Presents five goals of a policy and research agenda for dropout prevention: (1) to develop commonly accepted definition of dropout; (2) to improve methods of pupil accounting; (3) to separate causes and identifiers of at-risk behavior; (4) to analyze relevance of questions asked about at-risk youth; and (5) to engage in institutional…

Eleven second-year college students, representing various characteristics of the student population, were interviewed on issues related to school persistence. Major factors relating to attrition or persistence for second-year students included: (1) adjustment to stress; (2) grade satisfaction; (3) time management; (4) financial management; and (5)…

Using Tinto's (1975) model of dropping out or persisting, examined the perceived experiences of university students with disabilities. Data were gathered through a questionnaire, narrative interview, and focus group. Found that background characteristics and academic integration were more important to persistence than social integration. Goal…

Students with disabilities who dropped out of high school (n=60) cited more school factors (lack of academic success, suspension, peer problems) than personal factors (motivation, pregnancy, family problems) influencing dropout. Three-fourths suggested improved communication with teachers, flexible scheduling, and more relevance would decrease…

Research shows that peer status in adolescence is positively associated with school achievement and adjustment. However, subculture theories of juvenile delinquency and school-based ethnographies suggest that: (1) disadvantaged boys are often able to gain some forms of peer status through violence; and (2) membership in violent groups undermines…

A 2006 study of apprentices commencing with a Group Training Organisation in an Australian regional centre identified factors that appear to support apprentices in their first year. The research demonstrates that school subject selection and access to work-related experiences while still at school make an important difference to completion of the…

The Employment Retention and Advancement (ERA) project is the most comprehensive effort thus far to ascertain which approaches help welfare recipients and other low-income people stay steadily employed and advance in their jobs. Launched in 1999 and slated to end in 2009, the ERA project encompasses more than a dozen demonstration programs and…

Annually, a statewide school dropout study is conducted in New Mexico. The purpose of the study is to gather and publish information bearing on the extent and nature of the dropout problem in New Mexico public schools. Data on the grade, sex, ethnicity, and reason for dropping out were collected for students who prematurely discontinued their…

A questionnaire was administered to students who withdrew from two academic institutions - a teachers' college and a state university - to study their reasons for leaving. The most important reason for students' withdrawal was their feeling that the institution did not offer an academic experience that met their personal objectives. (Author)

THE REASONS STUDENTS DROP OUT OF COLLEGE WERE EXPLORED. THE SUBJECTS WERE 250 FULL-TIME STUDENTS WHO HAD WITHDRAWN FROM COLLEGE DURING ONE SEMESTER. EACH SUBJECT COMPLETED A FORM LISTING A VARIETY OF REASONS FOR WITHDRAWAL. THE STUDENTS WERE ALSO ASKED TO TALK WITH A COUNSELOR AT THEIR CONVENIENCE. FOLLOWING THE INTERVIEW, THE COUNSELOR COMPLETED…

In this follow-up study, which was designed to expand the knowledge of the causative factors in apprenticeship drop-out and test the validity of the findings of the previous study, a random sample of 20 cancelled apprentices who had dropped from the apprenticeship program since January 1966, was matched with 20 apprentices who had completed the…

This study sought to determine what effect the utilization of a penalty or no-penalty drop policy would have on retention of students at Pasadena City College. It was found that there was a significant difference both in grades received and the retention of students as a result of the adoption of a 16 week no-penalty drop policy at the college.…

Four brief reports of the 1968 Educational Commission are presented: an account of drop-outs at universities and colleges; an investigation of trend in social distribution of students at universities and colleges during expansion of education in postwar period; illustrations of mobility and interchangeability on labor market of persons with higher…

This paper analyzes (1) the reasons for not attending school given by dropouts from community colleges; (2) the situation of college graduates and the degree of their satisfaction compared with that of dropouts; and (3) the profile of the college dropout. Self-administered questionnaires were sent to college students who failed to register in…

The author critically examines the empirical base of Boshier's congruence model and related instruments, the Education Participation Scale and the Personality and Educational Environment Scale. He raises questions concerning the appropriateness of the model to explain participation and dropout from adult education. (Author/CH)