Reports results of an investigation into the complexities of student attrition in a distance education course at the University of Sydney. Results of interviews were divided into four main categories: situational, including a student's particular circumstances; dispositional, including student attitudes; institutional; and epistemological,…

Discusses retention in community colleges, identifying four reasons that students leave college, including attainment of goals and frustrated expectations. Lists eight intervention strategies that have proved successful, and provides suggestions for retention, such as having faculty serve as mentors to students, and providing the most appropriate…

Human capital investment, in the form of education and training, is the key to improving labor market outcomes for high school leavers. GED certification provides an opportunity for education and training, but is no substitute for it. The GED credential is only a starting point. GED holders are not equivalent to high school graduates. (MLH)

Vechij Himdag (A New Way) is an alternative school located 25 miles from Phoenix in Sacaton--a village on a Pima Indian reservation. In a community drastically changed by whites' diversion of the Gila River for their crops, the school serves students needing a second chance and considerable adult attention. (MLH)

Thirty-nine students in an undergraduate educational psychology course identified and organized their core goals into ten goal domains. They then identified semester subgoals and tracked their time in relation to their goals. Results suggest that courses intended to increase student retention should use activities that help students identify their…

Examines the distribution of dropout and turnover rates among 247 U.S. urban and suburban high schools to study school effectiveness. Finds that dropout and turnover rates can be attributed to student background, student composition, school resources, and school processes. (Contains references.) (CMK)

Describes Meridian Academy, a small alternative high school for dropouts and potential dropouts near Boise, Idaho. Discusses the school's family-like supportive environment, teaching strategies that emphasize student projects and active learning, and discipline policies and practices. Sidebar presents a Meridian Academy teacher who was once an…

Uses data from Occupational Changes in a Generation surveys to examine labor market effects on male dropout rates at various grade levels. As expected, opportunities in manufacturing drew students from primary school before World War II, whereas government sector expansion increased secondary and college-level dropouts after the war, particularly…

Increasing numbers of Mexican teenagers immigrate to the United States illegally to work, and few find their way to school. Instituto del Progreso Latino--an alternative high school in Chicago--serves these youth successfully. Youth agencies must provide services that allow these youth to attend school and discourage gang involvement. (SV)

After a violent incident just outside an Austin (Texas) middle school, the principal and her staff decided that the problem of gangs could not be resolved by merely banning gang colors and signing. Special clubs, community volunteers, and a no-failure policy helped make students less vulnerable to gang membership. (MLH)

Points out the growing crisis among American adolescents, with approximately half of adolescents at moderate or greater risk for engaging in unsafe sexual behaviors, teenage pregnancy, and teenage child-bearing; drug and alcohol use and abuse; school underachievement, failure, and dropout; and delinquency and crime. Calls for increased research on…

Describes the development and testing of a socioeconomic model that allows any institution to study student persistence in pursuing an education using existing data sources. Indicates how financial aid, student affairs, academic, and financial administrators can use the model for carrying out sophisticated price response research to plan…

Analyzed the effects of family income and financial aid on college students' persistence at Iona College, New York. Institutional data on family demographics, academic achievement, and financial variables indicated that financial aid did not significantly affect persistence. Although students from families with greater incomes tended to persist,…

One of the reasons that the college participation rate is so low for young blacks is the very large high school dropout rate among black students. Compares black high school graduations by state, black and white high school graduation rates by state, and high school graduation rates in selected cities. (SM)

Three retention and enrollment management experts share their most effective innovations and best practices that have achieved cost-effective results. Tables provide data on dropout rates, graduation rates, and results of a student satisfaction rating survey of four-year colleges and universities. (DB)