive classes from 1973 through 1983. Study findings included the…

Two recent studies imply that there is a negative selection process at work which systematically attracts and then holds in the teaching profession young people with modest verbal and quantitative abilities. The Vance & Schlecty study compared "recruits"--those who had: (1) majored in education; (2) taught school; or (3) obtained a certificate to…

The project described in this report was piloted at Florida Community College during fall 1985 to review policies and practices that can facilitate the retention of students, to propose a system of data collection and dissemination designed to provide routine, useful information about the retention of students, and to establish communications…

The impact of market forces on negotiated salary guides for the hiring and retention of faculty was investigated through a survey of the collective bargaining agreements of four-year institutions. While the vast majority of the 117 contracts surveyed were silent on this issue, 16 agreements contained provisions. Fifteen provided for specific…

In response to education reform mandates, rewards and incentives such as career ladder and master teacher programs are being designed to break lock-step salary schedules and to retain competent teachers. While these "pay-for-performance" plans seem acceptable to taxpayers, few realize that such approaches have already been tried and…

Information gathered by the Maryland State Board for Community Colleges and articulation staff at the University of Maryland, College Park (UNCP) was analyzed to assess the academic performance of transfer students from Prince George's Community College (PGCC) and to draw preliminary conclusions concerning retention through the bachelor's degree.…

A study was conducted at Burlington County College to investigate the relationship between the academic characteristics and course completion of students enrolled in General College Chemistry (CHE 105) in fall 1985. The study involved an examination of students' academic records and a survey of students who did not successfully pass the course. Of…

This study identifies factors associated with black undergraduate students who graduated and those who withdrew from Clemson University (South Carolina), a predominantly white, rural university. The sample consisted of all (838) black undergraduates who had graduated or withdrawn from Clemson after 1979. The study examined student history data…

This project was conducted to determine factors that contribute to the academic success or lack thereof of educationally disadvantaged vocational students and to develop a plan that will enhance success of persistent nonachieving students in the future. Educationally disadvantaged students at Mountain View Community College (Texas) were divided…