This grounded theory study was designed to investigate the factors that influenced 20 "traditional" university freshmen to withdraw prior to the end of their first year at two Midwestern universities. A two-hour audio-taped interview was conducted with each of the participants, and the grounded theory method was utilized to analyze the interview…

Background: Early school leaving and dropout are widely recognized as problems, leading to further marginalization and exclusion of young people from society at large. The Finnish government has set a target that, by the year 2008, 96% of those who complete compulsory education will continue without interruption in secondary education or in the…

These dropout and migration statistics were compiled during the first year of implementation of the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) dropout tracking and database system. These data were collected, primarily, to determine the number of students leaving the DCPS before graduation who did not re-enroll in another educational institution.…

A recent study of Harvard and Radcliffe students who interrupted their college careers shows most of the students benefited from the time off; the Consumer Service Center at Paramus High School in New Jersey helps students and the community. (Author/MLF)

The first section of this report provides information comparing selected dropout data from the Virginia State Department of Education's publication "Facing Up" for the years 1980-1985. The report states that the comparisons were made to show the need to continue efforts to reduce the number of dropouts and to provide programs for those…

The relationship between college persistence and the receipt of grant aid was studied with full-time students at public and private four-year institutions, based on data from the High School and Beyond (HS&B) study. Two measures of persistence were considered: (1) the percent of students who dropped out during the year and (2) for students who…

In the issue-attention cycle identified by political scientists, the imagination and energy of public leaders progress from alarmed discovery of a problem, to euphoric resource mobilization and a search for solutions, to institutionalization of responses. Next come the harsh realities of expensive answers and slow progress, causing a hasty retreat…

Dropout classification systems must be standardized, updated, and simplified to accurately reflect conditions of student departures from school; current, nonstandardized systems allow gathered data to be biased and of poor quality. Improvements will inform administrators of the specific causes behind students' early withdrawals--whether students…

This is a report on high school dropouts in the Los Angeles Unified School District during 1979-80. The study covered 110 secondary schools and sought to determine: 1) the frequency and rate of school leaving among tenth, eleventh, and twelfth graders; 2) the characteristics of the leaver; and 3) reasons for leaving school. The data were collected…

This 37-item bibliography cites monographs, reports, and journal articles dealing with the factors affecting college student retention and attrition. The entries, arranged alphabetically by author, cite works on drop-out prevention strategies, the factors that precipitate retention or attrition, and methodology for conducting student attrition…

THE REGISTRY WOULD CONTAIN INFORMATION CONCERNING SCHOOL DROPOUTS. BECAUSE IT WOULD PROVIDE A CENTRAL COLLECTION POINT OF DROPOUT INFORMATION THROUGHOUT THE SCHOOL DISTRICT, RESEARCH, GUIDANCE AND PLACEMENT OF THESE INDIVIDUALS WOULD BE GREATLY SIMPLIFIED. THE FIRST BASIC FORM PRESENTED CONTAINS ONLY THE NAME, ADDRESS, AGE, LOCATION OF RECORDS AND…

TWO ARTICLES ARE PRESENTED. THE FIRST BY LEONARD M. MILLER, "THE DROPOUT--SCHOOLS SEARCH FOR CLUES TO HIS PROBLEMS," DISCUSSED DATA DISCOVERED BY DIFFERENT STATES ON DROPOUTS. IN MARYLAND COUNSELORS CLAIM THAT LACK OF INTEREST AND DISLIKE OF SCHOOL WERE THE MAIN REASONS FOR DROPOUTS. SPECIFICALLY, THEY WERE DISCOURAGED OVER THEIR…

Of 1,629 students enrolled in the fall semester of 1975 at Allegany Community College, 340 (20.9 percent) did not re-register for spring 1976. Although the fall enrollment contained almost twice as many full-time as part-time students, more than half of the non-returning students were part-time. Attrition also correlated to age of the students,…

Using Attribution Theory, this study examined the effect of exam failure on attrition. Previous Attribution Theory studies indicate that while ascription of failure to lack of ability leads to abandoning the activity, ascription to lack of effort does not necessarily lead to the same outcome. It was, therefore, hypothesized that lower-ability…

This report is the initial part of a 2-year study investigating first-year student attrition at Cuyahoga Community College (CCC). Of 388 students entering CCC in the fall of 1968, but not enrolling in the subsequent spring quarter, 146 (38%) supplied data on which the following results are based. A check of respondents' characteristics showed them…