at exit, only 24% remain with this goal. The scenario is reversed for the goal of
employment. At entry, 19 % identified employment as their goal; at exit, 50 % identified
their goal as employment. This reversal raises important questions. First of all are
learners primarily redirecting themselves, or are the programs encouraging learners’
redirection to employment? If the programs are supporting this redirection, how is
program delivery responding to the needs of the learners? Secondly, is there a
correlation between goal reversal and the high attrition rates? Although there isn’t
sufficient detail in the provincial year-end statistics to answer these questions, individual
colleges often maintain detailed records and may be able to answer this question
themselves.

Instrumental Research

One important study heavily influenced our thinking about retention. Three years ago the
National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy (NSCALL) initiated an indepth
study on learner ‘persistence’ defining persistence as “adults staying in programs
for as long as they can, engaging in self-directed study when they must drop out of their
programs, and returning to a program as soon as the demands of their lives allow.”
(Comings, Parrella, and Soricone, 1999, no pagination)

NSCALL’s expanded definition of persistence encourages us think about learning in
other contexts besides the classroom. We know that students leave and return to
programs on a regular basis. This reality is reflected in LBS program policies, e.g.,
procedures concerning leaves of absence and stipulations for re-entry. More likely than not, we tend to view learners who leave and return as dropouts who have restarted.
Some LBS college programs, in fact, have special orientations for restarted learners.
The NSCALL study challenged us to think rather how these individuals see themselves.
Perhaps they see themselves as ‘persistent’ learners who simply had to ‘stop out’ for a
while to look after personal or financial problems. Perhaps they have a long-term
learning plan in place, one that includes other forms of learning such as self-study or
involvement in other programs or community agencies.