Every year, students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds drop out of school and attempt to enter the work force without any specialized training. The purpose of this study was to understand if dropout prevention programs change a potential dropout's attitude toward school in a public school district. A quantitative, quasi-experimental…

Afterschool programs offer an important avenue for enhancing educational opportunities. Federal, state, and local educational authorities increasingly see them as environments to improve attitudes toward school, achievement, and academic performance (Fashola, 2002; Hollister, 2003) with higher levels of student participation and engagement in…

Findings of a study focusing on cognitive and affective variables of one group of students who participated in the U.S. Office of Education funded project Interdisciplinary Model Program in the Arts for Children and Teachers (IMPACT) indicated that participation did not effect achievement test scores at grades four and six or teacher assigned…

Approximately 250 students in grades 1-6 of two elementary schools, one utilizing an open classroom instructional program and the other a traditional instructional program, comprised the sample in this first year of a planned 2-year study. The study focuses on the assessment of the comparative effects of the two instructional programs on three…

A study was conducted to determine whether the school and work related attitudes of students enrolled in model programs for training disadvantaged differed significantly from those of their counterparts who had no chance to take part in vocational education programs. Another goal of the study was to compare the affective characteristics of…

An increase in the number of schools adopting year-round programs prompted this analysis of all year-round education programs in California. Chapter 1, "Introduction to the Study," outlines study organization and calendar scheduling plans. "Design of the Study," chapter 2, describes data obtained from interviews, surveys,…

Research shows a serious underrepresentation of Hispanic students entering the math, science, and engineering fields, possibly fueled by a large gap in math achievement between Hispanic and Euro-American students. The current study addressed this concern by examining the general school-related attitudes, coursework, and achievement, with a focus…

Five parochial open elementary schools were compared with two traditional parochial schools to determine their effects on student attitudes toward self and learning, as well as the development of educational and other cognitive skills. All schools but one were located in the inner-city. Males and females, blacks and whites, as well as various…