Compares persisters and noncompleters enrolled in an office occupations major at Utah Valley Community College in terms of scores on Super's Work Values Inventory and Holland's Self-Directed Search. Found little relationship between work values and retention. (DMM)

Research review, study of effective programs, and focus group meetings resulted in policy recommendations and a proposed model for a comprehensive program for at-risk students. The Integrated Vocational Education Model focuses on personal/social, academic, and vocational development sequenced from middle school to post-high school. (SK)

Mothers at risk for child maltreatment who completed a Seattle (Washington) clinic-based parenting program were compared with mothers who dropped out, revealing that dropouts were more likely to be teenaged and African American and to have received low scores on the Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment scale. (Author/DB)

Last July, the New Initiatives Division of Sandia National Laboratory, a nuclear research center in Albuquerque, New Mexico, presented its findings on U.S. education to the U.S. Subcommittee on Elementary, Secondary, and Vocational Education. Current dropout rates, test scores, college attendance, educational expenditures, educator status, work…

Considered (1) the relation between peer socioeconomic status and specific negative outcomes; (2) the possibility that sociometric status serves as a marker variable for negative outcomes; (3) the possibility that rejected children experience more types of problems during adolescence than other children; and (4) which of six predictor variables…

Reviewed academic records for students who attended public school, completing secondary education between 1982 and 1986. Students who experienced most difficulty in mastering first grade reading and arithmetic had much higher probability of leaving high school without graduating and of experiencing serious academic problems while in high school…

Henry M. Levin finds Balfanz's article a dispassionate attempt to explore the connections between workplace performance and curriculum reform. Educational reform efforts often misinterpret and simplify the relationship between informal knowledge, academic skills, and individual productivity. Consequently, the U.S. public's productive capacity is…

Best way to prevent high school students from dropping out is to address problems at elementary or middle school. At-risk students do not differ greatly from other middle-school students but need specific individualized assistance with academic skills and warm, nurturing advocate to help build self-esteem and achieve success in school work. Middle…

Marvin Cetron's new Book, "Educational Renaissance," highlights the various disconnected attempts to heal schools and school systems. Merit pay and lengthening the school day and school year are crucial components of future economic success. Other predictions concerning students, teachers, higher education, school finance, families, and…

Examines the characteristics differentiating those who persist to graduation from those who drop out in older (over age 25) undergraduate women. Comparative analysis of 192 graduates and 38 dropouts is discussed. Although motivations for persistence are complex, it is suggested that college outreach programs to increase retention of older female…

Surveyed college administrators, faculty, support staff, and students (total n=211) to assess retention efforts at small college. Found both differences and similarities among groups. Findings suggest that progress has been made in improving retention efforts. Results revealed that respondents did not always perceive close relationship between…

Describes the "Check and Connect" model of monitoring in a secondary school environment. Students seen as at risk for dropping out of school were assigned a monitor who then built a trusting relationship with the student through which support was given and advocacy provided within the school environment. (MKA)

Provides national and state information on the number, type, size, and location of schools and districts. Also includes student race-ethnicity, participation in the Free Lunch program, and participation in special education services. Contains dropout data for selected states. (Author)

Reports results of an investigation into the complexities of student attrition in a distance education course at the University of Sydney. Results of interviews were divided into four main categories: situational, including a student's particular circumstances; dispositional, including student attitudes; institutional; and epistemological,…

Discusses retention in community colleges, identifying four reasons that students leave college, including attainment of goals and frustrated expectations. Lists eight intervention strategies that have proved successful, and provides suggestions for retention, such as having faculty serve as mentors to students, and providing the most appropriate…