The definition of student persistence is not a synonym for "retention." Retention speaks specifically to the time a student is attending class. Once that student is no longer attending class, he or she is traditionally defined as having "dropped out."

Student persistence, on the other hand, suggests that students have many forces working both for and against them. The same family, friends, job, childcare, and health issues that support students attending class can, in a flash, become the very things that keep them from coming to school. These "positive" and "negative" forces are defined as being outside the control of the students.

When negative forces work against students, they may be forced to "stop out" from classroom instruction while continuing with self-directed instruction at home. When positive forces work in their favor, they are able to return to the program and attend class regularly. "Persistent" students, therefore, manage their language learning through self-directed study away from the ESL program when they must "stop out," and return to class when they are able.

The challenge facing educators with respect to this new perspective on student persistence is to find ways to: 

• help students identify the negative forces that make it difficult for them to attend class; 
• provide students with strategies to deal with those negative forces so that they can stay in school as long as possible; 
• provide students with materials they can use for self-study during a stopping out period; and 
• provide students with the impetus to return to the program as quickly as possible once the negative forces have diminished.

What Can Teachers Do?

Create a Safe Learning Environment

ESL students represent a wide range of ages, educational backgrounds, personalities, goals, and levels of motivation. In his Affective Filter Hypothesis, Dr. Stephen Krashen suggests that a student’s ability to acquire a second language is directly related to such variables as positive or negative classroom experiences, nervousness, anxiety, and sense of self-esteem. A "low" affective filter is associated with an environment in which a student feels safe, relaxed, and willing to take risks with language learning.