Interviews and roundtable discussions with 32 junior and senior female students majoring in math, science, and engineering (MSE) identified factors contributing to MSE retention and graduation, including: (1) support networks and university acclimation; (2) faculty associations; (3) financial assistance; and (4) university support programs that…

Research shows that learning communities are an effective way to improve student performance and persistence, but the success of any particular implementation is not guaranteed. Each program should be evaluated with regard to the likelihood that better-prepared students tend to participate. The protocol used for evaluation at Indiana…

Discusses the relationship of learning preferences to motivation and retention and presents a profile of learning preferences of Hispanic and Native American learners. Building upon two separate studies of college students, concludes that Hispanic and Native American students have high preferences for participation in active, concrete learning…

Analysis of national longitudinal data indicates that high school students' educational achievement (grade average, standardized test scores, staying in school) was strongly affected by process and structural attributes of family social capital (family structure and income, parent education, parent-child interactions) and somewhat affected by…

A study examined the health service use of 5,088 West Virginia University freshmen and compared the use patterns of students who returned the next fall with those who did not return. Nonreturning students had a higher usage rate and were significantly different in the types of services needed. The influence of student health problems on attrition…

Discussion of distance education for nontraditional students in higher education via the World Wide Web focuses on student attrition rates and how to increase persistence. Highlights include a profile of distance learners; theories of persistence; and persistence and retention strategies, including technical resources, pretests, human resources,…

Based on the preliminary results of research conducted by the Consortium for Policy Research in Education and Stanford's Bridge Project, authors suggest several ways that K-12 schools and postsecondary education could integrate policies and data to improve student academic opportunities and success from kindergarten to college graduate 16 years…

Describes the psychological processes that lead to academic and social integration based on a retention model proposed by the authors. Describes how successful retention programs such as learning communities, freshman interest groups, tutoring, and orientation rely on psychological processes. Four psychological theories form the basis for…

Although there is a general consensus that teachers are important for student learning, there is little discussion of the process by which teachers are employed by schools: the teacher labour market. We argue, based on a mix of a priori and inductive reasoning, that inflexible attitudes about comparative wages have contributed toward chronic…

It has been more than a decade since the U.S. Congress enacted the "Student Right-to-Know and Campus Security Act," which requires colleges and universities to make public their six-year degree completion rates. Based on the "Student Right-to-Know and Campus Security Act," prospective students and their parents are being encouraged to make…

Regression analysis indicates that graduation rates for public community colleges in the United States are adversely affected when institutions rely heavily upon part-time faculty instruction. Negative effects may be partially offset if the use of part-time faculty increases the net faculty resource available per student. However, the evidence…

The community college is a major site preparing students for nursing careers, an important role at a time of a national shortage. However, many of the low socioeconomic status (SES), minority students who aspire to associates degrees in nursing display low levels of academic preparedness. An analysis of 3-year institutional data from a single…

In public school systems all around the country, educators--teachers, counselors, and administrators--have made significant progress in identifying and recruiting diverse populations in gifted and enrichment programs. Despite the efforts, too many African American students and other students of color (e.g., Hispanic Americans and Native Americans)…

Early murmurs concerning teacher attrition in the United States have risen to an alarming level since the 1990s. Given that half of the 1990s teaching force were/are expected to retire between 2000 and 2010, the cry has been heard loud and clearly throughout the nation. Furthermore, today's fledgling teachers are fleeing at astronomical rates,…

This paper reports findings from a survey of former students from six Australian rural school clusters. It compares the experiences and outcomes of students who had participated in a school vocational education and training (VET) program with those who had not. School VET courses intended to provide a pathway to local employment appear to be…