This report, which is the seventh in a series, presents data from 1994 on high school dropout and retention rates and examines high school graduation and completion rates. Included is an analysis of the 1994 high school completion status and subsequent life activities of members of the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 cohort of eighth…

This research study was conducted to determine if certain characteristics were consistently present in students who completed self-paced study courses, as opposed to those who did not. The survey was conducted at the Santa Fe Community College Flex Lab (New Mexico), which was designed to provide students with an alternative, self-paced method of…

This book provides a synthesis of wide-ranging research on student attrition at American colleges and universities and outlines actions that institutions can and should take to reduce attrition. The key to effective retention is shown to lie in a strong commitment to quality education and the building of a strong sense of inclusive educational and…

This study focuses on school system characteristics that affect the dropout rate in the Chicago public high schools. Although the primary variable for investigation is attendance rate, other school system variables examined include type of school, percentage of low-income students in a school, and the overall level of student ability for a school…

A follow-up study of undergraduate student attrition at Indiana University is presented. It builds upon previous research on student attrition documenting high rates of attrition among Black and Hispanic undergraduates. It also builds upon the Conceptual Model of Black Student Attrition. One goal is to compare persisters and non-persisters within…

This paper concerns a national evaluation study of the Upward Bound (UB) Program conducted for the U.S. Office of Education by the Research Triangle Institute. It describes the practical constraints imposed on the study design and the features of the design that were shaped by these constraints. The design features include the quasi-experimental…

Provides an overview of the courses for pre-engineering attrition. Suggests ways to improve retention rates of students in cooperative college programs. (RT)

To determine factors affecting new students in their first semester, a study was conducted at Diablo Valley College, in California, to draw a profile and track 4,251 students who applied or were identified as new in fall 1992. Percentage distributions were calculated for the sample and for the sub-groups who applied only, completed testing only,…

This research brief reviews and analyzes national data on college going, persistence, and graduation. It compares characteristics of students who enter college immediately after high school graduation with other types of postsecondary entrants, considers traditional versus nontraditional paths of college going, and examines college persisters and…

This paper explores the practical implications of the distributional perspective on dropping out of school--a perspective that says that the concentration of student exodus from certain schools may reflect the impact of contextual or organizational factors as opposed to those that operate simply at the individual level. Based on data from the…

GENESYS--GENeric Evaluation SYStem--is a method of streamlining data collection and evaluation through the use of computer technology. GENESYS has allowed the Office of Research and Evaluation (ORE) of the Austin (Texas) Independent School District to evaluate a multitude of contrasting programs with limited resources. By standardizing methods and…

The 1984 edition of the United States Virgin Islands School Statistical Summary presents narratives, 48 tables, and 7 graphic illustrations of education in public and private elementary and secondary schools during the 1983-84 school year. Tables provide data on the U.S. Virgin Islands demography and economy, enrollment and average daily…

Our nation's youth dropout rate, while consistent for almost 20 years, has increasingly become a major educational and societal problem. This summary of a longer sourcebook provides an overview of various strategies and initiatives for groups, schools, businesses, and communities to consider in addressing their dropout problems, and describes a…

Student attrition rates and retention efforts in the California State University and Colleges (CSUC) are summarized to assist policymakers and planners. Extensive supplementary materials are also provided, including four questionnaires, campus statistics, and worksheets for predicting withdrawal. Summaries for the 19 campuses of CSUC provide an…

The major objectives of the projects reported are to reduce dropouts, to decrease suspensions, to increase attendance rate, to increase reading and math achievement, to decrease disciplinary referrals, and to improve self-concept. Three project components are instructional, including personalized instruction in English, mathematics, social…