In spring 1999, the Palm Beach County, Florida, Public Schools implemented an after school program designed to improve students' behavior, school attendance, and academic achievement. The program targeted 63 at-risk students in a high-needs elementary school. Students were identified as having behavioral and/or academic problems. Participants…

Noting that several current communication theories suggest that the media have a "persuasive" effect on American society, a study compared the effects of two media (the electronic medium of television and the spoken medium of the homily) and whether these media have different effects on their audience's perceptions of reality. A national phone…

Attrition and completion was studied at an open university, the Athabasca University in Canada. The multiple-choice and open-ended questionnaire asked students to indicate why they withdrew or completed the course and to specify the conditions under which they could pursue their studies. Of the 58 questionnaires mailed, 55 percent of the…

In spring 1994, a study was conducted to compare student outcomes for instructors use of a mixed teaching repertoire (i.e., lecture, student-centered discussion, cooperative learning, and computer-assisted instruction) and those using lectures alone in social science, science/math, humanities, and business classes at Cosumnes River College, in…

This document describes the exploration and application of effective schools research resulting from university/public schools cooperation in the Springfield (Massachusetts) Public School System. The Academy for Excellence operated as a partnership between the University of Massachusetts School of Education and the Springfield Public School System…

As part of a Student Outcomes Model, a study was conducted of attrition in the 1975 freshman class at the University of Colorado using longitudinal survey data from nonreturning students and those currently enrolled. Discriminant analysis was employed to identify factors that distinguished persisters, academic dismissals, stopouts, and transfers.…

Staff of the Tennessee State University Class Size Project investigated effects of a 1:15 teacher/pupil ratio on first grade students' reading and mathematics achievement, behavior, attendance, and self concept. Participants were first grade pupils attending metropolitan Nashville public schools, who were assigned to an experimental group of seven…

A study was conducted to explore the relationship between anomia (a feeling of alienation, of being cut off from society), attitude toward adult education, and nonparticipation in formal adult education activities. The subjects of the study were adults who lived in a specific area in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which had the following characteristics:…

Museums are undergoing changes as institutions which may cause them to adopt a more community and social mission oriented course of programs in addition to their traditional roles of scholarship and preservation of important artifacts. This change, coupled with the fact that museum visitation is a highly social activity, raises some interesting…

For the past 2 years, a pilot program to reduce student absenteeism has been implemented in a medium-sized city participating in the New Futures Initiative. This paper presents findings of a study that examined the outcomes of the Chronic Absenteeism Pilot (CAP) project. The New Futures Initiative engaged in interagency efforts to provide…

Key factors influencing the decision to attend private school are identified in this paper. It looks at the factors accounting for varying rates of private school attendance and estimates the responsiveness of such attendance to government support. It studies the variation in private school attendance rates at three levels: across states, across…

A study was conducted at Bunker Hill Community College to assess the impact of the use of learning groups on student absenteeism and academic performance. The study involved four sections of a Biology 1 class. Two sections were designated as the control group and were taught using the traditional course format, which involved a 2-hour session in…

This program outlines the combined efforts of schools, social service agencies, community agencies, and the juvenile court system to reduce days lost by truancy. Also presented are the services necessary to support long-range remediation of truancy and related risk factors. The program was initiated at an inner-city public school with…

The first 2 years (1986-1988) of the implementation of Fordham University's Stay-In-School Partnership Project (SSPP), a dropout program for urban high-risk children, are described. The long-term goal of the partnership between Fordham's Graduate Schools of Education and Social Science and New York City School District No. 4, a school district…

A quasi-experimental study explored the ways in which the full-day kindergarten program is beneficial and/or detrimental to students compared to the half-day and/or extended-day program. The sample consisted of six full-day schools matched with half-day schools on geographic location, school size, student norm-referenced data, and socioeconomic…