Recent studies in South Australia and Western Australia have shown that approximately one-third of all students fail to graduate, with the largest dropout occurring by the end of the first year of higher education. Research on student retention is discussed and steps to improve retention are suggested. (MLW)

Research shows that poor student-teacher relations adversely affect students' self-concept. Teachers at a Florida high school created positive advisor/advisee relationships for a group of high-risk students with grade-point averages of 1.5 or below. After 21 weeks, these students had better attendance and grade-point averages than control-group…

Synthesizes the literature on community college student retention programs to develop a definition and typology of dropout prevention programs. Classifies programs and strategies based on whether they attempt to sort, support, connect, or transform students. (61 references.) (MAB)

Educator and researcher specializing in student retention, Tinto discusses own experience leaving doctoral program to join Peace Corps, reviews internal and external causes of attrition, characteristics of successful retention programs, and role of teaching in retention. Favors establishing a sense of community on campuses to enhance students'…

Studied the effects on self-esteem of an intervention that rewarded students who stayed in school with a trip to Africa. Ten urban high school students who completed the program and took the trip to Ghana showed improved self-esteem following the cross-cultural experience. (SLD)

Describes a workshop at the University of Hawaii at Manoa targeted at students overcoming academic difficulties and readmitted after a one-semester suspension. Participants are encouraged to use campus resources, make better decisions, and connect with other students and the institution. Preliminary evaluation suggests the workshop is an efficient…

Describes the Posse Foundation program which sends "posses" of 10 carefully chosen graduates from inner-city high schools, en masse, to selective private colleges seeking a more diversified student population. Reports that in the past 10 years, almost 90 percent of Posse students have graduated within five years. Also identifies problems, such as…

Provides a review of conceptual perspectives on the salient issues affecting student retention in higher education generally, and minority student retention in particular, over the past few decades. Also summarizes programmatic strategies implemented at institutions as examples of student retention initiatives that have had significant impacts.…

Reports the effects of a preventive intervention program on dropping out of school in a sample of disruptive boys from low socioeconomic status. Results show that the program had an indirect effect on later school dropout problems through its impact on grade retention/special education placement. The reduction of grade retention/special classroom…

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…

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…

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…

Transferring from one high school to another may be an important alternative to dropping out. While the public school dropout rate is over four times the dropout rate in Catholic schools, the percentages of transfer students reveal a different scenario. With transfer rates nearly three times their drop out rates, the Catholic schools' reported…

In the last 10 years community college enrollments have leveled off, bringing a new urgency to institutional efforts to retain current students. Obstacles to academic persistence include external factors such as insufficient funds, work demands, social demands, family obligations, housing or transportation problems; and internal problems such as…

This resource manual was developed to assist Texas school districts in their efforts to address and respond to the dropout problem. A 1986 study revealed a dropout rate of 33 per cent in Texas. A task force was initiated in 1987 to study the educational and social problem and produce this manual as a step toward overcoming it. The manual has the…