This study examined intake records from 114 students enrolled in literacy training. Several variables obtained at intake were found to be related to persistence. Dropouts tended to (1) be young and Hispanic, (2) not be seeking high school equivalency certification, (3) be unemployed but available for work, and (4) have other illiterate family…

Discusses general decline in commitment to and financial support for equal educational opportunity in last five years and effect on minority students. Analyzes financial considerations in college attendance, problems with "college persistence" assessment measures, college characteristics affecting minority student persistence, and…

Approximately 9 out of 10 high school students who have access to a home computer use that computer to complete school assignments. Using the Computer and Internet Use Supplements to the 2001 Current Population Survey, this study explores whether access to home computers increases the likelihood of school enrollment among teenagers who have not…

Act 49 of 1987 requires the Secretary of Education to provide the General Assembly with an annual report on public school dropouts in Pennsylvania. The purpose of this report is to document the actual number of students who drop out each year and to provide various characteristics about these students. The type of data collected about each dropout…

The objective of the Australian Commonwealth's Full Service Schools (FSS) Program has been to provide additional support to schools to develop innovative programs and arrangements that address the specific needs of students who are considered at risk of not completing Year 12 to a satisfactory level. The target group has been students primarily 16…

Parent involvement in their children's education has been well established as an important component of academic success. To explore this phenomenon, parents were invited into the classroom to participate in a regular lesson so as to determine if such participation would enhance their perception of education and subsequently increase students'…

This paper discusses the importance of helping at-risk students avoid dropping out of school by providing an appropriate curriculum for them. If school systems are to achieve greater educational success with at-risk students, they must move beyond traditional approaches. They can do this by: identifying and helping students who demonstrate little…

In recent years, the federal government has designated 105 communities across the country, including many urban neighborhoods, as Empowerment Zones or Enterprise Communities (EZ/ECs). At the same time, many urban school districts have launched school-to-career initiatives to help keep at-risk youth in school and improve their academic achievement…

Patterns of attrition at a midwestern research university were examined through telephone interviews of 622 students who had left the institution prematurely and through analysis of institutional data to compare school leavers with those who stayed. This comparison found that school leavers were more likely to have lower college admission test…

A business communications course was instituted to provide vocational training for mentally, physically, or socioeconomically handicapped and potential dropouts. Duplicating and printing reproduction skills are taught through self-study and work in student groups on actual projects. Students become able to reproduce and assemble almost any type of…

Results of this study indicate that programs of study which are homogeneous in terms of the abilities, interests, and college grades of their students can be identified, that these programs differ on at least two interpretable dimensions, and that grouping of curricula on these bases simultaneously groups them according to sex ratio. (Authors)

A detailed account of Texarkana schools' performance contract with private industry. (MF)

Florida finds an effective combination for attacking the dropout problem. (Editor)