In the period before World War I, New York schools did provide some opportunities for immigrant children, but, despite compulsory education laws, the majority of immigrant students dropped out and went to work. (SK)

School counselors identified, using qualitative judgments alone, adolescents who they believed to be at moderate risk for dropping out. The students (N=53) were administered a dropout prediction scale. Results indicate that the counselors accurately identified potential dropouts. Discusses the ties between dropout identification and consultation…

As this historical overview shows, viewing grade retention as a panacea for education woes ignores its negative effects on children. Today's retention rate is high, matching that of the early 1900s. Retained students are more likely to drop out, have underprivileged backgrounds, be male and African American, and have less educated parents.…

Studies of the impact of short vs. long time delays between initial referral and first appointment for relationship counseling of 60 clients. Results indicate that clients offered appointments within two weeks of referral were significantly more likely to attend for first appointment than were clients whose appointment came between 4 and 12 weeks…

Study addresses school violence and dropout and proposes that the underlying factor of school connectedness/school climate should guide preventive and intervention efforts. Principal components analysis revealed five distinct factors: school connectedness/positive school climate, causes of violence, causes of school dropout, interventions for drop…

Data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth show that acquisition of the General Educational Development (GED) credential results in wage increases for dropouts who left school with weak skills, but not for those who left with strong skills. Postsecondary education and training are associated with higher wages for male dropouts. (SLD)

This article discusses the issues and problems which typically arise in the process of compiling non-completion statistics, using the example of an empirical investigation of student non-continuation on an institution-wide language programme. The research highlights the fact that the validity of seemingly neutral dropout figures depends on the…

Accountability is the catchphrase for today's educators, who recognize that they and the institutions they represent are expected to demonstrate value--to students, faculty, administrators and the larger community. But instructional accountability is about far more than standardized test scores, dropout rates or transiency and attainment of…

Recalling a study about public attitudes toward schools in various countries, the author of this article asked Jouni Valijarvi of the University of Juvaskyla how Finns perceived their schools and whether PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) results had any impact on their perceptions. Valijarvi was the senior author of The Finnish…

This article is based on participant observation, review of documents such as curriculum materials, and interviews with participants associated with Spotted Eagle Alternative High School in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The school was founded to combat the high dropout rate of American Indian students from mainstream secondary settings and offers a last…

Context: Obesity is epidemic in the United States, but information on this trend by type of rural locale is limited. Purpose: To estimate the prevalence of and recent trends in obesity among US adults residing in rural locations. Methods: Analysis of data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) for the years 1994-1996 (n =…

Federal education policy in recent years has encouraged state and local education agencies to embrace data use and analysis in decision-making, ranging from policy development and implementation to performance evaluation. The capacity of these agencies to make effective and methodologically sound use of collected data for these purposes remains an…

Extensive research has explored the graduation and retention rates of African American students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). The performance of African American students in college and their performance at HBCUs were explored in the literature. Apparently, scholars have not been wiling to address the concerns of the…

A general international observation is that adolescents from disadvantaged families are more likely to leave school at age 16. In this paper we extend the literature on school-leaving decisions by using a new and extensive panel data set from New Zealand; and by examining the effect of family income, and personal and environmental characteristics…

This article examines whether young people in a deprived area are disaffected with education, training and employment, or disengaged from participation in their community. It draws upon evidence from the Drumchapel Aspirations Survey, a study of the attitudes, aspirations and skills of young people from one of the most deprived areas of Glasgow.…