A study found that variables significant in predicting minority students with academic difficulty include science grade-point average, Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) reading subtest score, and number of course withdrawals. For majority students, they include MCAT biology subtest score and number of incompletes taken in courses. (MSE)

Investigated factors associated with Black students' (N=196) remaining in school and their successful completion of requirements in their majors that would lead to graduation. Found cognitive measures (high school grade point averages and Scholastic Aptitude Test scores) to be more important than noncognitive indices (racial identity,…

Explored the relationship between the degree to which choices and interests agree and later persistence in an expressed choice, using longitudinal data for college students (N=7,706) and employed persons (N=1,372). Results indicated that persistence in an expressed choice increases systematically as congruence between choice and interests…

Analyzes a national survey of former and current teachers on why teachers leave the profession. Discusses what career change has meant to former teachers; why they left; how they do in their new jobs; signs of teachers most likely to leave; and what must be done to attract and keep new teachers. (KH)

First- and fourth-grade children who were given the opportunity to compare performances with a similarly performing peer (a) chose to compare more often, (b) persisted at the task for more trials, and (c) self-rewarded on a smaller proportion of the trials, than did children offered comparison with a consistently superior or inferior peer.…

Identified factors which distinguish persisters, dropouts, and transfer students in engineering. Also determined a discriminant function which predicts persistence of an incoming engineering student. Factors influencing attrition include: student expectations, academic style, and faculty support.

As part of a longitudinal study on the environmental origins of mastery motivation, 6- and 12-month-old infants were observed at home with each parent separately and their motivational characteristics were assessed in a laboratory setting. Differential relationships between two aspects of parental stimulation and the infants' mastery motivation…

A study of financial aid and persisters, dropouts, and stopouts at California State College, Bakersfield analyzed the relationship of 14 student variables (admissions eligibility index, degree objective, sex, age, ethnicity, Pell Grant eligibility, residence, scholarship award, grant award, loan awards, work-study award, financial need, marital…

Ohio University's Experiential Learning Program includes a portfolio development course to assess prior nonsponsored learning. The program is used as a recruitment and retention device and has attracted former adult students who had not been able to complete their degree programs. (SK)

Describes a study undertaken to continue work that has been done on the relationship between course completion and telephone tutoring in distance education. Results indicate a statistically significant positive, although modest, relationship does exist; correlation is greater in adult basic education and career technical vocational programs than…

Examined the reliability, construct validity, and predictive validity of the Non-Cognitive Questionnaire (NCQ) for different racial groups, using a sample of 1,975 Black and White college students. Results showed the NCQ significantly predicted persistence for Black students and predicted grades for both groups. (JAC)

At the heart of good teaching is a love of learners. Literature's "Mr. Chips" illustrates the principle poignantly; his story can serve as an inspiration for teachers who would last a lifetime in the profession and refuse to "burn out." (PP)

This meta-analytic synthesis of findings from 60 evaluation studies schowed that special college programs for high-risk students have had basically positive effects on students. High-risk students who enrolled in such programs stayed in college somewhat longer than control students did, and they received somewhat better grades in regular college…

Each year, the School District of Philadelphia hires a large number of new teachers. Philadelphia needs these new teachers not because enrollment is increasing--in fact, enrollment in the public schools has been decreasing over the past few years as a result of a declining birth rate and the growth of charter schools--but because a substantial…

The purpose of this analysis was to examine the persistence, graduation and transfer rates of full-time students who received an EAG (Educational Assistance Grant) or GAG (Guaranteed Access Grant) and matriculated during the 1996-1997 academic year. The performance of these students was examined on the basis of the number of years in which…