Despite the widespread attention given to education reform, no substantial knowledge base has existed for identifying and implementing specific effective reforms. This document, the first of three volumes, presents findings of a study that sought to identify the essential mechanics of effective reforms for students at risk. The study also…

The Benito Juarez Academy is a charter school for grades 9-12 located in Saginaw, Michigan. The school was established in 1995 to meet the needs of youth who were most at risk for low academic achievement, behavioral problems, and dropping out of school. This paper describes the school's planning and development process and the attitudes of…

This report provides statistical evidence that presents a picture at variance with the conventional portrayal of inner city youth. Using data from a national longitudinal study of high school students, the High School and Beyond survey, the study shows that young people display more resilience than they are usually given credit for. Comparison of…

The 71st Texas Legislature established several pilot programs for the 1989-90 and 1990-91 school years with the aim of improving the academic performance of and reducing the dropout rate of public school students. This report combines information about pilot programs from these 2 school years with cost surveys and descriptions of the programs.…

American colleges and universities are losing more and more students between their freshman and sophomore years. This problem is even more pronounced among Black and/or open-admissions institutions. This study investigates the relationship between student academic performance and academic advisement at the collegiate level. The sample consists of…

The University 101 course seeks to create an attitude among freshmen that helps them appreciate the value of higher education, to point the way to university resources that will allow them to develop to their fullest potential, and thereby to cause more of them to survive the freshman year. This study of first-term freshmen at Tennessee…

This report provides background and linkages necessary to bring state-level experiences of reporting graduation rate statistics to bear in implementing the Student Right-to-Know Act particularly regarding the reporting of student persistence and graduation rates at institutions of higher education. Section I provides: (1) an overview of the extent…

A project conducted in an adult literacy and basic education program in Pennsylvania proposed to use small group interaction to increase weekly attendance 10 percent from the previous program year, increase students' input into the learning process, and develop better tools to improve the learning environment. The group consisted of 39 adult…

European Union Member States gather information on students who drop out without qualification so that they may know how to help this population. This report presents the broad range of measures, arrangements, and systems that exist for supervising, monitoring, training, and providing for dropouts. The text defines the categories used for the…

Small size is often cited by reformers and parents as the key ingredient necessary to create an effective learning environment. In New York City, the new public secondary schools have consistently smaller numbers of students than most existing high schools. The literature is unambiguous that smaller schools show better outputs than schools of…

This book, based on a discussion at an interactive videoconference, examines student diversity issues and retention strategies in the context of the Sallie Mae National Retention Project that addressed state expectations for more accountability and federal reporting requirements on graduation and retention. The eight chapters focus on equity as it…

Federal funding sources available to school districts for meeting the needs of at-risk students are listed in this document. Each source is grouped according to its dropout prevention and retrieval strategy. These strategies include school-site management; student-oriented, teacher-oriented, and collaborative approaches; structured intervention…

A study explored the definition of the concept of faculty/advisor communicaton apprehension (CA), and tested an instrument to identify CA in incoming college freshmen, with a view toward retention of students. An existing interpersonal CA measure, the Interpersonal Communication Apprehension subscale of the PRCA-24 (24-item version of the Personal…

Tennessee's Comprehensive Educational Reform act of 1984 created a widely publicized career-ladder program that provided extended contract opportunities as incentives to teachers receiving level II or III status. A comprehensive evaluation study found that extended contract expenditures and resource-allocation processes were not always driven by…

Information about alternative education as a baseline of thought for school reorganization is presented in this document. Chapter 1 describes the perspectives of alternative education and identifies common types. Teaching methods, strategies, and beliefs of alternative education are discussed in chapter 2. Chapter 3 focuses on the structural…