The Ninth Grade Summer School Restructuring Program of the Detroit Public Schools (Michigan) was designed to restructure ninth grade in ways that improve academic performance, develop positive attitudes toward learning, improve the school environment to promote learning and self-respect, and prevent dropping out of school. Instructional and direct…

Travellers with their distinctive cultures and lifestyles have been part of Scotland for centuries. The two main groups are the traditional Travelling People (Gypsies) and the Showground Community. Mobility and migration patterns have implications for Traveller children's education and for schools. Scottish national surveys show Travellers…

This publication is a report from a task force charged with developing a vision and making recommendations for a comprehensive system of dropout prevention, intervention, and recovery within the state of Maryland. The challenge was given urgency due to three factors: (1) rigorous standards for students that were part of school improvement programs…

A review of the annual report of Jobs for America's Graduates, Inc., regarding the activities of the Jobs for Florida's Graduates Program, concluded that the program had not met its goals. It does not appear that the program will meet its statutory outcome goals of an 82 percent student graduation rate and a 70-75 percent employment rate, and the…

Truancy is the first sign that a youngster is in trouble and that he or she may need the help of parents, teachers, and community members to get back on track. Research shows that students who become truant and eventually drop out of school put themselves at a long-term disadvantage in becoming productive citizens. Dropouts are more likely to be…

This report is the first in a series on Project GRAD (Graduation Really Achieves Dreams) in the Newark, New Jersey Public Schools. Project GRAD is an education initiative that combines several proven or promising reforms with the goals of increasing reading and math achievement test scores, improving classroom behavior, reducing dropout rates, and…

A longitudinal study of two cohorts of young white men (the first followed from the late 1960s through the 1970s; the second from the 1980s through the early 1990s) determined that long-term wage growth between the ages of 16 and 36 has both declined and become significantly more unequal for the recent cohort. The declines have been concentrated…

This study sought to determine if the existence of a particular type of industry in a county affected the high school dropout rate after the influence of the general economic environment had been considered. The study also sought to clarify how the degree of ruralness might influence any relationship between the local economic environment and…

This master's thesis describes the relationship between effective principalship and student achievement, school climate, and discipline. It also examines the connection between self-esteem and a principal's effectiveness, student achievement, and student behavior. The conclusion is that "the performance of the principal is a strong determinant of…

Current school finance policy in Nebraska rests on the premise that higher costs due to small school size should not be subsidized by state funds unless there is no consolidation alternative. This report aims to reframe the school size debate by demonstrating the excellent performance of Nebraska's small schools in high school completion and…

Two studies evaluated outcomes of a University Experience (freshman seminar) course to ease the transition to college and enhance student retention at the University of South Florida. In the first study, course evaluations of "typical" USF students (N=540) who completed the course in fall 1998 were overwhelmingly positive in support of…

Over the years, larger and larger portions of high school graduates have enrolled in 4-year colleges. Although many people view college as essential to success in the labor market, the movement toward 4-year colleges also has its critics. These critics contend that the public has come to believe that almost all high school graduates should go to…

High schools in the United States face tremendous challenges involving changes in cultural and economic forces and necessities. They need to transform themselves into places of learning where knowledge is relevant to students' needs and aspirations. Because many traditional high school structures are large, compartmentalized, and impersonal, they…

Graduates and nongraduates of higher educational institutions have long been a focus of widespread research over the last two decades. Research findings reveal that graduating from a school of higher education is a bridge to better personal status, institutional progress, and national well being. (SSH)

It is difficult to evaluate the goals and effectiveness of programs to recruit and retain minority students in medical education by current methods. Management by objectives is proposed as an appropriate process for refining program goals and fairly evaluating the programs. (Author/MSE)