Below you will find sample resources taken from the Retention Toolkit that was developed by the Resources Service Coordation Ad Hoc Committee. A complete copy of the Retention Toolkit can be found here.

Persistence Screensaver

Goal Setting | Grab and Go Tools | Mentoring Ideas | Needs Assessment Activities | Research

Goal Setting Tools (from the Kentucky Adult Education Retention Toolkit website)

A Process for Working with Adult ESL Students on Short-Term Goals (from Arlington Public Schools, Va)

Integrating Goal Setting into Instructional Practice for ESOL Learners (from the SABES website, Boston, Ma)

Adult Learner Goals Toolkit (from the Colorado Dept. of Education)

(Checklists, Sample Guides, Welcome letter, Contract, Expectations, Schedules, etc.) (From Dr. Lennox McLendon and Kathi Polis, and the Kentucky and Minnesota Departments of Education)

McLendon/Polis Strategies for:

1. Managing Positive and Negative Forces

2. Building Self-Efficacy

3. Setting Clear Goals

4. Showing Progress

5. Motivating and Retaining Adult Learners (PPT)
   

Sample Welcome Letter | Sample Schedule | Sample Classroom Contract

The following resources were discovered in the Kentucky Adult Education Retention Toolkit found at:
http://www.kyae.ky.gov/educators/retention_toolkit.htm

How to Start an Adult Student Group by Laura Beach and Sue Snider
http://tinyurl.com/4a2fbx2

TLC for Volunteer Tutors by Kim Rossman
http://tinyurl.com/4uqg9qt

Peer Mentoring Works—for Mentors, Partners, and Programs by Sharyn Yanoshak
http://tinyurl.com/4nzajs6

National College Transition Network-Mentoring:
http://www.collegetransition.org/promisingpractices.briefs.mentor.html

Peer Tutors/Mentors: Effect on Motivation and Persistence in the GED Classroom by Kathleen A. Guglielmi and Gayle Dzekevich
http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Swearer_Center/Literacy_Resources/crans.html

 

Affinity Diagramming Activity:
http://www.kyae.ky.gov/NR/rdonlyres/E1AB1D2D-E81A-40D3-A1B5-08E011D3A5E6/0/AffinityDiagramming.doc

Brainstorming and Prioritizing Activity:  http://www.kyae.ky.gov/NR/rdonlyres/5CA23DFA-D888-49E3-86BB-5FAAC1E49A9D/0/BrainstormingandPrioritizing.doc

Acting It Out:
http://www.kyae.ky.gov/NR/rdonlyres/54A234CB-DFE2-494D-A0E9-1FD9213DBC0A/0/ActingItOutClassActivity.doc

Student-to-Student Interviews:
http://www.kyae.ky.gov/NR/rdonlyres/F593EF4F-AA08-4695-89DF-BF33D3D1F43E/0/StudenttoStudentInterviewspublicspeaking.doc

Snowball Consensus:
http://www.kyae.ky.gov/NR/rdonlyres/09508F41-3DA5-4D3C-8A59-FF966A263CBF/0/SnowballConsensus.doc

Student Learning Plan:
http://www.kyae.ky.gov/NR/rdonlyres/0CBCD3F7-0EB1-4923-AEA8-1CCC2B372DB8/0/SampleLearningPlans.doc

Various Articles and Research Papers on Learning Persistence

Learner Motivation and Persistence by Katherine R. Stamler
http://tinyurl.com/4gz4dto

Retention Revisited by Martha Hunter
http://tinyurl.com/4zbxvnl

Will Cooperative Learning Affect GED Retention by Mary Jeannette Kelly
http://tinyurl.com/4de45dn

Why Students Stay: Retention and Persistence Factors by Trish Link
http://tinyurl.com/4emtrft

Research to Practice: Increasing Retention through Student Success by Kari Malitz and Sarah Nixon-Ponder
http://literacy.kent.edu/Oasis/Pubs/0200-11.htm

Boosting Retention by Ensuring Tutor/Student Match by Cathy Roth
http://tinyurl.com/4z5ephp

Making It worth the Stay-Findings from the New England Adult Learner Persistence Project by Andy Nash and Silja Kallenbach
http://nelrc.org/persist/report09.pdf

Distance learning for the Adult Learner: Improving Persistence and Effectiveness by CSU Dominguez Hills College of Extended and International Education
http://www.cdlponline.org/pdf/AdultLearner.doc