The transition process from high school to college is considered from the perspective of a high school practitioner. Educational, social/personal, and financial factors that influence student planning are discussed. It is suggested that the secondary school must begin as early as the freshman year to help plan the curriculum the student will…

The effects of higher requirements for high school graduation on patterns of participation in secondary education among high school graduates and different patterns of course-taking among college-bound and non-college-bound students from 1969 to 1987 were studied. Data sets were from four national studies on high school students: (1) the…

This paper proposes a cooperative program between Pennsylvania State University (PSU) and Erie (Pennsylvania) Public Schools to encourage at-risk secondary school students to stay in school and aspire to a college education. The program involves the staged implementaiton of the following components: (1) an after-school "academy" to…

The education of women, involving both their educational/career ambitions and their concern for intimate relationships, is discussed. As traditional undergraduates enter liberal arts colleges, two important developmental tasks arise: establishing a sense of self independent of family and developing a capacity for intimacy. While today's college…

In 1981-82, a study was conducted to determine why students left LaGuardia Community College (LCC) before completing the requirements for an associate degree. Interviews were conducted with dropout students over the course of the study, and questionnaires were administered to entering and continuing students to provide a comparative framework. The…

Guidelines for using questionnaires/findings provided through the Student-Outcomes Information Service (SOIS) are presented. SOIS provides institutional decision-makers with information on student characteristics, backgrounds, attitudes, reasons for making various educational choices, activities, educational plans, occupational choices, and…

Teachers should begin to think about how they mete out responsibility for spoken and written discourse in the classroom. Research indicates that most teachers initiate and sustain a question-answer-evaluation pattern. This pattern is doubly enacted in the composition course in writing as well as speaking. Unfortunately, this pattern may also…

College student persistence and overall educational attainment were studied, based on data from the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972. Attention was directed to the influence of student socioeconomic status, academic aptitude and preparation, educational goal commitment, college quality/selectivity, college orientation…

Previously published or publicly accessed data, as well as two new sources--Postsecondary Transcript Sample (PETS) of the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Graduating Class of 1972 (NLS), and the recently completed 5th Follow-Up Survey (1986) of the NLS cohort, with original calculations derived--were used for this statistical study…

The influence of family background, including parental education, on college student attrition was evaluated with first- and second-generation American students. A total of 701 enrolled students and those who left before graduation were surveyed at a primarily residential private liberal arts college and at a primarily commuter state-supported…

Proceedings of the first National Conference on Academic Advising, sponsored in 1977 by the University of Vermont, are presented. Among the 36 papers presented are the following: "Making Advising Work: Basic Elements in Developing and Implementing a Successful Academic Advising Program" (David S. Crockett); "A Community College Academic Advisor's…

Student attrition at the Distance University in the Federal Republic of Germany was studied. The Distance University, which was founded in December 1974, offers the following departments: mathematics and computer sciences, electrical engineering, economics and law, and education and the social sciences. The university is directed toward people…

A handbook for the adult student returning to college is presented. Attention is directed to the pros and cons of reentry; how to choose a program; options for financing an education; admissions applications; maximizing preentry credits; colleges, credits, and degrees; coping with academic demands such as exam-taking; and achieving a balance…

Factors contributing to declining academic performance of college students are considered, including: increased government intervention in education, declining faculty expectations and lowered standards, administrative policies, and changing student attitudes and expectations. One view is that government is largely responsible for the…

Research among ninth graders in Ankara, Turkey, compared individual and family characteristics of socioeconomically disadvantaged versus advantaged students; investigated the educational issues these students faced; and examined major educational and guidance problems of the disadvantaged. Results indicated that, compared to advantaged students,…