In response to findings in a 1994 accountability report, and specifically data related to student retention, colleges in the Illinois Community College System were asked to report on local initiatives to track and improve retention. In describing their retention initiatives, 30 colleges specifically mentioned assessment and placement activities,…

Since 1988, South Carolina's Piedmont Technical College (PTC) has been engaged in a process to develop a functional model for calculating student retention. The college has defined retention as a series of levels at which students and the college persist and work to fulfill goals. This definition is based on the ideas that there is no single…

The proceedings identify, clarify, and address the problems of the post-Brown era from a variety of perspectives. The first two papers are: The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Banquet Keynote Speech (L. J. Bennett) and the Luncheon Session, "Integrating the Recruitment Preparation and Retention Strategies of Persons of Color in Teaching" (J.…

By devolving authority to local schools, the 1988 Chicago School Reform Act sought to weaken central power in the school system and to promote greater site-based control. This report presents the voices of Chicago Illinois public school students regarding their school experiences--how they describe their teachers and peers, their classes, and…

This review of the literature considers three issues: how out-of-class experiences of undergraduates contribute to the goals of higher education and valued outcomes; the institutional conditions that encourage students to use out-of-class time in educationally purposeful ways; and the role of all members of the campus community to foster such…

Concern about retention and attrition rates in higher education have increased over the years and efforts to identify and treat potential dropouts have grown considerably. Studies investigating the retention and attrition of community college students have found specific characteristics related to outcomes, including full- or part-time attendance,…

This book combines findings of existing research with fresh evidence supplied from a sample of institutions regarding noncompletion rates of mature students in postcompulsory education. Chapter 1 considers the changes that have taken place in postcompulsory education and the implications of having an expanded and more diverse student population.…

This study examined whether the use of trend analysis combined with analysis of persistence variables can be used to establish a model to forecast the first-year persistence of college freshmen. A linear model was created using data on 2,603 first-time freshmen at a moderate-sized comprehensive university from fall 1989 through fall 1993. The…

This report describes current practice regarding requirements for teaching nationally and in North Carolina, and summarizes research comparing traditionally prepared (TP) teachers and those who enter teaching through alternative routes (ALT). These comparisons revealed that alternative programs attracted a large number of candidates, including…

This study compared the academic performance of community college students who transferred to the Faculty of Arts at York University in Ontario (Canada) to the performance of students with Ontario Academic Credit (OAC) backgrounds admitted to the same faculty between 1987 and 1992. The academic performance of 155 community college transfer…

Since 1986-87, California's Los Rios Community College District (LRCCD) has annually collected data on students who transfer from the District's three colleges (i.e., American River College (ARC), Cosumnes River College (CRC), and Sacramento City College (SCC)) to the California State University (CSU) and the University of California (UC) systems.…

This paper reports on a study that examined teacher recruitment and retention practices in the Northern Mariana Islands public school system. The study was conducted due to shortages of special education teachers and related services personnel. Based on a review of school district documents on recruitment and retention practices and interviews…

This report describes a case study in the use of peer mentoring and cohorts to improve doctoral student retention and summarizes survey data reflecting the experience of eight universities. The University of California/California State University Fresno Joint Doctoral Program in Educational Leadership was designed to create cohorts of doctoral…

This paper summarizes findings of three special research projects on special education teacher attrition rates. An introductory section describes the purposes of the federally funded projects, identifies the institutions and school districts involved, and notes the varying availability of attrition rates from 1987 through 1993 in the five data…

The Goodwill Literacy Initiative evaluated its services during the 1994-95 program year. This time frame was chosen because several program enhancements were implemented that reflect the literacy initiative's mission to combine adult basic education with work force development. Three developments were aimed at student retention: a formal…