A study was conducted at MiraCosta College (MCC), in Del Mar, California, to investigate various aspects of retention and attrition and to make recommendations for possible program enhancements. The study sought to determine when students drop out of classes, which students drop out of school completely, and the drop out rate for various…

This report describes two studies completed by the Child Advocacy Commission of Durham, North Carolina. The Durham school system has one of the lowest retention rates of any system in the state. The studies were used to advocate for and help implement new and better dropout prevention strategies in their schools. The report also outlines the need…

BECAUSE MORE STUDENTS THAN EVER BEFORE ARE WITHDRAWING FROM SCHOOL WITHOUT A HIGH SCHOOL EDUCATION, SCHOOL-HOLDING POWER IS RECEIVING INCREASED ATTENTION. STUDIES REVEAL THAT STUDENTS WITHOUT A FORMAL HIGH SCHOOL EDUCATION ARE HEADED TO DEAD END, MENIAL JOBS, THAT RELATIVELY FEW OF THEM WILL REACH THE SKILLED OR WHITE-COLLAR OCCUPATION…

Mattatuck Community College implemented non-punitive grading practices into its grading system in the Fall 1973 semester. These practices centered about the elimination of plus and minus grades, elimination of the grade of F, and liberalizing the course withdrawal policy to allow for withdrawal without penalty throughout the semester. A comparison…

The study attempts to answer the following questions: (1) do the characteristics of a school with a low dropout rate differ significantly from the characteristics of a school with a high dropout rate; (2) does the dropout rate predict the quality of education received at the school? Methods and findings are summarized and suggestions are made for…

This study sought to determine if the existence of a particular type of industry in a county affected the high school dropout rate after the influence of the general economic environment had been considered. The study also sought to clarify how the degree of ruralness might influence any relationship between the local economic environment and…

Although an increasing number of minority students are entering engineering schools, the attrition rate for this group is considerably higher than for majority students. Attempts to deal with this problem are discussed, including remedial programs, recruiting and counseling, and seeking federal support. (JMF)

Examines a sample of 15 courses in relation to four variables of student characteristics: gender, ethnicity, age, and full- or part-time status. Presents findings from the transcript analyses of 6,196 first-semester students from nine urban colleges, which reveal the strongest relations between curriculum and ethnicity. (Contains seven tables and…

This document provides an overview of educational achievement in South Carolina, including: (1) promising strategies to improve education; (2) national comparisons; (3) student achievement; and (4) statistics profiling South Carolina teachers. The first chapter explores answers to the question "What is South Carolina doing to improve…

This is the second annual report to Congress required by the Hawkins-Stafford Elementary and Secondary School Improvement Amendments of 1988 (P.L. 100-297). It presents data on high school dropout and retention rates for 1989 and time series data since 1968. It also examines high school completion and graduation rates. Two kinds of dropout rates…

There is no need for costly new state or federal dropout prevention programs because 87.1 percent of youth now complete a high school education by age 24, nearly achieving President George Bush's goal of a 90 percent graduation rate by the year 2000. Calculations of high national and urban dropout rates based on the number of students who do not…

Of the 6,076 students enrolled at Thomas Nelson Community College (TNCC) in fall 1985, 2,389 (39.3%) were "leavers," i.e., they did not graduate and they did not return in winter 1986. Because new students made up 33.8% of the total fall headcount, but accounted for 41.7% of the leavers, a study was conducted to investigate the characteristics of…

In order to determine what Central YMCA Community College can do to reduce student dropout rates, a series of questionnaires was developed and SRS information system data were analyzed for fall 1975. One questionnaire collected information from faculty on student attrition through the first eight weeks of the fall 1975 semester to find out what…

This study examined first-year attrition at a large, urban university in the United Kingdom, demonstrating the application of multilevel modeling to the issue of student attrition. A sample of 2,679 full-time, first-year students studying the 20 most common subject areas was identified. Students were divided into four groups depending on their…

This report presents the findings of a non-returner survey, which was developed to elicit information from students who enrolled at Nevada's Truckee Meadows Community College (TMCC) as first-time college students but did not return the following semester. The intent of this research was to determine what type of students do not persist, what…