The design and features of a model minority retention program are discussed. Components of successful retention programs include: commitment to attract and retain minority students, ongoing sessions to sensitize the campus community to minority students, academic involvement, tenured minority faculty and staff, support services, and minority…

Since 1983, Santa Barbara City College (SBCC) has invested resources in a comprehensive matriculation program to help students achieve their educational objectives. In each of the 6 subsequent years, the college has added components to its matriculation program and refined others. An evaluation of the program was conducted in 1989, comparing…

STRIVE was a special instructional program which provided a nurturing, caring, intensive instructional milieu for over-aged, low-performing ninth graders, who were perceived to be at risk of dropping out of school, at Barbara Jordan High School for Careers in Houston (Texas) during the 1988-89 school year. This report evaluates the effectiveness…

An evaluation of a statewide dropout prevention strategy program with 13 prevention projects conducted by the Louisiana State Department of Education in the 1988-89 school year is presented. Both summative and process evaluations are described. The attitudes of 831 10th-grade students were measured using a pretest and posttest attitude survey…

The purpose of this study was to identify characteristics of at-risk students and review certain circumstances that affect their decisions to leave or stay in school. Mail survey responses were collected from 272 students (out of a total of 300) in 15 rural Tennessee high schools. The subjects were identified by their guidance counselors as being…

The 33 articles on dropout prevention in this compendium were published in the "IDRA Newsletter"--the newsletter of the Intercultural Development Research Association--between April 1986 and September 1989. They can serve as resources for individuals and organizations addressing the needs of at-risk minority group students and their…

The Student Support Services Program, in the student affairs division, has been a counseling and tutorial program at Chicago State University since 1978. The program's goal is to increase the retention and graduation rates of the university's students. The program's focus is to monitor extensively each participant's first year at the university…

The urban high school dropout phenomenon may result from the inability of at-risk students to integrate competing social identities, or "selves." Using Erik Erikson's theory of adolescent personality development as a framework, this study analyzes information gathered from interviews with 73 New York City high school students by peer…

This paper suggests 15 steps school superintendents can take to help close the gap between the educationally disadvantaged and other student populations. Superintendents should do the following: (1) create a vision of what an achieving educational community is; (2) implement goals and strategies which create a positive educational climate; (3)…

Between September 1, 1984, and August 31, 1985, a study examined the barriers to enrollment in and completion of postsecondary-level nontraditional vocational education programs in Florida. Data were collected from students and faculty members at 36 of Florida's 59 area vocational-technical centers and community colleges as well as from on-site…

Changing Attitudes Regarding Education (CARE) is a program for the elementary school level which seeks to heighten educators' awareness of student attitudes toward education that are not conducive to an ongoing learning process. The goals of the program are accomplished using a team approach. The school principal is a member of the team and…

This report describes the background and plans for an alternative education program to reduce the high dropout rate at Baldwyn High School in Baldwyn, Mississippi. Research shows that students drop out primarily because they are behind grade level and are older than their classmates. Of Baldwyn High School's approximately 290 students, between 25…

This booklet for dropout prevention team members is part of a series of program materials for a school-based intervention process to help at-risk students stay in school. Team members may include teachers, health care workers, parents, counselors, community volunteers, employers, or other caring adults. An introduction lists specific…

This instructor's guide is part of a series of program materials for a school-based intervention process to help at-risk students stay in school. This instructor book, a related student book, and a videotape called "A Time of Choices" comprise the classroom component of this set of materials focusing on awareness and commitment. It addresses the…

Statistics indicate that while half of America's teenagers are sexually active by age 18, many of these youth do not use contraception regularly and most delay doing so for more than a year. Of the nearly 500,000 teenage pregnancies resulting in birth annually, most of the mothers are unmarried and about half are under 18. This report argues that…