Counseling & Support

Evidence-based Strategies - Examples, Research and Tools

Strategy e: Establish learning plans for those who may stop out and help them find suitable ways to re-engage in learning until they reach their goals, including offering distance learning options.

Examples

ESOL at the Ready
Diana Satin
This ESOL distance learning project used a free, web-based, video series to serve students who were having trouble attending scheduled classes or were on the waiting list. Staff support included monthly individual and group meetings, supplementary learning activities, and follow-up on students who stopped participating. After 9 months, all students had met personal goals and 70% of those who stayed at least 3 months improved on the standardized writing test.

Making it Worth the Stay: Findings from the New England Learner Persistence Project, pp. 59-61
Andy Nash and Silja Kallenbach
These pages describe the strategies New England programs used to offer study options to at-risk or stopped-out students.

Research

Self-Study: Broadening the Concepts of Participation and Program Support
Stephen Reder and Clare Strawn
This article reports on a seven-year study of high school non-completers which found that most of them engaged in self-study since leaving high school, and that self-study was at least as effective as program participation in helping adults attain a GED or improve their academic skills.

Tools

Quinsigamond CC Stop Out Survey
Janet Hedlund and Donna McGoldrick
In order to better understand students’ reasons for leaving, counselors at this program developed a survey tool that asks about personal and program factors.

Sumner Self Study Survey
Trudy Martin
This tool surveys students’ past self-study practices and asks what kinds of self-study activities might work if they need to stop out.