A study was done of pre-admission or early performance predictors of persistence versus academic failure among baccalaureate program nursing students. As part of a larger longitudinal research project, 155 students from four successive classes of students admitted to the program were studied, using multiple predictor and criterion variables. The…

This annotated bibliography represents literature on the phenomenon of American Indian students dropping out of school. The bibliography describes 31 titles, including research reports, reports from state departments of public instruction, national reports, action reports, and "how to" books. Of the 31 entries, 18 report on Indian student dropout…

This document describes the objectives and focus of a workshop convened by UNESCO in 1982 to design and develop frameworks for training national curriculum specialists, and presents three "workshop products," i.e., reports on policy resulting from the workshop. Part one outlines purpose of the workshop and lists the participants from eight…

Teacher education programs can benefit from research on student retention. By focusing on intervention for the very youngest student, failure at early levels may be reduced. Teachers must be taught to meet the needs of these students and to work more effectively with high-risk students who are potential drop-outs. Teachers can help at-risk…

The objective of this study was to devise a methodology for predicting the return or nonreturn of a student for the spring semester, upon his completion of the fall term. Nineteen variables from existing student files were examined by several multivariate analyses to determine their ability to help in such a prediction. The random sample was of…

Recent data show that while attrition is a problem for the college population as a whole, it is particularly so for minority students attending predominantly white colleges and universities. In addition to financial and academic difficulties, minority students are faced with such concerns as the low number of minority faculty and student support…

This document was developed to (1) help clarify the various concepts of retention and attrition within a unifying conceptual framework, (2) synthesize the research on retention and attrition, and (3) examine the implications of the research for postsecondary administrators and researchers. Retention and attrition research pertains to both the…

Reasons why students withdrew from Southern Technical Institute were examined through a survey of 721 dropouts. A total of 257 responses were received and the reasons given by the students were classified as societal or nonsocietal. In this study, societal factors are defined as those elements of influence that are external to the institution. The…

A sample of nonpersisting students is compared with persisting counterparts at Pepperdine University in terms of receipt of financial aid, grades awarded, etc. The findings suggest that financial aid is awarded to students with a higher probability of persisting to the end of the term. (LBH)

Increasing the participation of minority groups at lower educational levels appears to offer substantially greater potential for eventually increasing the representation of minorities in graduate and professional schools than do changes in graduate and professional school admissions procedures. Data from a Cooperative Institutional Research…

The advantages and requirements for offering a second chance to students who have failed, by forgiving a poor academic record, are discussed and supported by findings from a survey of institutions and the results of several experimental programs. (MSE)

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…

It is difficult to evaluate the goals and effectiveness of programs to recruit and retain minority students in medical education by current methods. Management by objectives is proposed as an appropriate process for refining program goals and fairly evaluating the programs. (Author/MSE)

Provides and discusses a model for better understanding the critical relationship between academic advisement and student retention. Advisement is described as a developmental and student-centered activity. It is suggested that institutional retention efforts focus primary attention on improving those programs which increase the likelihood of a…

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…