Get Your Students Hired
Retention strategy begins upon admission by group orientation that educates students on proper study habits, test preparation skills, editing term papers, fostering a sense of "learning community" consisting of supporting the academic success of your peers and receiving support from your peers.
Elizabeth, some institutions offer a short study skill refresher program before classes start as a way to re-enforce study skills for those who have been out of the classroom for awhile. It has to be short and concentrated - and at no charge - to get people to participate but may address your concern.
I have found that during the orientation phase, most students have an air of excitement that makes them feel they can tackle anything. One class I taught was the first class in their program. The first things we discussed were study habits, how to seek and find help, things that affect grades and retention. Here's the thing. Many of those students had not entered a classroom in years. Study habits are developed, you can't teach someone how to study when they have yet to study anything. Then, because the classes in our program are short (usually 2 weeks) and have only 2-3 tests prior to a final, failure of just one test, showing a lack of good study habits, may be so detrimental that they can't recover. And the instructor for that class may have 10 days to get out all the information they need to, reviewing how to study becomes a tutoring topic that isn't easily reviewed. I have asked students how they study. They have no idea how to even answer the question beyond "I read the book".
David, do a have a way to evaluate the effectiveness of the group orientation? Do you observe mastery of the skills and techniques that you mentioned in your post?