This study examined the academic motivation of the first students (25 from each school) in the 1990-91 school year in each of 4 schools in grades 9 through 12 who were suspended from school or placed in in-school suspension programs for repeated offenses (disrupting class, exhibiting aggressive behavior toward school authorities or peers, or…

Based on large-scale surveys of high school seniors in the classes of 1975 through 1984, this paper presents findings which have a bearing on the quality of life of young people. Most seniors planned and hoped for marriage, children, and material well-being; however, the last few graduating classes showed increased concern about attaining those…

In response to a federal mandate, the National Institute of Education conducted the Safe School Study which examined victimization by violence in schools as a major dependent variable, and included alienation and involvement measures among the independent variables as well as demographic, attitudinal, school, familial, and community…

Discipline is identified as a major issue affecting schools, especially in urban settings. This study uses a transformative screen, Student Voice, to legitimize the perceptions of students from groups of color regarding disciplinary action experienced or witnessed. The research was guided by three questions: What factors influence student/teacher…

School reform in New Zealand in the 1990s greatly affected funding strategies and school social dynamics. This paper investigates the effects of per-pupil funding and the track system on the sensibilities of students in one New Zealand secondary school. Per-pupil funding and the track system are used in an effort to attract parents (consumers) and…

This paper reports on a study intended to examine problems in student evaluation systems that may lead to manifestations of student disengagement from secondary school such as absenteeism, low effort, violence, or vandalism. A theoretical framework is provided by Dornbusch and Scott's theory of evaluation and authority in organizations, which…

The way that factors in the social environment regulate both the rates and differential modes of deviance among various groups within the school is examined. Using Mertonian analysis, three premises are central to the study including: (1) pressures to deviate occur when people are deprived of access to legitimate means to attain a desired goal;…

A critical review of educational and social psychological literature was undertaken in order to clarify the impact of schools' control orientation on student learning and on the teacher-student relationship. The propositions argued are (a) a strong control orientation is incompatible with helping students become responsible young adults, (b) the…

The reliability, validity, and dimensionality of the revised UCLA Loneliness Scale (ULS) were studied with a group of 199 California college students. Other personality tests were administered to measure social anxiety, alienation, health locus of control, drinking-related locus of control, life satisfaction, and personal values. Sociodemographic…

This paper presents selected research findings from Monitoring the Future, an annual series of national surveys focusing on lifestyles and drug use among representative samples of American high school seniors that has been conducted every year since 1975. The presentation focuses on two issues: aspects of lifestyle currently associated with drug…

The paper describes the different types of cognitive, affective, and physical conditions that constitute a school's learning environment, and explains how the learning environment can create and aggravate deviant behavior in some students. One element of the American school structure is group instruction: groups of students are taught by a…