The inadequate literacy skills of some individuals in Australia: (1) restrict their ability to exercise informed citizenship, participate in their local communities, and use their abilities and talents; (2) damage their development as autonomous, competent, and confident individuals within families; (3) may be repeated in successive generations,…

An examination is made into the possible reasons for underachievement in higher education, on the theory that personological variables such as persistence and diplomacy may contribute as much to success as I.Q. points. Various lists are provided of the salient factors, and their explanations, that contribute to underachievement, as proposed by…

A study was made to determine whether or not kindergarten entry age is a factor in academic failure. The 457 seventh- and eighth-grade students who were subjects in the study had attended Fairfax County, Virginia, Public Schools since kindergarten. Although the subjects were born during 1970, they were classified as younger and older on the basis…

In fall 1984, the first group of potential Miami-Dade Community College (MDCC) graduates took the College Level Academic Skills Test (CLAST) as a requirement for obtaining an associate degree or being admitted to the upper division at a state university. Of the 997 first-time test takers, three quarters passed the test. A study was conducted to…

The observations of educators and educational research have shown that academic outcomes for minority groups exposed to the same educational programs are different. The phenomenon does not seem to be due to superior intelligence, social class, or length of time in the country. Documented since the mid-1960s, this should be taken into account when…

The objective of the Family Support Services Scheme is to find new ways to prevent the breakdown of families and the institutionalization of children. The view taken in this report is that not much progress has been made toward achieving this goal. Criticisms of and recommendations for the scheme include the following: (1) The program attempts to…

For over 15 years, the Dean for Educational Services at Jefferson Community College (New York) has regularly identified and written to students whose mid-term grades indicated that they were in potential academic jeopardy. During fall 1988, a study was conducted to measure the effect of this intervention strategy on grades and persistence. Of the…

School districts in New Jersey were required to report to the State Department of Education data pertaining to the impact of the state's high school graduation law (Chapter 241, Public Law 1979) on the 1987-88 graduating class. Data were collected through a form completed by all public school districts issuing diplomas. Of the 77,680 students in…

This report, compiled by the North Carolina State Board of Education's Office for Dropout Prevention, provides dropout data, reasons for students' dropping out of school, and approaches for keeping students in school until successful completion of their education. Facts and figures for dropout rates of high school and the extended day school…

For language minority children who have acquired English through another culture, opportunities to learn in U.S. schools are not equal, either at the point of entry or at any time thereafter. Children's ability to participate meaningfully in school learning activities is intimately linked to cognitive and social skills that presuppose specific and…

Grades awarded to secondary school students in the Cleveland (Ohio) public schools were analyzed to determine relationships between grades and selected school climate variables in a desegregated urban school district. Failures or F grades and schoolwide non-promotion rates were both related to rates of class attendance and school suspensions. Over…

The Early Identification and Prevention Program (EIP) was designed to identify and meet special needs of children in kindergarten through third year with special emphasis on the second grade. The findings of the report are based on a city-wide survey of the personnel working in all the 18 elementary schools which had a full complement of EIP…

In this study of student attrition rates at Prince George's Community College, three indicators were analyzed: (1) term-to-term attrition, (2) within-term attrition, and (3) course "inefficiency" (failure). Data from 1972-73 through 1976-77 indicated that fall to spring attrition (term-to-term) was approximately 34%. Spring to fall averaged 47%,…

An individualized English composition laboratory at a community college maintained a student completion rate of only 45% to 55% over a period of several semesters as a result of the following factors: the week long pretest administered to determine student needs was intimidating to students; students became frustrated at being asked to work on…

The shift from viewing reading as primarily a perceptual process to viewing it as primarily a linguistic process, combined with the consideration of reading failure as not one but many disabilities, formed the basis for the assumption that there exists a duo-symbiosis between reading and speech and between speech and word-finding. The development…