Procedures for identifying the gifted often make use of tests of general intelligence, among other assessments. Robert J. Sternberg recently suggested that identification of the gifted should further involve assessment of what he refers to as adaptive intelligence--the ability to adapt to real-world environments. Such a conception of intelligence…

This dissertation analyzes the ways that college applicants and college students navigate through higher education with a focus on ways to improve their experience. In the first chapter, I examine the ways that college applicants change their application and enrollment decisions when using the Common Application. In the second chapter, I highlight…

In the United States, the American College Test (ACT) is a standardized test that is used primarily as an indicator of college readiness and as a gauge for college admission. The governing bodies for Louisiana's public schools--The Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE) and the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE)--made the ACT a…

This article reports the findings of the 2011 results of 'very rural' Kentucky high schools on the Teaching, Empowering, Leading and Learning (TELL) Survey to determine whether differences existed between high and low performing rural schools across specific survey items. Schools with ACT scores one standard deviation (or more) above their…

This study used a logistic probability model to investigate the effects of variables relating student characteristics and institutional factors on the decision to apply to a large land-grant research university. The study used the entire data set from American College Testing (ACT) program test-takers in the fall of 1995 and institutional data on…