As part of MDRC's multisite Opening Doors demonstration, Chaffey College, a large community college in Southern California, ran two versions of a program that was designed to improve outcomes among students who are on probation. Both versions offered a "College Success" course, taught by a college counselor, which provided basic…

Many high-achieving students do not question their academic success. They do well and are content with the study skills they have developed to ensure that they achieve their goals. However, these students, whose high schools considered them achievers, experience difficulties and sometimes failure in situations where they had previously experienced…

Retaining and aiding students on academic probation is a concern for all institutions of higher education. Students placed on academic probation by Rockingham Community College (RCC) have been encouraged to participate in an intervention program since the summer of 2006. When treated as an aggregate, the data regarding the program indicates that…

The purpose of this study was to determine if there were certain teaching competencies, identified by the state of Oregon and pinpointed by building administrators, which cause the greatest difficulty for new teachers. If there were competencies identified by building administrators as problematic, was there more that teacher education…

Intrusive advising has been frequently used to encourage or require at-risk or probationary students to attend advising sessions. The efficacy of intrusive advising targeted to all students has received little attention. We implemented a case-control experiment with 501 first-year students at a large, urban, state university to test the efficacy…

This description of the probation-retention-disqualification policy at Santa Monica City College (Calif.) may provide guidelines for other institutions. A student may be placed on probation if he (1) has a GPA below 2.0 in all college units attempted, (2) is a transfer while on probation from or disqualified by another school, or (3) is readmitted…

In July 1967, the California State Board of Education set minimum probation standards for junior colleges, providing that (1) students having less than a 2.0 GPA (with 12 or more units attempted) will be put on academic probation, (2) all such students will receive special counseling, and (3) those failing to maintain a 1.75 GPA for three…

The purpose of this study was to provide information concerning the academic performance of students who were permitted to continue on probation while hovering slightly below university requirements. The sample consisted of 212 academically dismissed students who were readmitted to the College of Education at Kent State University. The results…

Junior college students on academic probation are as heterogeneous as the college population itself. They range from high-ability students dismissed from 4-year institutions to those with severe visual-motor handicaps. The differences should be more carefully identified so that appropriate help can be made available. Special counseling (required…

Identifies, in a case study, a gifted student who, in consideration of previous academic achievement, should be performing exceptionally well, but has a four-year history of withdrawing from and failing courses, avoids studying, and occasionally rallies at the 11th hour for an average performance. Proposes a learner-centered intervention, in a…

In this study, I examined the effectiveness of adding insight-oriented strategies to an intrusive academic-advising approach with students on academic probation. Twenty males and 22 females at a comprehensive private university participated in the study. Students who attended three to eight meetings had a significant improvement in semester GPA…

AN APPRAISAL OF THE JUNIOR COLLEGE AS A "SECOND-CHANCE" INSTITUTION PRESENTS CONSIDERABLE EVIDENCE OF SUCCESSFUL SALVAGING OF THE ABLE STUDENT. THE FAILURE OF THE STUDENT AT THE UNIVERSITY MAY BE DUE TO (1) EMOTIONAL IMMATURITY, (2) INABILITY TO ADJUST TO THE COMPLEXITY AND IMPERSONALITY OF THE LARGE CAMPUS, (3) LACK OF SOUND COUNSELING, OR (4)…

BETWEEN 1959 AND 1963, 351 TRANSFER STUDENTS ENTERING EL CAMINO COLLEGE WERE IN A PROBATIONARY STATUS BECAUSE OF UNSATISFACTORY GRADES EARNED AT THEIR PREVIOUS INSTITUTIONS. OF THIS GROUP, 55 PERCENT WERE LATER SUCCESSFUL (REMOVED THEMSELVES FROM PROBATIONARY STATUS). MORE THAN 70 PERCENT OF THOSE TRANSFERRING FROM 4-YEAR INSTITUTIONS AND 33…

This mini-study evaluated efforts by the School of Health and Human Services Advisement Center at California State University, Los Angeles to reach and support students on probation or were disqualified. Workshops were held to educate students on campus policies and procedures, time and stress management skills, and factors that either contribute…

Institutions of higher education have developed a host of interventions to increase the retention of first-year students whose academic performance is inadequate. This study evaluated the overall effectiveness of an intervention strategy designed for first-year students on academic probation at a mid-western research university. A…