Analyzes 14-19 education and the legacy of Conservative policies concentrating on the changes in participation, organization and funding, and the National Qualifications Framework. Provides a framework for understanding the Conservative legacy by exploring the different periods of change. Considers the future of 14-19 education as an inclusive…

Analyzes the traditional community college approaches to remedial education. Suggests that a more learner-centered remediation--which is based on an understanding of students' needs--in discipline courses offers students the opportunity to apply the skills they learn in ways that are meaningful, thus decreasing the dropout rate of remedial…

The purpose of the present study is to investigate differential attrition rates in terms of both demographic characteristics and initial levels of child functioning of participants in North Carolina's system of care evaluation. Participants included 303 families (78 dropped out of the study, a 26% attrition rate). Families dropped out of the…

This article describes several initiatives in which Creative Problem Solving, in combination with career exploration and mentoring, has been used successfully to identify and develop the talents of "at-risk" populations. During the past decade, the Lost Prizes project helped turn around the lives of talented but troubled high-school…

Non-completion of higher education is a growing concern and has prompted increasing research into its causes. This study aims to investigate academic staff's understanding of student retention and progression issues. Results from a questionnaire and interviews suggest that staff focus on student-based factors related to non-completion rather than…

Although academic and behavioral problems place many students with learning disabilities (LD) at risk for not completing high school, we know very little about the differences between children with LD who complete school and those who fail to do so. In this study of 76 male youth (45 school completers and 31 noncompleters), standardized measures…

Attrition or dropout is the failure of a participant to complete, comply, or the prematurely discontinuation or discharge from treatment, resulting in lost data and affecting outcomes. This review of 10 years of adult posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) treatment outcome literature specific to Criterion A events of human origin examines how…

Donna Johnson teaches troubled, abused, and mentally disturbed teenage girls at Hope Hill Children's Home Alternative School. She also teaches students who earn credits toward a diploma through Providence High School, an online entity Johnson created from scratch last January. It seems like a mighty odd move for a 58-year old grandmother with no…

In the labour market, formal qualifications--both school and vocational or university degrees--are of increasing importance. This may be especially true in Germany, where formal qualifications are highly valued. Dropping out of vocational or university training is therefore regarded as a risk for young people in the process of entering the labour…

The importance of connections with peers to student development and retention has been highlighted in Astin's (1984) "Theory of Student Involvement" and Tinto's (1993) "Theory of Student Departure," which are two of the most widely referenced and validated models in student affairs literature. However, recent research has questioned the…

This article offers an exploration of the Asian Pacific American (APA) ethnic groups that show high rates of departure, and presents strategies and approaches to improving their persistence and graduation rates. A detailed examination of the APA population is presented to identify the subgroups that are underrepresented in higher education and who…

Lessons learned from years of applied research in the area of student engagement, dropout prevention and school completion are offered. This article begins with a summary of theoretical constructs that guided the development of Check & Connect and continues with descriptions of multiple applications of this targeted intervention. The roles of key…

At the Lisbon summit in 2000 the European Council set the strategic goal of becoming the most dynamic and competitive region in the world within 10 years. One of the responses of the Dutch government to this ambition is to invest in vocational education. Strengthening vocational education in the Netherlands must result in a second main route into…

This article presents an interview with Jonathan Kozol. Topics discussed include: (1) On the root causes of school resegregation; (2) On strategies for solving the problem; (3) On guaranteeing education for all; (4) On forcing opponents of integration into the open; (5) On mechanisms for promoting integration; (6) On scripted curricula in…

Statistics in European countries show the same trends, for example: social inclusion depends on inclusion in education, training or employment, and life chances are greatly improved if the level of qualifications is high; in all European countries, economic growth still leads to the existence of "pockets" of poverty and economic and…