In an effort to improve retention, the University of Arkansas initiated a freshman block registration and mentoring program in the fall of 1994. In the paper we present an assessment of the effect of the program on retention and academic performance for successive cohorts from 1994 through 1998. We describe the nature of the program and discuss evaluative problems that result from our inability to use an experimental design. Academic performance and retention rates are used as outcome measures and are related to student and university characteristics. We present our evidence of a strong interaction between student ability and program success.
More instruction is therefore results-oriented.
Online training through a virtual classroom and Webet tool assists in addressing many of these issues. Using a Computerized Assessment to Measure Student Growth in Reading' This session presents a computerized, individually administered preprimer to grade 6 reading assessment that takes approximately 5 to 10 minutes per student. The assessment can be administered a number of times during the school year without repeating a reading sample and results are available immediately. Results are archived and can be compared with previous results to determine growth. The analysis of student reading includes sight words, beginning, medial, and ending sounds, fluency, comprehension, retelling, and phonic analysis of student reading.