New undergraduates (n=198) completed surveys on expectations about college adjustment; later completed survey of actual adjustment. Six years later, results indicated that two different sets of items best discriminated among good-standing persisters and leavers, and among poor-standing persisters and leavers. Emotional and social adjustment items…

Integrates existing literature with the authors' research that examines resiliency (students in danger of dropping out of school who are able to develop stable, healthy personas and are able to recover from or adapt to life's stresses or problems). Suggests a model to explain resiliency that can be used to better understand why these students have…

A study examined the stability of the six subgroups of 242 English children with language impairment at age 8. Findings indicate considerable stability in the patterns of difficulties delineated by the classification system. Poorer stability was evident across time with 45% the children moving across subgroups. (Author/CR)

A study examined the predictability of student persistence and achievement, based on Scholastic Assessment Test scores, high school rank, mother's education, birth order, and study-skills course grade, in a group of students served by a federal Student Support Services program. Some variables (SAT scores, study-skills course grade) were more…

Discussion of the importance of induction and support programs for new special education teachers notes the substantial additional demands placed on new special educators in addition to the frustrations and stresses that all new teachers experience. The article notes the high numbers who leave teaching after the first year and identifies national,…

A statistical model to predict success or failure in a general psychology course was constructed and validated with 935 community college students. Best predictors were age, high school grade point average, and composite ACT (American College Testing) scores. The model was validated by comparing error rates to those from two previous semesters of…

A followup study surveyed 79 principals of year-round, multitrack California elementary schools. YRE principal persistence between 1993 and 1998 was lower than that of counterparts in traditional-schedule schools. YRE schools need increased administrative support; their principals need stress management strategies. (Contains 14 references.) (MLH)

This introductory essay reviews the literature on commuter students' needs and experiences and compares several theoretical models that can be used to create environments, cultures, and structures that enable commuter students to become deeply involved in learning. Reports data that indicate the importance of increasing students' involvement to…

Interviews with nine undergraduate students who work part time identified positive effects of employment (transferable skills, enhanced employability) and negative ones, especially conflicts between work and school. The role of academic staff in helping students balance competing demands was highlighted. (SK)

Summarizes an initial interview with a 29-year-old white woman who works as a high school teacher of English and French. The subject is seeking career counseling to help her decide between staying in her current job, exploring a new career, or furthering her education. (MKA)

A rural southwestern New York hospital that instituted a rural residency track (RTT) in concert with a physician-centered strategy increased its admissions, physicians, employment, and profits. Developing an RTT requires dedicated CEO leadership, a strong on-site chief of service, family physicians who perform cesarean sections, and midlevel…

Discusses the experiences of a student at a selective admissions university with a moderately high IQ (119) but who also had a learning disability that impeded his academic success. Uses the case study to examine which students really belong at the university and which are allowed to stay there. (MAB)

A study investigated racial patterns in students withdrawing from York University (Ontario). Results indicate differences in overall retention rates for Blacks and students of South Asian, Chinese, "other" non-European, and European origins are small. While racial origin was not a predictor of voluntary withdrawal at the end of the first…

This article questions the notion of passion in gifted education and discusses how the romanticized interpretation of passion has so diluted the concept that it has been rendered meaningless. Different aspects of passion are explored, different ways people communicate their passions are described, and strategies for fostering passion are provided.…

Explores the impact of counseling on academic progress and retention, using both objective and self-reported measures from records of counseling clients (N=2,365) and the general student body (N=67,026) during six years. Findings reveal that counseled students show superior retention compared to their peers. (Contains 20 references and 4 tables.)…