An unacceptable number of students appear to be at great risk of not attaining the education levels essential to become successful, contributing members of society. An array of agencies at community levels receive funding from various levels of governments to provide support services to address the various elements of risk. Yet the problem of…

As the high-profile Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP) network of schools continues to expand, KIPP leaders are taking a close look at student attrition amid arguments from critics that the loss of students at some of those public schools of choice is alarmingly high. Attrition rates at a few KIPP schools in the San Francisco Bay Area, in…

Based on the assertion that punitive programs for at-risk students are ineffective, this book describes in detail how to start an effective alternative program to redirect the lives of at-risk youth. Following the preface, chapter 1 presents a historical background and an overview of alternative education. The second chapter describes strategies…

This newsletter reports the results of a study that explored the relationship between the organizational culture of secondary schools and students' progress, that is success, failure, and dropout. Three secondary schools were examined in the study, and the results showed that the organizational culture of schools is a useful concept for…

Dropout rates at the college and university level are much higher for students of minority cultures than for their majority culture peers. This paper suggests that the "revolving door" scenario of minority-culture college students can be stemmed by the proper use of mentoring. A combination of successful peers (interpreters), university…

This report explores factors influencing the persistence and graduation of students at New York City Technical College. Part 1 presents an overview of an 8-semester study conducted of 307 freshmen from September 1989 through June 1994, while part 2 describes the research procedure utilized, indicating that the following types of data were…

A composite behavioral indicator of high school effectiveness was developed that measures the degree to which schools strike a balance between the press for academic excellence and the need to keep all students actively engaged in schooling. This proposed "participation" indicator is based on behavioral outcomes with demonstrated…

Using an innovative framework, a psychology of identity is explored by incorporating an analysis of the cultural, historical, and political context of youths from different regions of Puerto Rico. Interviews with 56 Puerto Rican youths who were either studying to work at something they felt strongly about, working at something they loved, or…

The District of Columbia Junior High School Intensive Care and School Involvement Program (JHSICSIP) was designed to improve achievement and attendance among at-risk students, with the ultimate goal of preventing school dropouts. This program completed its second year of implementation during school year 1990-91 and operated in six junior high…

A 2-year bilingual vocational education program in the Richmond (Virginia) area for language-minority secondary school students is profiled. The students are generally limited-English-speaking refugees, and the program is designed to prepare them for educational mainstreaming or transition to jobs. Incoming students (61 in 1990-91) are assessed…

This paper, a follow-up to a previous review of literature on academic excellence that synthesized information from the United States and Mexico, describes an ethnographic study of high-achieving and low-achieving Hispanic secondary school students from Calexico, California and Mexicali, Baja California Mexico. Five students for each group were…

This brochure describes the AASCU/Sallie Mae National Retention Project's goals, beginnings, continuing work, and participants. An introduction describes how the Project has resulted in over 370 state institutions looking closely at their effectiveness in student learning and achievement and at emerging accountability requirements. An overview…

Most research on success in first-semester retention of college freshmen has looked either at performance in specific courses or at performance in a given course across all colleges. In the fall of 1997, Virginia Tech (Blacksburg) implemented a new academic eligibility policy, which defined success as earning an average grade of C or better. This…

The effects of participation in the Chicago (Illinois) Child-Parent Center and Expansion Program from ages 3 to 9 on early school dropout at age 17 were studied. The Child-Parent Centers offer a government-funded educational intervention program in preschool through second or third grade in 20 locations in Chicago's poorest neighborhoods. Using…

This paper describes Project Self-Responsibility, an innovative approach to reaching African-American male at-risk students and helping them become more self responsible, self determined, self reliant, and self productive. This 1-year project involved 32 students from 1 elementary and 2 high schools in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The project utilized…