The effectiveness of initial vocational education and training (VET) and support services in preparing early school leavers in Australia to negotiate an effective transition from school to adult roles was examined in a study that focused on two areas of the Central Coast of New South Wales. The following three data collection activities were used:…

Compares first grade dropout and repetition rates between regions and within two cities, Belem and Porto Alegre, Brazil. Focuses on teacher selection, qualifications, and attitudes through classroom observation, 72 interviews, and 155 questionnaires. Shows first grade teachers expect low-income students to fail and encourage failure through…

This year, the Center for Community College Student Engagement focuses its national report on college completion--and the teaching and learning that must be the foundation for high-quality certificates and degrees. Effective teaching and meaningful learning: They are the heart of student success. This report describes four key strategies to…

This book embraces the idea of listening to and learning from students. Although many educational theorists have long argued that incorporating children's perspectives about teaching and curriculum has the potential for increasing students' interest and participation in learning, their radical perspectives are still ignored or dismissed in theory…

The Monitoring the Future (MTF) study is an ongoing series of national surveys of American adolescents and adults that has provided the nation with a vital window into the important, but largely hidden, problem behaviors of illegal drug use, alcohol use, tobacco use, anabolic steroid use, and psychotherapeutic drug use. For more than a third of a…

This collection of statistics provides information on dropout rates in Arizona public schools. A dropout was defined as a student who was enrolled at the end of the 1991-92 school year or at any time during the 1992-93 school year, who was not enrolled at the end of the school year and whose absence could not be explained by transfer, graduation,…

In May 1992 the dropout rate among Hispanic students was 36.6 percent in the Providence (Rhode Island) public schools. A survey was administered in Spanish or English to 232 Hispanic students and 52 teachers at 3 high schools to assess ways to reduce the dropout rate. An attempt to follow up on the Hispanic students listed as dropouts succeeded in…

A survey was administered in Spanish or English to 232 Hispanic students and 52 teachers at 3 Providence (Rhode Island) high schools to assess student needs and find solutions to the dropout problem. An attempt to follow up on Hispanic students listed as dropouts succeeded in locating only 15, some of whom were actually enrolled in alternative…

Many stay-in-school programs support some individuals but do not serve the larger school population. This digest describes a project that would integrate an array of interventions for "at-risk" youth with planned organizational and curricular re-structuring activities. The project consists of 8 groups of 55 to 60 students. While the…

A study tracked 3,192 University of Iowa freshmen through their first year and into their second year on campus. Logistic regression analyses using multiple data sources (admissions and registrar files, a standardized entrance test (the American College Testing Program Assessment) student profile section, an entering freshman survey) were…

A two-phase study was conducted to gather data on the persistence of adult women enrolled in a 1-semester re-entry program at a community college. Specifically, the study sought to develop a model of persistence that took into account the effect of student characteristics, initial goals, academic and social integration, goal changes, and external…

People worry about dropouts because they believe that leaving high school before graduation is detrimental, both to the individual and to society. This view does not include students' view of the situation, and in order to clarify students' perceptions of at-risk factors, qualitative data on high school seniors were collected. The central question…

Both the school-to-work system and youth development theory emphasize preparing youth for adulthood. They share the following characteristics: prevention of problem behaviors, a belief that young people develop by learning actively and in context, a conviction that young people need opportunities to interact with and be respected by adults who…

This study examined the perceptions of female, at-risk students, their parents, and personnel at their school. The study was conducted at a comprehensive high school in the greater metropolitan New York area. Educational engagement and school membership were analyzed to see how these factors contribute both to the academic success and full…

This study analyzes NELS:88 data from a dropout sample of students who were enrolled in the eighth grade in 1988 but who were not enrolled in school in 1990. The data for this analysis were collected in Spring 1990 to examine reasons for dropping out and plans for dropouts to resume their education. In both areas, differences were found on…