For the past few years the Florida School Code has set the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) performance requirements for promotion of 3rd graders and graduation for 10th graders. Grade 3 students who do not score at level 2 or higher on the FCAT SSS Reading must be retained unless exempted for special circumstances. Grade 10 students…

A two-phase study examined the incidence and nature of dropout and progression from basic skills programs in England and Wales. During the first (retrospective) phase, data about 1,920 students' attendance/dropout patterns and reasons' for finishing/leaving their basic skills programs were obtained from 82 tutors (of more than 300 contacted) in 8…

The longitudinal analysis population of the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88) is used to produce descriptive findings about the transition to high school of eighth grade students. An overview summarizes some of the policy issues of the study and sketches the research design and samples. First, longitudinal data are used to…

This report evaluates the Kansas City (MO) School District's 1991 summer school program, which provided remedial, developmental, and enrichment learning opportunities for students. Sections of the report evaluate the elementary, middle, and senior high summer school programs. Each of these sections includes: (1) a description of the program; (2)…

As mandated by state law, the Texas Education Agency presents a summary of data relating to grade-level retention of students reported by grade, ethnicity, and gender. The reported total number of students who repeated a grade in Texas schools in 1992-93 was 118,888. An additional 3,243 students, or 1.24% of the first grade, were placed in…

The Austin (Texas) Independent School District's (AISD) programs that were developed as alternatives to retention in grade for low-achieving students were studied. The AISD had 19 elementary transition classes (all-day classes, language arts, and language arts/mathematics) in 17 schools for 282 first and second graders in 1987-88. The Transitional…

Grade retention data were collected from the Campbell River, British Columbia schools to determine the prevalence of retention and its effect on school completion. An extensive survey was administered to 52 parents and 204 educators to assess attitudes towards grade retention. Individual interviews were conducted with eight teachers from various…

The longitudinal effects of Louisiana's Compensatory/Remedial Program upon student performance were assessed using data from four administrations of the Basic Skills Test (BST) between 1982 and 1985. Language arts and mathematics tests were administered in grades 2 through 5. Scores increased slightly between 1982 and 1984, and declined in 1985;…

The INVEST sessions are intended to help AISD students and their parents improve communication skills, improve anger management strategies, develop positive conflict resolution methods, develop problem solving skills, and access support services as needed. When a middle or high school student in AISD is removed from the home campus to the…

This information packet contains nine articles that outline current trends in kindergarten retention/exclusion and their negative impact on student outcomes, particularly for high risk students. The 1980s saw increasing numbers of children required to repeat kindergarten, attend a transitional grade before first grade, or wait an extra year before…

Students drop out of school for a wide variety of reasons. Programs to discourage dropping out must therefore accommodate the actual needs of individual students rather than aim at the assumed needs of the "typical dropout." This document reviews school policies and programs that could affect dropout tendencies positively. Among these…

Educating black male youth, especially those in the New Orleans (Louisiana) Public Schools, is a moral and civic imperative. Though black males represented 43 percent of the public school population in the 1986-87 academic year, they accounted for 57.5 percent of the non-promotions, 65 percent of the suspensions, 80 percent of the expulsions, and…

This study was begun in the Fall of 1985 to determine the long-term effects of retention in one of the six COOR Intermediate School District Areas (Roscommon, Michigan). The major focus is on academic achievement as measured by the California Achievement (CA) Test, which has been given to every kindergarten through eighth grade student in the…

This document, the first of two volumes of a final report, describes the various models which were utilized to support the development of a nongraded, phased, secondary school. It also contains the developed objectives which were used in conjunction with the on-going operations research, while Volume II contains the placement instruments…

The curricular recommendations of the current educational-reform movement are discussed and their likely effects on at-risk youth are considered. Current reform efforts tend to focus on three major curricular changes: (1) increase the number of academic courses required to graduate from high school; (2) increase the time for education; and (3) end…