This mini-research project examined middle school students' participation in and identification with school as a social unit. The study used a student survey to explore: (1) middle schoolers' perceptions of their family educational culture, instructional quality in their school, and their ability/academic self-efficacy; (2) their patterns of…

Vocational education and training (VET) represents one of the most significant reforms to the senior secondary curriculum in Australian schools over recent decades. Introduced to expand curricular options and provide work-based training and qualifications, the numbers of students participating in VET have more than trebled since the mid-1990s.…

A test was given to 322 secondary students to develop a profile of mathematical ability based on four components: computation, pattern recognition, logical reasoning, and symbolic manipulation. These profiles were compared to mathematics test scores; the results verified hypotheses about individual differences in mental processes and knowledge…

Builds and estimates a model that explains educational supply and demand behavior at PhD-granting institutions in the United States. The statistical analysis based on 1988-89 data suggests that student quantity, educational costs, average SAT score, class size, percentage of faculty with a PhD, graduation rate, ranking, and existence of a medical…

The family and the home are both critical education institutions where children begin learning before they start school, and where they spend much of their time after they start school. It therefore follows that improving a child's home environment to make it more conducive to learning is critical to improving the educational achievement of the…

California's College of the Canyons has used the four Mathematics Diagnostic Testing Project (MDTP) tests to assess students' abilities in basic and college math since spring 1989. These four reports dated June 1993, July 1993, May 1994, and June 1994 examine the predictive validity of the MDTP tests and the cut scores used to place students. The…

As part of an ongoing effort to understand the nature of student performance and persistence at Southwestern College (SC), a study was conducted in fall 1976 to determine the effect of reading ability on student course performance. An analysis of the Nelson-Denny Reading Test (NDRT) scores of 4,610 students revealed that, on an average, students…

This report summarizes activities of the pilot year (1981-82) of the Louisiana School Effectiveness Study (LSES), a five-year exploration of those factors that make some of Louisiana's schools more effective than others in educating students. The pilot year of the project was conducted in the Caddo Parish School System and accomplished two tasks:…

Numerous reviews and studies have documented high levels of substance use and abuse in the United States when compared to other developed nations. Previous research has identified several factors which place adolescents at risk for substance abuse. This study was designed to replicate and validate some of these risk factors with youth from rural…

Metropolitan development is not simply a result of ecological factors. Governmental organization affects the incentives of localities and helps determine patterns of growth. This study updates previous studies on factors influencing residential area income inequality. Modification of the variables in the ecological explanation will increase…

Between 1991 and 1995, the percentage of employed workers participating in skill improvement training (SIT) for their current job increased from 30 to 32%. Participation in SIT increased for full- and part-time workers alike. In 1995, participation for a current job was highest among females and individuals in the 35-54 age group. Participation…

The purpose of this paper is to examine different facets of trust in the political system or civic realm and how they are correlated to the expected civic or political engagement of young people. The nature and effects of trust in social and political institutions have been studied in adults, distinguishing between various types of trust (in…

Uses Missouri beginning teacher survey to analyze teacher migration. Develops simultaneous equations model to identify teacher and school district characteristics predictive of teacher mobility and determine predictive relationships between teachers' annual earnings and selected demographic and geographic variables. Findings support conventional…

This study addressed the influence of social capital factors on the first-year persistence of beginning first- and second-generation four-year college students. First-generation students were those students whose parents had never attended college. Second-generation students had at least one parent who attended college. A case was made for…

The search for an understandable reporting format has led the National Assessment Governing Board to explore the possibility of measuring and interpreting student performance on the 12th-grade National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), the Nation's Report Card, in terms of readiness for college, the workplace, and the military. This…