Studies on early school leaving (ESL) from countries such as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia have been missing from the international early school leaving research map. As a contribution to remedying this, the article reviews research papers and strategic documents from these countries, guided by the general…

The purpose of this paper was to examine the impact of exit exams on the dropout rate. Data was gathered from several research articles. The most impressionable research revealed exit exams have a negative effect on minorities, especially black males. Results indicate by 2012, that exit exams in 25 states will affect 81 percent of minority high…

Conventional wisdom claims a newly discovered dropout crisis in high schools. Jay Greene, of the Manhattan Institute, and Christopher Swanson, formerly with the Urban Institute, are primarily responsible for this claim, publishing reports showing these extraordinary high dropout rates nationwide, for the states, and for many specific school…

The examination of historical trend data on the number and percent of students lost from public school enrollment prior to graduation from high school is becoming increasingly important since distinct trends are emerging on a regional basis. This study examines regional trends in Texas on the number and percent of students lost from public high…

A discussion of issues surrounding and reasons for school drop-outs explores various definitions of dropping out, rate calculations, and drop-out rates among Native Americans, Hispanics, African Americans, and Asian Americans. It is concluded that society and schools have not been culturally and contextually sensitive to the diverse needs of the…

American society is becoming increasingly multiethnic and multilingual (Rodriguez, 1990). Nearly 25% of the U.S. population is composed of individuals of racial/ethnic groups other than Caucasian (U.S. Census Bureau, 2001). The same is true with regard to special education students. According to the Twenty-Fifth Annual Report to Congress on the…

In this paper we review the research evidence on the effects of affirmative action in employment, university admissions, and government procurement. We consider effects on both "equity" (or distribution) as well as "efficiency." Overall, we find that affirmative action does redistribute jobs, university admissions, and…

This paper serves as a basic introduction to the problems associated with minority participation in postsecondary education. It focuses on those educational factors identified in the literature as having an important effect on postsecondary participation by minorities. The paper shows that the problem of minority participation is a far-reaching…

Part I of this paper reviews research on effects of vocational course work on dropout rates, probabilities of employment, earnings, productivity, and basic skills. The review is organized around 10 questions. Answers to these questions include: (1) vocational education lowers dropout rates; (2) economic benefits are substantial; (3) economic…

In response to concerns about the loss of effectiveness of the community college transfer function, this paper examines the steady decline in rates of minority student transfer from two- to four-year colleges and offers policy recommendations for facilitating transfer and baccalaureate degree attainment. Initial sections review data showing the…