In this article, the authors test a "frog-pond" model of elite college admission proposed by Attewell, operationalizing high school academic context as the secondary school-average SAT score and number of Advanced Placement tests per high school senior. Data on more than 45,000 applications to three elite universities show that a high…

Research results that showed that high school employment may foster high school achievement is explained by a congruence hypothesis, which holds that there is a correspondence between the personality traits promoted and rewarded by employers and those traits promoted and rewarded by teachers. (Author/RM)

Explores how the focus on class rank has affected students from star public high schools, creating a disadvantage when students try to enter elite colleges. Explains a new approach, "winner-take-all," being utilized in high schools in which schools focus on the top students. Includes references. (CMK)

This paper analyzes Jencks et al's (1983) and Hauser et al's (1983) reports of their research on the Wisconsin status attainment model. For example, the meaning and interpretation of "unmeasured" family background are discussed and the charge that the status attainment model ignores social structure is examined. (Author/IS)

Data from Project Talent are utilized to assess the representativeness of the samples used in the Wisconsin and the Exploration in Equality of Opportunity (EEO) surveys. Adequacy of the measures of academic aptitude and aspiration used in the surveys are examined, and problems with the Wisconsin model are briefly discussed. (RM)

An analysis of the Wisconsin model of achievement asks how powerful this model is in accounting for social influences, aspirations, and attainment when measurement error is taken into account. Revised estimates show support for the Wisconsin model. A revised model is even more powerful for explaining educational and occupational achievement.…