Summarizes findings of two upcoming reports on programs that support and strengthen the academic achievement of under-represented student groups at both K-12 and postsecondary levels. The most successful programs at both K-12 and postsecondary levels were those which were comprehensive, extended over a long period of time, and bridged educational…

This paper discusses retention techniques that can be used with minority students at predominantly white colleges, focusing on four phases that are critical to the retention and academic achievement of minority students: acceptance, acclimatization, responsibility, and productivity. In the acceptance phase, the college community should attempt to…

In order to assess the effects of the remedial (foundations) program at Mohegan Community College (Connecticut) on students' academic performance and persistence in college, a study was made of 180 students who had enrolled in the Foundations Program between September 1971 and 1974, and 180 students who had scored below the 50th percentile on the…

This study correlates the relationship between varying methods in student evaluation and its effect on student achievement and attrition. The sample studied consisted of 230 students enrolled in three separate semesters of General Biology 11A at Pasadena City College in 1972, 1973, and 1974. The earlier students were given longer exams over three…

This pilot project sought to determine if instruction in achievement motivation would help potential dropouts to complete their schooling. Subjects were tenth grade students in a suburban Boston high school. A one-week residential course during winter and spring vacations was taken by one group of six boys and a second group of four. Equated…

Evaluations of 2 experimental programs developed by the St. Cloud, Minnesota, school system with funds from Title III, Elementary and Secondary Education Act are given in this report. Section 1 describes the Junior High Development Center, a program designed to help students who had very low basic education skills and showed signs of becoming…

Project Keeping All Pupils in School (KAPS) is a dropout prevention program designed by officials in the Baltimore City Public Schools, supported by Federal funds under the provision of Title VIII of the 1965 Elementary Secondary Education Act (PL90-427). The KAPS Program consists of six components. They include: Daily Program, Service to Aid…

One of the originators of performance contracting explains how school districts can use that concept to attack difficult educational problems and meet the increasing demand that schools be held accountable for their educational product. The author argues that what he calls "educational engineering" will guarantee a basic level of achievement in…

The KAPS (or Keeping All Pupils in School) program was initiated by the Baltimore City Public Schools in 1969, using funds provided under Title VIII of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. This evaluation deals with the academic year 1970-71, the second full year of the project's evaluation. Most important among the goals of Project KAPS is…

An evaluation was conducted of educational opportunities offered by in-district alternative education option programs for at-risk students who have dropped out or are at risk of school failure in the Portland Public Schools, Oregon. This interim report describes the evaluation plan, purpose, and methodology, and highlights enrollment, attendance,…

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…

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…

Discusses how to improve student performance in distance learning courses, based on experiences at Purdue University, Calumet. Highlights include preventing student withdrawals; enrollments by discipline; course comparisons; course assessment; student evaluations of courses; testing; alleviating problems; e-mail; feedback; course management…

Eighty-six "at-risk" students (aged 14-16) participated in an 8-week program of immersion in vocational training, academics, counseling, recreation, and performing arts. Students improved in academic areas and in their understanding of the world of work, but self-concept measures showed a decline and the program's impact on dropout likelihood was…

Managed by the Sisseton-Wahpeton Dakotah Nation, O'Inazin provides culturally relevant inpatient counseling for troubled adolescents with antisocial and self-defeating behaviors. Of 290 adolescent inpatients in 1991-92, those who completed the program were more likely to remain in school and improve their grades than were noncompleters. Both…