Although grade retention is widely practiced, it does not help children catch up or prevent school dropouts. In one study, children rated the prospect of flunking a grade as more stressful than wetting in class or being caught stealing. Remediation and other within-grade instructional efforts have a more positive success rate. Includes 16…

Every Saturday morning La Crosse, Wisconsin, high school students can earn credit for a failed semester without interrupting the rest of their academic schedule. During the first year of Saturday School, approximately 75 students made up failed courses and regained their confidence in their ability to succeed academically. (MLF)

Discusses how the concept of failure to thrive can be borrowed from pediatrics and redefined for use in caring for older persons, especially institutionalized older persons. Examines issues of undernutrition, declining physical and cognitive functioning, and depression. (Author/ABL)

Describes methods of treatment for meeting needs of failing and frustrated student offender. Discusses role of public school and juvenile justice setting for classroom management systems, curriculum and instructional adjustment, counseling and support services, and alternative educational programing. (Author)

A study used the Intellectual Achievement Responsibility Questionnaire and the Nowicki-Strickland Internal-External Control Scale to understand the nature of internal and external factors in the lives of two groups of low literate adults--26 prisoners and 26 persons in noninstitutional settings. Results showed that both groups attribute their…

Results from an experimental study involving 120 third, seventh, and eleventh grade parochial school girls showed that for third-grade females, short-term failure experiences are relatively transitory; however for females around the age of adolescence, helplessness and egotism appear to undertake a significant role in influencing behavior. (IAH)

Describes a proposal developed at Wichita State University for a basic library skills competency test for undergraduates to be followed by a multioptioned program designed to enable every student to eventually pass the test. Reasons for the proposal's failure to be accepted are discussed. (Author/LRW)

Educators can resolve the perennial conflict between those wanting to spare students the stigma of failure and those concerned with maintaining standards by adopting Carl Washburne's evaluation method. During the 1920s, Washburne proposed "adjusting the school to the child" by individualizing instruction and using evaluation to discover…

Describes process used with one nursing student who was failing the clinical component of her surgical nursing course. Discusses the method used to evaluate the student, the effect on other students in the clinic, and the legal ramifications. (JOW)

In response to "The Bell Curve," notes that the effects of IQ on crime and delinquency are mediated by gender and age in a fashion that is not readily explained by a reduction to genetic differences. Discusses possible interrelationships among IQ, delinquency, and school performance, and suggests that the causal link between IQ and…

The Wilkinsburg (Pennsylvania) School Board's decision to hire Alternative Public Schools, a private company, to manage a failing elementary school has alienated the teacher union and many town residents. If teachers lose their court challenge, Turner School will become the only U.S. public school to be both privately staffed and managed. (MLH)

In the end, Connecticut's ambitious plan to reform its schools collapsed because of failure to connect with parents. The controversial outcome-based education plan failed because the planning committee had too many insiders, lacked a clear vision, and used vague language to convey its recommendations and sell inadequately defined standards. (MLH)

Total Quality Management (TQM) is not another"add-on" but a wholly reconceived approach to managing educational institutions. Some common start-up problems are lack of feasible leadership commitment, poor data and deployment plans, and inadequate managerial skills. Postlaunch problems include team and measurement mania, overzealous selling of…

Illiterate people are stigmatized by myths such as failed lives, poor self-concept, and the equation of poverty with illiteracy. Illiterate people respond to stigma by "passing" and "covering"; the stigma of association affects adult literacy education. (SK)

Data from 257 students who passed or failed the National Council Licensure Examination were used to identify success/failure variables. Findings indicate that reasonably accurate predictive data on individual student performance is available at the end of the junior year, allowing faculty to begin interventions for at-risk students. (Author)