Student Retention Study (original) (raw)
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Student Retention Study: Implications for Counseling Psychologists in Schools
2000
Efforts to increase collaboration between governments, community agencies, and schools have shaped the educational agenda of the 1990s. The challenge has been how to involve university educators with their public school colleagues. Developing teacher-training programs within schools has been one approach. An initiative within the University of Georgia's School Counseling Program set out to develop a service delivery model that could incorporate the relationships found in diverse public schools. It involved collaboration with school counselors to meet student needs, development of a model school counselor preparation program, and research on the effectiveness of selected counseling practices. One such collaboration involved the University working with school officials in one district concerned about the number of students failing to graduate on time. Accurate graduation and retention rates of students and the reasons why each student dropped out or transferred were studied. Results suggest that the actual rate of student retention to graduation was barely over 40%. Supported by the data, school officials have been instrumental in changing the school environment, policies, and accounting procedures to improve the rate of retention to graduation. (Contains 79 references.) (JDM) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document.
On Track: A university retention model utilizing school counseling program interns
This article outlines a pilot study conducted with persisting and non-persisting students in a mid-sized public university in the West. Based on those findings, a retention initiative was developed. The study and initiative both utilize the ASCA framework, making a case that this model has application in institutions of higher education as well as public schools. The significance of collaborations between school counseling programs and college advising centers is also portrayed.
School Districts-University Partnerships: A College-Readiness Program
Online Submission, 2010
This paper reports on how ten school districts and a state university system address a statefunded college readiness program for high school student achievement in mathematics and English. It addresses in qualitative and quantitative detail: (a) the school-university partnership designed to decrease the number of high school students that require remedial coursework upon entering college; (b) the centrality of school and university faculty expertise with support systems to ensure a continuum for student learning outcomes; and (c) an evidence-based focus on student development and learning progress to meet high standards. Student development had the greatest effects on student outcome: senior students' placement at the university improved dramatically, student retention rates increased considerably, and remedial math and English classes decreased substantially. Perspectives and Theoretical Framework The organizational development framework includes the structures, systems, and processes that work symbiotically together to effect improvement and organizational effectiveness. The seminal work on change theory conducted by Kurt Lewin (1943) prevails as the model for examining the school districtsuniversity partnerships. Lewin, commonly recognized as the father of organizational development, was particularly influential in this work and also pioneered group dynamics and social change. Lewin's Change Theory poses that patterns of any culture are subject to evolution over time as a result of external and internal forces which may create pattern altering events. To this effect, his theory embraces three stages: (1) unfreezing or being motivated to change, (2) unfrozen or moving to a new state, and (3) freezing or stabilizing the change. The ecological focus of Lewin's Change Theory applies to the relationship that exists between high schools and universities and requires an examination of past and current educational environments. The intellectual framework for school reform and instructional leadership originates with Lewin's work in organizational sociology which began as early as the 1930s (Owens & Valesky, 2007). Lewin's work with the interplay between group dynamics and individual growth form the foundation of modern school improvement, reform and leadership efforts.
Georgia Educational Researcher, 2012
Difficulties in recruiting and retaining well prepared teachers have plagued American urban schools for many years. This study examines the role teacher education can play in preparing teachers for urban schools. The yield rate and retention rates for teachers graduating from one urban college of education show that the mission of the program to prepare educators for the urban settings and a curriculum focused on providing theoretical and practical knowledge, skills and dispositions for instruction in high-needs classrooms has been successful. The yield and four-year retention data for graduates from this program indicate that the components of teacher preparation significantly associated with teacher employment after graduation and retention were: GPA and program major.
Student retention: Moving from numbers to action
Research in Higher Education, 1993
This paper describes a multi-faceted approach to improving student retention at an urban public university. It is noted that the students at this institution are older, working people; few live on campus and participate in what would be considered traditional student experiences. The paper examines the physical setting and external environment; the internal environment; and key events (defining the problem, listening to student voices, and expanding data gathering and implementation of pilot projects). Described are the actions of a Retention Committee which used qualitative and quantitative methods to identify problems that create barriers to student success or contribute to student departure. A cross7cultural model, involving faculty, administrators, policy makers, and students, was found to be useful. A committee chairperson was chosen who could easily move back and forth among the subcultures with their different values, modes of behavior, incentive systems, and ways of communicating. Preliminary findings indicate that problems of student success in beginning math classes are more complex than was first imagined, that few faculty members who are viewed as the best teachers actually teach freshmen, and that advising and campus activities are major student concerns. The elements of a model for transferring information from the research realm into the policy arena are described. The paper concludes v.ith a discussion of the implications of the case study for the field of institutional research. (Contains 16 references.) (GLR)
An Exploration of the Teacher Retention Crisis in High-Poverty Schools
Point Park University ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2021
According to Garcia and Weiss (2019), students in high-poverty and high-minority schools typically feel the largest impact of teacher shortages. The aim and objective of this qualitative phenomenological study was to examine the factors that contribute to the teacher shortage in high-poverty schools and analyze how these factors are being addressed by various education administrators. This study focused on four factors that impact teacher retention: teacher preparation programs, workplace conditions, principal leadership styles, and teacher disposition. Principals, university coordinators, and district-level administrators across the state of Pennsylvania, with experience levels ranging from one to 24 years, participated in this study. The data emphasized the importance of university coordinators incorporating coursework that is more relevant to the challenges in high-poverty schools and finding more opportunities for clinical experiences outside of student teaching. The data also emphasized the importance of building principals hiring individuals who have the appropriate disposition for teaching in a high-poverty school and for building principals to be intentional and strategic in how teachers are supported. Furthermore, the data revealed the need for district-level administrators to establish and maintain partnerships with universities to support retention efforts. The implications for leadership are for stakeholders in universities, districts, and schools to collaborate on teacher preparation curriculum, innovative recruitment strategies, and professional development for building principals. Keywords: teacher retention, Pennsylvania, high-poverty schools, principals, university coordinators, district-level administrators
Professional School Counseling, 2020
This article outlines how to replicate strategies employed during a two-decade partnership between the University of North Florida’s (UNF) school counselor preparation program and Duval County Public Schools, a large, urban, southern school district. The partnership created a culture of collaboration built on a mutual social justice philosophy for the purpose of closing attainment gaps. Participation in the partnership has become mandatory for UNF school counseling candidates in their preparation to be systemic change agents who ferret out and eliminate opportunity gaps and information gaps to benefit K–12 students.
Student Retention: Moving from Numbers to Action. AIR 1992 Annual Forum Paper
1992
This paper describes a multi-faceted approach to improving student retention at an urban public university. It is noted that the students at this institution are older, working people; few live on campus and participate in what would be considered traditional student experiences. The paper examines the physical setting and external environment; the internal environment; and key events (defining the problem, listening to student voices, and expanding data gathering and implementation of pilot projects). Described are the actions of a Retention Committee which used qualitative and quantitative methods to identify problems that create barriers to student success or contribute to student departure. A cross7cultural model, involving faculty, administrators, policy makers, and students, was found to be useful. A committee chairperson was chosen who could easily move back and forth among the subcultures with their different values, modes of behavior, incentive systems, and ways of communicating. Preliminary findings indicate that problems of student success in beginning math classes are more complex than was first imagined, that few faculty members who are viewed as the best teachers actually teach freshmen, and that advising and campus activities are major student concerns. The elements of a model for transferring information from the research realm into the policy arena are described. The paper concludes v.ith a discussion of the implications of the case study for the field of institutional research. (Contains 16 references.) (GLR)