In the United States, illiterate adults account for 20 percent of citizens over age 16. Yearly, 5 percent of these adults without a high school diploma are enrolled in Adult Basic Education (ABE) courses, which offer few appropriate counseling services. In order to study the counseling services available to ABE students in Maryland, on-site visits…

Many colleges continue to report high attrition rates among distance education students. This study included a survey of students at Coastline Community College to determine why they dropped or failed their distance-learning courses and to identify methods that might improve their success and retention. Questionnaires were sent to a group of…

This bulletin is concerned with the efficiency and effectiveness of educational systems in Latin America and the Caribbean. "Adult Education between Two Models" (H. R. Lovisolo) investigates the concept of popular emancipatory education in Brazil and the transformation of MOBRAL (Brazilian Movement of Literacy) into the Fundacion EDUCAR.…

A study investigating the usefulness of a model of student persistence in external degree programs (developed from the Bean and Metzner 1985 model) is discussed. Sample students aged 23 or older who were matriculated in such a program were used, as it was noted that the attrition rate for nontraditional students is higher than for traditional…

Millions of school children are currently at risk of academic failure; the potential costs to society are staggering. If the central factors causing a child's poor social adjustment can be addressed, both the rate of school failure and social service costs can be reduced. Attempting to control the school failure issue, the Wisconsin State…

A 50-minute program on careers and trends in the economy was created for presentation to high school students. Designed to be attention-getting as well as educational, it includes activities to introduce students to a cluster of economic concepts, data, and tools related to career selection. Pairs of college students are trained to make the…

The first section of this report introduces the U.S. Department of Labor's efforts to focus attention on the evolving demographic, economic, and social trends that are causing pervasive mismatches between workplace needs and work force capabilities. Section 2 outlines trends, changes, and challenges, including demographic and economic trends,…

In keeping with Bunker Hill (Massachusetts) Community College's (BHCC's) commitment to developing and maintaining effective working relationships with the many communities in its service region, important elements of the college's outreach efforts continue to be programs and services developed in cooperation with the public schools. Examples of…

The Chicago public school system has a 50 percent dropout rate, low-achieving students, a nonresponsive bureaucracy, and many related urban school problems. The Chicago School Reform Act, PA 85-1418, was enacted by the Illinois legislature in 1989 to address the situation. To determine the effectiveness of the Chicago school reform movement thus…

Project PRIDE (Providing Resources and Information Designed to Educate) is an after school tutorial program for approximately 70 grade 7 to 9 Hispanic junior high school students attending the School District of the City of Saginaw. The project is intended to provide an after school center for help with school work. The instructional goals include…

While becoming increasingly important to the economic and social development of the United States, Mexican-Americans still face barriers that hinder their full partnership in U.S. society. This ERIC digest is a summary of the latest available demographic and socioeconomic trends on Mexican-Americans. It discusses the broad implications for…

This report presents detailed tabulations of statistical data on school enrollment of the civilian noninstitutional population in October 1987 and 1988. The following enrollments are reported: (1) nursery school; (2) kindergarten; (3) elementary school; (4) high school; and (5) college and professional school. The following personal…

When considering illiteracy in industrialized countries, one should consider the following: (1) schools historically were not set up to transmit literacy skills, as evidenced by the fact that the geography and chronology of literacy are much less linked to the establishment of formal schooling than to the history of social development; (2) schools…

This report examines public policy supports that might help adolescents make the transition to the workplace or future schooling. In the first section of the report, a statement of belief concerning the school's role in the transition process is presented. The second section reviews the crisis in transition supports. It itemizes the student view,…

This report provides testimony on results of a General Accounting Office (GAO) study of Chapter 1 Compensatory Education programs, Chapter 2 Education Block Grant programs, and dropout prevention programs. The report covers the following: (1) Chapter 1 student selection; (2) Chapter 1 fiscal provisions; (3) Chapter 2 data collection and…