A study was conducted in the Marin Community Colleges to determine whether direct mail and telephone contacts with college dropouts would be perceived as demonstrating a caring attitude on the part of faculty and staff, and positively influence their rate of return. The study measured the rate of return of four groups of students who were enrolled…

A study was conducted at Butte College to determine the effectiveness of the college's assessment and placement program. Between January 1981 and summer 1982, the Nelson-Denny Reading Test and a writing sample were used in placement; while after summer 1982, the Stanford Task Tests of English and Reading Abilities were used. The primary file of…

In the summer of 1982, the Austin Independent School District (AISD) Office of Research and Evaluation (ORE) conducted a survey of dropouts. Dropouts are defined in this study as students who withdrew from AISD schools prior to receiving their high school diploma and are not known to have attended other schools. The dropouts were interviewed to…

Three institutions effected agreements enabling students in all of the institutions to enroll in the same course, a six-credit introductory psychology course. The three institutions--Athabasca University (AU), The Open Learning Institute (OLI), and North Island College (NIC)--were distance education institutions with open admissions policies which…

The first phase of a study to predict retention and withdrawal among disadvantaged students at an urban commuter institution is described. Variable selection for the study was guided by Tinto's (1975) and Bean's (1982) models. Pilot testing was undertaken to estimate some psychometric characteristics of Pascarella and Terenzini's institutional…

In response to concern that some community college students were being denied access to courses because others had enrolled in more courses than they really intended to maintain, the California community college finance bill of 1983 mandated that the colleges charge students a $10 fee for each course dropped after the second week of the term (not…

This report is concerned with students who either dropped out or were dismissed from grades 9 through 12 during 1983-84 in 14 school systems in Arkansas. It is intended for use by state government, the State Department of Education, state and local policymakers, school administrators and staffs, parents, and young people. The data presented in…

Student withdrawals were compared to course completers in two variants of a contingency-managed lecture (CML) course and a personalized instruction (PI) course. Within both CML sections, withdrawals performed 10-25% worse on unit quizzes and 20-30% worse on review exams than did peers who completed the course. Within PI, withdrawals had a retake…

These two parallel reports provide data on course attrition rates in the Maricopa County Community College District for Fall 1978 and Spring 1979. Course attrition rates were calculated by comparing high-point enrollments (which include audits and withdrawals) with end-of-semester enrollments (which do not include audits, drops, withdrawals, or…

This study was designed to examine the validity of the Cooperative Reading Comprehension Test (CRCT), Form 1A, for advisement purposes. During the period under study, February 1967 through September 1969, 1,020 people took the test, and 39 percent of those tested enrolled at Hofstra University. CRCT scores on the average differentiated those who…

Discusses student retention as an institution-wide responsibility. Says enrollment maintenance requires three ingredients: (1) satisfied students and alumni, (2) caring teachers and staff, and (3) concerned, aware administrators. (CH)

Results of a survey of Kentucky State University students concerning their patterns of adding and dropping courses looked at the proportions and characteristics of students adding and dropping, the reasons for making those changes, and the types of classes added and dropped most frequently. (MSE)

Northern Virginia Community College (NVCC) conducted a telephone survey and two focus groups to determine why students who enrolled for the first time during fall 1999 did not return for the following spring 2000 semester. The main reasons that 557 telephone survey respondents gave were that approximately: (1) 17% had either transferred to another…

This document addresses the problem of students withdrawing from courses before completion and in the process attempts to devise ways that Mendocino College can aid students complete their courses. The report uses findings from two research reports. The first report was completed at the Florida Community College (FCC), which discovered that 75% of…

This is a 2001 report on Palo Verde College (PVC) (California) student demographics, enrollment status, citizenship, educational goals, and academic persistence. Student data were collected and analyzed to meet accrediting standards, improve institutional effectiveness, and fulfill the local district's mission. The report discusses enrollment…