The negative impact of low attendance and the lack of effective, alternative classroom learning strategies are factors that mitigate against student interest and success in mathematics, particularly with respect to inner-city at-risk students. The goal of this practicum was to improve the problem-solving skills of a group of 50 alternative high…

A group of three conference papers, all addressing the subject of effective programs to decrease the number of school dropouts, is presented in this document. The first paper, "Systemic Approaches to Reducing Dropouts" (Michael Timpane), asserts that dropping out is a symptom of failures in the social, economic, and educational systems.…

The initial phase (1967-1968) of a longitudinal study designed to provide more teachers of the disadvantaged by (1) recruiting education students who have withdrawn from college for academic reasons but have greater scholastic potential than they have demonstrated and (2) modifying teacher education programs to train these individuals as teachers…

A study followed freshman students entering Indiana University in 1971, 1973, and 1974 to establish the rate and variables related to dropping out of the university. Students were labeled academic drops if they were achieving below a 2.0 grade point average (GPA) at the time of withdrawal, and nonacademic drops if not below 2.0. Students entering…

The consequences of not graduating from high school are increasingly serious for both individuals and society as a whole. As a result, policymakers and the federal requirements of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) have placed a new focus on increasing graduation rates and reducing dropout rates. While the dropout problem has generated research and new…

The New Mexico Dropout Report is published annually to provide information for educators, parents, legislators, and other interested parties on the status of education in New Mexico. This report describes the extent and nature of the school dropout dilemma in the state, providing information on the numbers and percentages of dropouts by grade,…

The experience that will be described in this paper is based on work carried out during the Chance Project, an experimental programme designed to re-integrate teenage drop-outs from difficult areas of the inner city into mainstream school. The Project, which has been running in Naples, southern Italy, since 1998, comprises three school centres…

This study examines the effects of institutional financial aid on year-to-year persistence for a cohort of first-time, first-year students at three large, doctorate-granting public universities. Though billions of dollars are spent each year on institutional aid, much of the research to date on student persistence does not consider its effects on…

Metropolitan State College of Denver is an urban college in Denver, Colorado, serving 200-240 student teachers per semester, with teacher licensure programs in Early Childhood, Elementary K-6, Special Education, Secondary English, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, Modern Languages, K-12 Art, Music, and Physical Education. Approximately 97…

Students who repeat a grade prior to high school have a higher risk of dropping out of high school than do students who are continuously promoted. This study tested whether standard theories of dropout--including the participation-identification model and the social capital model--explain this link. Although the presence of variables, including…

This article talks about two alternative schools that have adapted to be a better fit for at-risk students than a comprehensive middle or high school might be. It is easy to suggest that an increase in the dropout rate is merely a natural result of the recent preoccupation with test scores. Whatever truth there may be to this, educators must still…

This article reports how the 10 "pilot" schools conceived by the Boston district in 1994 are seeing more students through graduation than regular high schools in the area. Conceived a decade ago as the district's response to charter schools, pilot schools have won praise from educators, business leaders, and community groups for…

This paper revisits the crucial period following the Arab oil boycott of 1973, when the welfare state in the UK finally collapsed along with the heavy industrial base upon which it rested. Unlike the post-war welfare-state "settlement", the new post-welfare market state was imposed by Margaret Thatcher's governments. It was marked for…

The purpose of this quantitative research study is to identify variables that lead students to having thoughts of leaving their institution, talking with someone about leaving their institution, or taking steps to leave their institution. This attrition study identifies variables that institutional faculty, administrators, and staff can address…

To help inform policymakers and the public about the progress of education in the United States, Congress has mandated that the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) produce an annual report, "The Condition of Education." This year's report presents 42 indicators of important developments and trends in U.S. education. These…