This case study of a student retention program for at-risk students at Mount Hood Community College (Oregon) contends that student retention programs are seldom as holistic and comprehensive as intended. The study analyzed three areas: the design and implementation of a comprehensive program to improve student retention; the organizational…

This case study of a biracial student who was actually pushed out from the regular school system focuses on the student's perceived reality. The theory supporting the study is Labeling Theory, which asserts that the way in which a student is labeled is dependent on the social context of the student. The subject, a biracial 14-year-old in an…

This study, part of a larger project on doctoral student attrition, presents an in-depth account of the educational experiences of three doctoral students who dropped out. The students, a woman in sociology who left after the first year, a man in psychology who completed all but a dissertation, and a woman in Art History who left after four years…

This study examined the effect of the Nicholls State-Youth Opportunities Unlimited (NS-YOU) program on 30 adolescents aged 14 and 15. The NS-YOU summer program was designed by Nicholls State University to address the dropout problem among adolescents from low income families. This program provided remediation, counseling, and job training to 14-…

This document reports on a 30-month study of the Hispanic dropout problem in the Dallas Independent School District (Texas). Information was gathered by the following means: (1) 746 personal, individual interviews and 337 telephone interviews with middle and high school students who had left school, students who had remained in school, and parents…

This issue of "Network News" focuses on efforts to remedy the dropout problem. The following programs' common goal is not only to retain students through graduation, but to ensure that they acquire the skills necessary to take their place as productive members of society: (1) the Classroom Partners Project, a collaborative effort between…

A study was conducted at St. Louis Community College to disaggregate statistics for fall 1985 nonreturning students by educational goal and full-time/part-time status in order to provide more meaningful data for both internal and external evaluation of student retention and outcomes. Study findings included the following: (1) the comparison of…

In order to determine (1) characteristics of non-returning students, (2) reasons for attrition, and (3) student evaluation of Delaware County Community College (DCCC), questionnaires were mailed to all full and part-time students who attended the winter 1976 term but who did not register for the fall 1976 term. Drawn from 405 responses,…

The Diversified Satellite Occupations Program Career Development sought to prevent dropout through these strategies: registration at a school situation away from the normal school setting, creation of a close teacher-student relationship, and raise achievement levels and lower anxiety levels. Program emphases at elementary, junior and senior high…

A Montana study of 46 Native American high school dropouts found salient factors were perceived irrelevance/cultural insensitivity of curricula, perceived teacher indifference/failure to help with students' work, desire to be with other dropouts, problems at home, and the requirement that students attend school for the entire senior year. (MH)

A study used focus groups and interviews to examine dropout causes among Hispanic middle and high school students in Hillsborough County, Florida. Major contributors to Latino student success included personal motivation to succeed, supportive parents, and being interested and involved in school activities. Factors contributing to dropout included…

A comparative study of early school leaving in India, Nigeria, the United Kingdom, and the United States found that in spite of huge cultural and economic differences between these countries, there were common underlying causes of the school dropout problem. Economic need, sociocultural divisions, curricula that were unrelated to future work and…

As a response to the problems of nontraditional student attrition at two-year and four-year urban colleges, this paper introduces the constructs of career decision-making self-efficacy, perceived stress, and financial difficulty into a model built on the synthesis of Cabrera (1993). A questionnaire was administered to adult nontraditional (age 24…

This paper reviews research on best practices for preventing students with mild disabilities from dropping out of high school. Findings from the literature review indicate there is a consensus among the researchers that warning signs for school dropout among students with mild disabilities include: poor attendance, academic difficulties,…

Results of a process evaluation of dropout prevention programs in the Leon County (Florida) School District during the school year 1989-90 are presented. Altogether, 11 dropout programs were operationalized in that school year. The methodology used for developing a problem and benefit survey among teachers and administrators, the results of the…