This paper analyses how three European countries produce and use data within a specific educational policy field, that of school leaving and graduation. It compares how stakeholders in England, Finland and the Netherlands know what happens to the leavers from schools and universities. Through gathering evidence about the methodological…

At the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Ghana, first year enrolment increased by 1466.81% from 708 in 1961/1962 to 11,093 in 2011. In the 2013/2014 academic year, the total student population was 45,897. There are now five main admission paths, comprising regular, mature, fee paying, less endowed, and protocol/staff…

Failure to complete high school is associated with a myriad of negative outcomes. Some research has suggested a link between student anxiety and risk of dropout. Recently, there has been increasing evidence that mindfulness may diminish anxiety in adolescents; however, the relationship between anxiety, mindfulness and dropout has yet to be…

Not all students are dealt the same cards in life and some seem to have the deck stacked against them. Those who are dealt a particularly difficult hand to play include homeless, foster care, and juvenile justice students. As professionals who often know the most about mental health, service delivery, interdisciplinary collaboration, and crisis…

This qualitative study explores perceptions of a dropout recovery program implemented in two high schools in Waterway School District from the perspectives of program facilitators, school administrators, and former student participants. Individual interviews, focus group interviews, and an online questionnaire are the sources of data for the…

College student persistence and graduation rates have been a major topic of investigation for higher education throughout the United States of America, both in 2 yr. and 4 yr. institution. Although, college education is highly valued in today's society, college persistence and graduation rates are still relatively low. Only 60% of students who…

The issue of first year student retention has major financial ramifications for institutions of higher education, state and federal governments, and most importantly, the students who decide to depart. This research inquiry used a collective case study to answer the following question: Why do first-time degree seeking students at a large public…

In 2016, the Research and Planning Group for California Community Colleges (RP Group) launched a two-part transfer study called "Through the Gate" to take a fresh look at addressing California's transfer challenges. When a more nuanced look at this population is taken, a "transfer continuum" emerges, revealing students at…

The purpose of this research study was to examine and understand the educational aspiration-attainment gap of Chamorro males in the higher education landscape. The current study employed a qualitative approach using a collective case study of 10 Chamorro males who have attended the University of Guam for at least one semester without completing a…

Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs not only prepare students for the workplace, but they have also been associated with better academic outcomes, including graduation rates (e.g., Castellano et al., 2012). This study is a longitudinal examination of the 2011-2012 first-time 9th grade cohort in the School District of Philadelphia. Across…

Although the number of engineering students is increasing, dropout rates remain high. This problem is also present in the Faculty of Engineering Technology (FET) at KU Leuven, Belgium, which resulted in the need for an in-depth analysis of the academic achievement of the bridging students there. This study examines the contribution of a range of…

While numerous studies have demonstrated a correlation between exclusionary discipline and negative student outcomes, this relationship is likely confounded by other factors related to the underlying misbehavior or risk of disciplinary referral. Using 10 years of student-level demographic, achievement, and disciplinary data from all K-12 public…

The aim of this article is to explore the ways educational transitions, i.e. student dropout and early school leaving (ESL), are understood and governed in the contemporary Greek sociopolitical context that is dominated by a persistent economic crisis. Drawing upon the residual nature of the Greek welfare state the paper examines the shifts in the…

This study evaluated the impact of a First-Year Experience (FYE) program on student success at a small, private, faith-based distance learning university serving a predominantly nontraditional student population. Student data (N = 399) from two groups were compared to determine if the FYE made a difference in student success as measured by…

Predicting school dropout rates is an important issue for the smooth execution of an educational system. This problem is solved by classifying students into two classes using educational activities related statistical datasets. One of the classes must identify the students who have the tendency to persist. The other class must identify the…