The financial and educational outcomes of Bachelor degree non-completers

Student attrition is an area of constant concern for higher education managers and policymakers alike, yet little is known of the outcomes of those who depart higher education prematurely. We examine the educational and financial outcomes of students who start, but do not complete, a Bachelor-level course using data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. We find that the number of non-completers is remarkably high, but also that the majority of Bachelor non-completers have completed some other form of tertiary-level qualification. Consistent with other research, we also find that Bachelor non-completers report higher incomes than those who have not attempted a Bachelor degree. The results suggest that the current sectoral focus on preventing student attrition is limited. Further strategies are required to re-engage students who have withdrawn from higher education and to understand the trajectories of partial completers and the impacts of partial completion.     

Obsessive-compulsive disorder: The secretive syndrome

This article reviewss the current research and latest clinical views on obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in schol-age youth. Common compulsions center around washing, counting, and checking, whereas typical obsessions involove themes of aggression, contaminations, sex, order, and scrupulosity. Because those affected with OCD tend to keep their ritualistic behavious hidden, we have tended to seriously underestimate the prevalence of the condition, which authorities now believe is 20 to 40 times more common in youth than previously estimated. Discussion focuses on differentiation from normaity and related psychopathological disorders, biological and psychological factors in etiology, school adjustment, continuity from childhood to adulthood, and drung as well as behavioual therapies. Implications for school psychlgists are presented.     

Characteristics of children referred to school psychologists: A discriminant analysis

This study compared characteristics of 114 elementary school children of average intelligence who had been referred for psychological services with 120 children of average intelligence who had not been referred. Variables included, sex, relative age, race, socioeconomic status, familial stability, achievement test scores, and intraschool factors. At the primary level, significant differences were found between the groups in terms of sex and relative age. Boys were referred 4 times as frequently as girls, and 16 times as many boys within the relatively youngest group were referred as girls within the oldest group. The total groups were successfully discriminated using math achievement, sex, race, and father of the same name in the household. The variables that best discriminated the primary level groups included sex, relative age, father with the same name in the household, and having attended the same school the previous year. Implications and possible preventative measures are discussed.     

Assessment of severe emotional impairment: Practices and problems

The basic purpose of this study was to determine: (a) how school psychologists operationally define severe emotional disturbance as outlined in PL 94–142 (SED), and (b) the extent to which assessment procedures are in compliance with PL 94–142. A total of 83 school psychologists from two north central states participated in the study. Results indicated that a typical battery for assessing SED consisted of the WISC-R, WRAT, Bender-Gestalt, an incomplete sentences test, a behavior-rating scale, classroom observation, and informal interviews. A high correlation was found between the frequency with which psychologists use a type of data and the importance ascribed to that data source. Psychologists generally relied on only one or two criteria when considering severity of emotional disturbance. Special education placement often was contingent upon program availability. Implications for training and practice were presented.