This article provides a brief historical context and analysis of current middle school reform efforts to promote student engagement by facilitating social relationships. International comparisons of perceived social climate are presented to assess whether sense of belonging and support are lacking in American schools. Research documenting…

This study investigated the impact of students' conceptions of constructivist learning activities on academic achievement and drop-out. Although constructivism represents an influential view of learning, studies investigating how students conceptualize this perspective have not been conducted before. A structural equation modelling approach was…

At Hudson County Community College (HCCC), in New Jersey, research on student attrition has included cohort specific studies of enrollment and completion patterns, enrollment pattern studies of instructional programs, and periodic surveys of enrolled students, former students, and graduates. A comparative analysis conducted of previous attrition…

The literature review presented in this paper examined the available research in the area of the rapid burnout of beginning teachers (50 percent of America's beginning public school teachers leave the classroom within their first 7 years of experience and never return to the profession; more than two-thirds of that percentage do so within the…

The City of Austin (Texas) provides funds for an educational initiative to involve minority high school students in water quality issues and to reduce the dropout rate through positive role model interaction with academically successful students. Principal program activities were testing river water for pollutants and tutoring at-risk students by…

This program guide identifies primary considerations in the organization, operation, and evaluation of a work experience program designed for the potential school leaver. The program philosophy is set forth. Program content is then presented. A curriculum framework specifies the exact course title, course number, levels of instruction, major…

In this study 222 urban and rural Hispanic students from Colorado in grades 10 and 12 were classified into the following catagories: (1) dropouts; (2) strugglers, whose attendance levels and grade point averages (GPAs) were below the class median; and (3) achievers, whose GPAs were in the top tertile of their class. The students and their families…

State, school and community must take responsibility for cooperative educational reform targeted at improving educational opportunities for poor, minority students who are at risk of dropping out of New York State's public high schools. Program recommendations include the following: (1) early childhood education programs; (2) mechanisms to ensure…

The second annual Staying-in-School-Partnership Program (SSPP) conference, "Successful Schooling for the At-Risk Student: Ideas for Practitioners," brought representatives from the ten SSPP programs together with representatives from New York State and New York City Attendance Improvement/Dropout Prevention (AIDP) programs, the New York…

THE SOCIAL AND EDUCATIONAL REHABILITATION OF HIGH SCHOOL DROPOUTS WITH DELINQUENT RECORDS WAS ATTEMPTED BY REINFORCING BEHAVIOR ASSOCIATED WITH ACADEMIC REMEDIATION, WORK PREPARATION, AND SOCIAL CONDUCT. OF THE 163 NEGRO YOUTHS WHO PARTICIPATED AT SOME TIME DURING THE PROGRAM, ONLY 42 WERE ACTIVELY PARTICIPATING WHEN THE PROGRAM TERMINATED, AND…

This study represents an initial phase in the development and application of a battery of measures for research and evaluation with disadvantaged adolescents in a youth-work training program. The paper-and-pencil instruments devised attempt to compensate for deficiencies in currently available tests by shaping content, format and administration to…

A SURVEY WAS CONDUCTED TO ASCERTAIN NECESSARY PROCEDURES FOR ESTABLISHING WORK-STUDY PROGRAMS FOR ACTUAL OR POTENTIAL DROPOUTS, AGES 16 AND 17, IN THE LOS ANGELES UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT. THIS SURVEY WAS MADE TO HELP PROVIDE MEANS TO MEET THE CALIFORNIA EDUCATION CODE REQUIREMENTS FOR COMPULSORY CONTINUATION EDUCATION. THE STUDY DETERMINED THAT…

"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) Improving the Lives of Our High School Students: Alliance and Scholastic Co-Host Invitational High School Literacy…

Australian young people take five major transition pathways when they reach the end of compulsory schooling: compulsory to postcompulsory school, school-to-university/higher-education, school-to-vocational education and training, apprenticeship/traineeship, and school-to-work. In 1997, 97.2 percent were retained to Year 10; in Year 11, 84.4…

This country analytical review examines the key issues in access to and participation in primary and secondary education in Bangladesh, with a special focus on areas and dimensions of exclusion. Against a background of overall progress, particularly in closing the gender gap in primary and secondary enrollment, the research applies a conceptual…