A Maine study found that homework often disrupts family life, interferes with parents' own teachings, and punishes children in poverty for lacking computer access and/or a supportive home environment. The standards movement requires teaching in a more tightly controlled system, leaving no room for homework, an unknown variable. (Contains 13…

A model of attrition based on theory of approach/avoidance behavior was developed and tested with 262 university students, mostly in their first and second years. The study demonstrated that certain approach/avoidance behaviors affected certain types of academic and social integration more than others, and that integration may be more complex than…

Describes the development and evaluation of an elementary school attendance incentive program designed to encourage positive relationships between at-risk children and the school system and to give social workers a better understanding of issues related to early school nonattendance and the need to include family-based interventions in addressing…

Analysis of longitudinal data on the employment histories of 1,386 women from age 16 to 28 found that mature women's labor force attachment was influenced by the timing, amount, and volatility of their early work experience, as well as by educational attainment, race, and giving birth. (Contains 58 references.) (SV)

Used recent longitudinal cohort of eighth graders to examine whether measures of school engagement predicted school-age pregnancy among white, black, and Hispanic teens. Found that high student engagement was associated with postponing pregnancy. Among white and Hispanic teens, dropouts were more likely than others to have school-age pregnancies.…

Describes an educational foundation that offers financial support to those wishing to institute a San Miguel/Nativity or Cristo Rey model school. Reports that these schools must strive to reduce dropout rates, increase number of students prepared for college, and increase number of students receiving Catholic education. (NB)

Reviews the literature on technology applied to early interventions. Reports results from a study that compared instructor and advising staff effects on the impact of early alerts. States that the results cast doubt on early alerts as an effective tool to improve the performance of at-risk students. (AUTH)

Addresses the issue of student engagement in education. Suggests that reasons behind high dropout rates for first-year students may include the college's adherence to the traditional learning paradigm that characterizes the student as a passive learner. Urges institutions to move toward learning through engagement. (NB)

Kenyan primary education is plagued by problems of high attrition and gender and regional disparities in access and achievement. Poverty, institutionalized corruption, and declining public funding are primary factors. More funding is needed for teacher salaries, infrastructure development, and improved educational access. (Contains 23 references.)…

A school census of three rural regions of Ghana examined enrollments, student age and gender, age at first enrollment, gender disparities among classes, dropouts, and the proportion of never-enrolled children. Focus group discussions with parents, teachers, and children highlighted major obstacles confronting education: child labor, health…

This study examined how time spent caring for a teenage sister's child and experiences in providing care related to youths' young adult outcomes. Latino and African American youths (N = 108) were studied during middle and late adolescence. Results indicated that youths who provided many hours of child care were more stressed and had lower school…

The latest efforts in reform and accountability, most of which are replays of efforts enacted in the early 1980s, include the use of required minimum standardized test scores to end the practice of social promotion. Greater reliance is being placed on the use of single test scores in making all or a large part of the retention decision, despite…

Variations in state welfare policies in the reform era may affect adolescents through two mechanisms: A competing labor market hypothesis posits that stringent state welfare policies may reduce adolescent employment; and a signaling hypothesis posits that stringent welfare policies may promote enrollment. To test these hypotheses, we use a dynamic…

There has been a growing interest in issues pertaining to how a young person chooses to participate (or not) in youth programs, both school based (for example, sports, drama, yearbook) and community based (for example, Boys and Girls Clubs, Scouts, 4-H, sports, faith-based programs). Scholars, youth workers, policymakers, national organizations,…

With the education spotlight shifting to secondary schools and conversations about dropout rates, high school redesign, and workforce readiness taking place in government agencies, schools, universities, businesses, and foundations across the country, teenagers have become a focus of serious policy discussion. It is imperative that the evolving…