European Union Member States gather information on students who drop out without qualification so that they may know how to help this population. This report presents the broad range of measures, arrangements, and systems that exist for supervising, monitoring, training, and providing for dropouts. The text defines the categories used for the…

Small size is often cited by reformers and parents as the key ingredient necessary to create an effective learning environment. In New York City, the new public secondary schools have consistently smaller numbers of students than most existing high schools. The literature is unambiguous that smaller schools show better outputs than schools of…

This book, based on a discussion at an interactive videoconference, examines student diversity issues and retention strategies in the context of the Sallie Mae National Retention Project that addressed state expectations for more accountability and federal reporting requirements on graduation and retention. The eight chapters focus on equity as it…

Federal funding sources available to school districts for meeting the needs of at-risk students are listed in this document. Each source is grouped according to its dropout prevention and retrieval strategy. These strategies include school-site management; student-oriented, teacher-oriented, and collaborative approaches; structured intervention…

A study explored the definition of the concept of faculty/advisor communicaton apprehension (CA), and tested an instrument to identify CA in incoming college freshmen, with a view toward retention of students. An existing interpersonal CA measure, the Interpersonal Communication Apprehension subscale of the PRCA-24 (24-item version of the Personal…

Tennessee's Comprehensive Educational Reform act of 1984 created a widely publicized career-ladder program that provided extended contract opportunities as incentives to teachers receiving level II or III status. A comprehensive evaluation study found that extended contract expenditures and resource-allocation processes were not always driven by…

Information about alternative education as a baseline of thought for school reorganization is presented in this document. Chapter 1 describes the perspectives of alternative education and identifies common types. Teaching methods, strategies, and beliefs of alternative education are discussed in chapter 2. Chapter 3 focuses on the structural…

This report describes and presents analyses of school climate information collected in the Austin Independent School District (AISD) since 1988-89. Three survey instruments were used to collect most school climate data--an anonymous survey of teachers, a confidential survey of teachers and administrators, and a survey of high school students.…

Wages and salaries are influenced by many factors, including the employer's perception of the productivity and availability of workers with different levels of education. They are also affected by economic conditions in the industries that typically employ workers with different levels of education. Annual earnings are influenced by the number of…

In this paper, a coalition representing nearly 50 diverse organizations committed to expanding equity for girls and women in all aspects of education expresses concern that very little attention has been directed to the particular needs of women and girls in general, and of minority women and girls in particular, in the formulation of the national…

This paper discusses an effective model of systematic staff development focusing on prevention and intervention strategies used with at-risk students. The following are key elements: (1) matching of the purposes of training to the goals of the school districts; (2) multiple and integrated activities; (3) participants' thorough orientation to the…

This state education plan is designed to improve the effectiveness and quality of the educational experiences of all students in Minnesota. Across-the-board improvements and major reforms in policies, programs, and practices are needed to restructure the way schools operate, children are taught, and parents and community members are involved in…

In 1984 the Pennsylvania Department of Education notified school districts that they could not deny pregnant or parenting students an education; could not put them on homebound instruction in the absence of medical conditions; and could not place them involuntarily in segregated alternative programs. The state supplied additional funds to start…

Educational clinics, as defined by Washington State law, are private organizations that teach basic academic skills and provide employment orientation in an individualized way to high school dropouts aged 13 to 19. The Educational Clinics Program was authorized by the state legislature in 1977, after extensive lobbying by members of a private firm…

Certain conclusions can be drawn from the fact that both entering school late and being retained in grade have negative effects on children. Children should start school as soon as they are eligible. Retention should be avoided whenever possible. The best alternative to retention in grade seems to be promotion in combination with individual…