Potential Students/Clients

  Adults have competing roles and responsibilities (family problems, child care, job demands).
  ___ Can we help?
  ___ Do we know to which agency we can refer these individuals?
  ___ Do we offer flexible, convenient scheduling?

  All program personnel affect student/client retention.
  ___ Are our administrators and staff aware of reasons why students stay, why they leave, and what makes the difference?
  ___ Do all personnel know how to make students/clients feel welcomed?
  ___ Do our staff display respect for students/clients?
  ___ Do staff and faculty value the students?

  Adults may experience stress when trying to locate services.
  ___ Does our building have adequate signs clearly indicating office locations?

  Family members have the most influence on the persistence of adults enrolled in educational programs.
  ___ Does our support system for students include immediate and extended family members?
  ___ Do we offer tours and open house?

  Intake and Precounseling

  Providing pre-enrollment attention curtails dropout rates.
  ___ What kind of pre-enrollment service do we provide?

  Adults are individuals with unique needs and concerns.
  ___ Do we interview each student to understand his/her needs and concerns?

  Establishing learner goals should be an integral part of the intake process.
  ___ Does our intake process include this?

  There is often a discrepancy between learner/client expectations and reality which causes frustration with their
      lack of progress.
  ___ Do our assessment and placement procedures meet their needs?
  ___ Are students/clients aware of potential problems and realistic timelines?

  Many adults are highly intimidated about returning to school.
  ___ Is our orientation meeting their needs?

  The Social Aspect of Retention

  Social integration in programs has a significant positive effect on retention. Completers usually belong to a group, while dropouts are socially isolated.
  ___ How are we promoting a sense of community and friendship among students?

  Collaborative learning may be an approach to help improve the retention of minority students.
  ___ How do we encourage collaborative learning?

  Offering Support

  A support system for learners should be readily available.
  ___ What kind of support system do we have in place?

The first class/session and the first few weeks are crucial for loners who need attention.
___ Are we making them feel welcome?
___ Do we offer them a positive experience?

Peer telephone support during the initial weeks of a class/program improves retention.
___ Do we encourage students to support each other's efforts?
___ Have we set up a student contact system?

Early detection of those at risk of withdrawing and follow-up of those who have withdrawn are effective
practices to help adults persist.
___ Do we have someone to call students/clients who miss a class/appointment?
___ Do our staff alert this person early on of potential dropouts?
___ Do we have an early-alert counseling program?

Cultural differences may cause misunderstandings in communication.
___ Do we offer cultural awareness training for our staff?

The Learning/Service Environment

The first class/session is the most difficult for students who may feel embarrassment or self-doubt.
___ Do we make their first experience as positive as possible?
___ Do we provide opportunities for them to succeed that first class/session?

Students often enter programs overwhelmed with high expectations.
___Are we breaking up the tasks into manageable bits to help adults reduce their frustration and achieve
    success?
___ Do we positively confront the possible erroneous beliefs, expectations, and assumptions that they may
    have?
___ Do we associate the learner with other learners who are enthusiastic about learning?
___ Do we help learners to attribute their success to their ability and their effort?
___ Do we help learners to understand that effort and persistence can overcome their failures?

Establishing trust and cooperation in the classroom accelerates learning and retention.
___ Do we encourage the students to get to know the instructors/staff?
___ Do we take the time to build rapport with our students/clients?
___ Have we made an effort to establish a sense of trust between instructors and students?

Adults are pragmatic. They will leave when their goals have been met or when their goals are not being met.
___ Do our program goals differ from our students' goals?
___ Are we meeting their goals?
___ Do we offer a student-centered curriculum?
___ Is our instruction relevant to their needs?
___ Do we offer a challenging curriculum?

Successful instructors capitalize on students' interests.
___ Have we taken the time to get to know our students?

Personal attention is a basic principle behind good retention rates.
___ Are students given personal attention?

Individuals/ fears and insecurities must be relieved before they are able to attend to learning.
___ Do we develop and use techniques to reduce student/client anxiety?

Some adults have had past negative educational/social service experiences which may influence their
persistence.
___ Do we talk with students about their return to school and ask them about their previous experiences?
___ What are we doing to make this experience a positive one?

Individuals feel better about working on their weaknesses if they know they are competent in other areas.
___ Do we identify adults' strengths and weaknesses and apply this information to our curriculum?
___ Do we build on the strengths of each individual?

  Adults need positive feedback to help conquer their self-doubt and to encourage risk taking.
  ___ Do we provide ample positive feedback to build self-esteem in our students/clients?
  ___ Do we provide numerous opportunities for student recognition?

  People have a variety of learning styles.
  ___ Do we employ alternate teaching methods to accommodate different learning styles?

  Some adults are intimidated in large group settings.
  ___ Do we provide individual or small group instruction for these students?

  Not all adults learn at the same rate.
  ___ Do we offer tutoring or computer-aided instruction for those that need it?

  Individuals need to have their physiological needs taken care of before they can concentrate on learning.
  ___ Do we provide a comfortable class/office environment?
  ___ Are the seating, lighting, and temperature adequate?

  Focusing on meeting students' needs can have a positive impact on basic skills programs.
  ___ What are we doing to show students/clients that we are trying to meet their needs?

  Students who recognize their own growth in self-esteem and empowerment are inclined to persist.
  ___ Do we help them see their growth?
  ___ Do we foster our students' /clients' growth in self-esteem and empowerment?

Retention rates improve when the curriculum is derived from student experiences and their everyday
problems.
  ___ Do we use real life, daily living experiences as examples in our lessons?

Effective adult education and welfare-to-work programs imbed and intertwine employment skills training,
  personal growth development, and educational development.
  ___ Are we helping adults reach independence by offering holistic services rather than fragmenting our services?

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