Addresses issues related to high dropout rates of Black college students, including those at historically black institutions. Finds a gap in services once students reach college and describes proposed federal legislation (the William H. Grant III College Completion Challenge Grant Program of 1999) which would offer institutions grants to develop…

Reports that anecdotal evidence and studies by individual institutions suggest that course completion and program retention rates are generally lower in distance education courses than in their face-to-face counterparts. Suggests some of the causes may be that distance students are often older, have more obligations, or that lack of face-to-face…

This article draws attention to local and global attendance monitoring in higher education. The paper outlines benefits of attendance monitoring for both the individual learner and university, and compares traditional paper-based attendance monitoring systems with an electronic system piloted in the Business School and School of Technology at the…

This paper reports the results of a telephone survey of 151 undergraduates who withdrew in their first year of study at a post-1992 institution. It focuses on the negative experiences which they reported during their time at the university and the ultimate reasons for leaving, exploring in particular issues around choice of course, academic…

Mississippi loses up to one-third of its potential high school graduates between grades 9 and 12. Developing and implementing a comprehensive strategy for student recruitment are the first and most important steps in organizing an adult basic education program to serve the needs of these individuals. Recruitment requires trying as many methods as…

Vocational education is one of the strategies most frequently cited as a dropout prevention measure, and some schools can document such program outcomes as increased student attendance, retention, and graduation rates. Disadvantaged youth who take vocational courses are less likely to be unemployed and more likely to obtain better-paying jobs.…

This guide is intended to encourage South Carolina secondary vocational education administrators, teachers, and counselors to implement programs designed to keep potential dropouts in school and recover those who leave school prematurely, as well as to provide those educators with research findings relevant to such activities. Following an…

The dimensions and consequences of college student attrition and features of institutional action to deal with attrition are discussed. Patterns of student departure from individual colleges as opposed to permanent college withdrawal are addressed. After synthesizing the research on multiple causes of student leaving, a theory of student departure…

EXPERIMENTAL DATA WERE GATHERED ON THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN PRECOLLEGE ORIENTATION AND ACTUAL PERFORMANCE IN COLLEGE. SPECIFICALLY, THREE APPROACHES WERE STUDIED--(1) AN INTENSIVE, 1-WEEK ORIENTATION EXPERIENCE HELD EARLY IN THE SUMMER PRECEDING COLLEGE, (2) THE TRADITIONAL FALL ORIENTATION PROGRAM, AND (3) NO ORIENTATION FOR COLLEGE. COLLEGE…

Results indicate freshmen consider academic and personal topics to be important, but academic categories have primacy. To increase freshmen retention, the academic domain warrants a high priority in orientation programs. They should also focus on student life outside the classroom such as finances and extracurricular activities. (Author)

Assesses the comparative value of positive lifestyle changes in experimental and control groups of pregnant African American adolescent high school students to determine whether negative outcomes of early childbearing could be prevented. Experimental group students, who were provided several interventions, avoided negative childbearing outcomes…

Lessons learned from years of applied research in the area of student engagement, dropout prevention and school completion are offered. This article begins with a summary of theoretical constructs that guided the development of Check & Connect and continues with descriptions of multiple applications of this targeted intervention. The roles of key…

This paper presents the findings of the 2008 Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE). This year, CCSSE zeroes in on high expectations and high support as it presents the results of its 2008 survey. Both are critical to student success: Students do best when expectations are high "and" they receive support that helps them…

This brochure describes the AASCU/Sallie Mae National Retention Project's goals, beginnings, continuing work, and participants. An introduction describes how the Project has resulted in over 370 state institutions looking closely at their effectiveness in student learning and achievement and at emerging accountability requirements. An overview…

Outcomes of the Performance-Based Diploma (BPD) Program, a program implemented at a high school in the southeast United States, are described in this paper. The basic elements for success are people, program design, and product. Staff function on the belief that teachers exist to meet students' needs. The program includes the following components:…