A survey was conducted of students who left John Tyler Community College (JTCC) after one or more quarters of attendance. The purposes of the study were to establish the students' primary goals for enrolling, evaluate whether their goals were achieved, identify the reasons for their withdrawal, ascertain their current activities, and determine…

Part I of this paper reviews research on effects of vocational course work on dropout rates, probabilities of employment, earnings, productivity, and basic skills. The review is organized around 10 questions. Answers to these questions include: (1) vocational education lowers dropout rates; (2) economic benefits are substantial; (3) economic…

A study of high school dropouts and programs in Appalachian regions of 13 states also sought exemplary programs and methods of replication. The high school dropout rate was found to be 5.8% higher than the national average of 23.9%. Within the region, rates were 19.1% in the northern, 38% in the central, and 30% in the southern region. Differences…

This report reviews the literature concerning the causes of student attrition for both the community college and the four-year institution. These causes can be grouped as self-related and college-related. Self-related factors involve actual and perceived ability, background and motivation for college, family influences and expectations, and…

This paper summarizes a panel discussion that addressed exit-exam policies and dropout issues. It presents the panel members' conclusions about existing research and their recommendations on what kinds of further work are needed. Research on how exit exams affect dropout rates is limited and inconclusive, so policies continue to be made in the…

Recent census figures indicate that, compared to all races and ethnic groups, Hispanic students had the lowest rate of graduation from high school. This article explores possible predictors of dropout among Hispanic youth by comparing the Hispanic youth who dropped out of school between the 8th and 10th grade with those who continued. Data for the…

An exploratory study examined the past and present participation in education of 34 parents enrolled in 5 model family literacy programs in North Carolina and Kentucky. All respondents were high school dropouts. Over half had dropped out of adult basic education classes before completing a high school equivalency certificate. The study focused on…

A study described the nontraditional adult students attending full-time, occupationally specific vocational training programs in Ohio. It also developed a dropout prediction model of enrolled students using sets of independent variables adapted from the Conceptual Model of Nontraditional Student Attrition and Persistence in Postsecondary…

A study was conducted at Garland County Community College (GCCC) in Arkansas to determine the characteristics and reasons why students who enrolled in fall 1992, did not re-enroll in fall 1993. A total of 220 full-time and 290 part-time former students were selected randomly from the 1,371 non-returning students. Telephone interviews were…

Outcomes of the Performance-Based Diploma (BPD) Program, a program implemented at a high school in the southeast United States, are described in this paper. The basic elements for success are people, program design, and product. Staff function on the belief that teachers exist to meet students' needs. The program includes the following components:…

Strategies for reducing by one-half the school dropout rate in the southern United States are presented in this report. Sixteen recommendations made by the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) are discussed. These involve the following general areas: setting local goals, focusing on student outcomes, improving the reporting system, and…

American Indian and Alaska Native students have the highest dropout rate among all ethnic or racial groups, about 30%. Many studies have focused on the supposed deficits of students who drop out, such as intelligence, school attendance, and parental income. Less attention has been given to the deficits of schools and teachers pushing out Native…

This report describes an evaluation of Project Success, a dropout prevention program at Crockett High School in Austin (Texas). The class centered program provided incentives for improved educational performance and attendance of at-risk ninth-grade students in the 1990-91 school year. The project served 103 students over the fall 1990 and spring…

An evaluation of an in-service reading skills and learning to learn program, designed to enable high school and professional personnel to both teach and cope with students who need these skills revealed that there does exist an understanding of the dropout problem, there is a need for the development of fundamental reading skills, and that…

This report presents the findings of a review of 45 selected references on issues associated with high risk students and dropouts. The literature was analyzed according to: (1) the manner in which high risk students and dropouts are characterized; (2) the suggested causes and conditions driving the problems of high risk and dropping out; (3) the…