The majority of Native American students in Arizona and New Mexico experience inferior elementary and secondary educations. They attend small rural schools with limited resources in remote locations on or near reservations. Poverty and unemployment rates are high. Northern Arizona University, the Navajo and Hopi Tribes, Northern Arizona Education…

This report describes the methodology and findings of the validation of a user-friendly, early predictor measure to identify at-risk students among Syracuse (New York) middle school students. The School Self-Rating (SSR) is designed to assess various dimensions of student attitudes that have been linked to at-risk status and that provide an…

Given that faculty advising plays an important role in college level retention, this paper examines three possible forms of faculty advisor-student relationships--paternalism, agency, and contract--and found the contract form to be superior. The paternalistic model in which the advisor assumes responsibility and authority for decision making was…

This paper is one component of the National Commission for Employment Policy's current project on at-risk youth aged 9-15 years old. It examines and discusses current issues, legislation, and action being taken regarding educational programs that assist this at-risk population about to enter the school-to-work transition. The paper also analyzes…

The experiences of 397 freshmen at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, were studied, along with the ways in which the university programs and services affect student commitment to the university. Based on a telephone interview, findings include the following: many freshmen had little contact with major university services designed to orient…

Modules, Audio-Tutorials, and Contracts are the three components of an integrated system of instruction which has transformed a traditional junior college into a community-based, performance-oriented people's college. This method individualizes instruction, reduces attrition, and virtually eliminates "D" and "F" grades. (DC)

This report presents and analyzes statistical data on the status and condition of American youth, ages 16-24. A brief commentary on the problems of collecting data concerning Hispanic youth precedes the report's seven main sections, which deal with the following topics: population; marriage; childbearing and living arrangements; family income and…

There is a paucity of information on college outcomes of Native Americans, matriculation and retention rates, factors that contribute to institutional holding power, and barriers to Native American achievement. This paper presents the results of a questionnaire survey of 79 two- and four-year colleges and universities that serve the largest…

For most of this century, Florida's economy has been one of the "boom or bust" variety; however, since the 1960s, the economy has diversified, bringing in a variety of "high tech" manufacturing and high-end service businesses to the state. Still, wages in agriculture and tourism are so low that the state suffers in terms of per…

This report evaluates the success of the Home-School-Community Agent (HSCA) project which was implemented for the 1988-89 school year in 8 high schools and 11 middle schools in Ohio. The primary purpose of the project was to help disruptive pupils make a positive adjustment to elements that interfere with their success in school. One objective of…

A longitudinal study examined how long it took 23,044 limited-English-proficient (LEP) students in grades K-12 in New York City to lose their legally-mandated entitlement to bilingual and English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) classes. Findings show that although most students in the population of new-entrant LEP students will lose their entitlement…

This paper discusses issues pertaining to at-risk students at the primary level, suggesting what can be done to keep pupils in formal schooling with an optimal achievement level. Topics discussed include: (1) probable at-risk primary pupils; (2) the domestic and societal causes of high risk in primary pupils; (3) approaches to guiding pupil…

This essay, written from the point of view of a social researcher with a direct personal involvement in the cases studied, discusses how public schools, as universally accessible moral communities, engage in patterns of systematic exclusion. Through three case studies of public secondary schools in which groups of students have been situated…

This document reports on the Migrant Education Secondary Assistance Project's third and final outreach meeting, conducted in conjunction with the National Migrant Education Conference attended by migrant educators from across the nation. These educators have identified effective preventative strategies such as the elimination of grade retention,…

This is the second annual report to Congress required by the Hawkins-Stafford Elementary and Secondary School Improvement Amendments of 1988 (P.L. 100-297). It presents data on high school dropout and retention rates for 1989 and time series data since 1968. It also examines high school completion and graduation rates. Two kinds of dropout rates…