Division of Workforce Development

Region III: Web-Based Training Program

An Inservice Project

Most adult educators are concerned about the number of adults who drop out of programs before they have a chance to meet their educational goals.  Do you know the actual retention rate in your classroom or school? Is your retention rate higher among males or females, young or more mature learners, various cultures or ethnic groups?  Conducting a relatively simple review of a cohort of students in your program can provide you with a wealth of information.  The right kind of data can help you make decisions about what you need to do.  The following information will provide you with an example of a basic retention study, plus give you step-by-step instructions so you can complete your own study.

"Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire." William Butler Yeats "Personally, I'm always ready to learn, although I don't always like being taught." Winston Churchill

Retention Instructions and Table

Conducting a retention study is very easy. There are four basic components.  Pull down the following file created in Microsoft Word 97:  (If you need to pull down the file in Microsoft Word 6.0 or Word 95, click here ).  This will serve as a guide as you work with students' records. NOTE: This file is in landscape view. When printing, make sure your printer is set to print landscape!
 

Need a hand saving this file to your hard drive or to disk?

  Pull Materials Together

1. Gather the attendance rosters for the time period you wish to survey (this may cover 6, 9, 12, or 18 weeks).
2. Make copies of the student records so you can write on them.
3. Identify all students who enrolled during a one-week period.
4. Highlight the students' names on each roster.
5. Transfer the names of the selected students to the Adult Education Student Tracking Form (a master copy has been provided in the pull-down file above or you may make your own).

1. Using the attendance rosters, identify the weeks that each student was enrolled during the study period.
2. Indicate a student was present during the specific week by inserting "-" or leaving the space blank.
3. Indicate when a student withdrew or completed by writing a "W" or "C" in the appropriate week.
4. Count the total number of weeks each student was present and write this number in the Total Column. (Remember, a student must be present at least one day in order to be counted for that week.)

1. Count the total number of students in your study.
2. Count the total number of students who successfully completed or remained in the class during the entire study period you have chosen.
3. Divide your answer in #2 by your answer in #1. This will give you the percentage of students retained in your program.

Analyze the Data

Calculating your retention rate will provide you with a number. Now you need to analyze what the number(s) mean.

• Look for patterns in student attendance.
• Do certain groups of students remain until completion?
• Do certain groups leave in less than 3 weeks?
• Is the retention rate of males higher than females or vice versa?
• Is there a higher retention rate among one ethnic group versus another?
• Do students often enroll, but never come back after the first session?

Understanding attendance patterns and retention rates can help you make decisions about modifications you may wish to make in your classroom or program. This is called making a "Data-Driven Decision". 

This program was developed for the Florida Department of Education, Division of Workforce Development by Brevard Public Schools, Department of Adult and Community Education through an Adult Education 322 Grant.