One of the motivations frequently cited by Sen and Nussbaum for moving away from a utility metric towards a capabilities framework is a concern about adaptive preferences or conditioned expectations. If utility is related to the satisfaction of aspirations or expectations, and if these are affected by the individual's previous experience of…

A causal model was employed to determine the way colleges influence the entry of women into predominately male occupations. The model proposes four main influences on women's attainment of careers in predominately male occupations: (1) initial or pre-enrollment student characteristics; (2) structural or organizational attributes of the college;…

Factors that affect the decision of a high school senior to attend or not to attend college were studied, using a path analysis model. Data were drawn from the 1980 High School and Beyond national survey of 58,000 high school sophomores and seniors, which was sponsored by the National Center for Education Statistics. The study sample was 14,287,…

Attendance rates and selected academic and school climate indicators in 39 secondary schools in Cleveland, Ohio, were studied by ranking and grouping the schools into the top third, the middle third, and the lowest third, based on attendance rates. Compared to the group of schools with highest attendance rates, the schools composing the lowest…

The research evidence for selecting students in higher education with and without regard to race and sex is examined to assist admissions officers in light of the 1978 Bakke decision, which seems to give schools the option to use race in admissions decisions. Three clusters of studies supporting the consideration of race-sex subgroups in…

Conducted to determine which, if any, variables tend to indicate potential success (operationally defined as completing the training program), an analysis examined pre-center characteristics and demographic variables of participants and attempted to apply that data to success in negotiating the Mountain Plains program, a residential, family-based…

Models that have appeared in the student attrition literature in the past decade and behavioral models from the social sciences that may help explain the dropout process are examined, and an attempt is made to synthesize a causal model of student attrition. The models of Tinto, Spady, and Rootman in the area of student attrition, and models of…

On an international comparison basis, data derived from censuses in 1950 and 1960 indicated a significant international correlation, but a weak intranational relationship between productivity and formal education. Meaningful correlations that exist for some industries across countries lead to the conclusion that there exists a relationship between…

It has long been accepted that the social and economic well-being of adults is determined principally by their passage through childhood and that well-adjusted children emerge most often from healthy families. Creating the stability, emotional warmth and security of a healthy family environment is a challenge to parents at the best of times, but…

This study examined characteristics of the student bodies of highly selective and less-selective colleges and universities specifically those related to race and socioeconomic status (SES) and the possible effects of replacing race and ethnicity with SES as a method for ensuring student diversity. The study used data from the Cooperative…

Presents the results of a study that tracked the educational progress of a group of first graders from 1982 to 1996. Examines the children's personal qualities, first-grade experiences, and family circumstances as precursors to dropping out in high school. Identifies dropping out as a long-term process of disengagement. (MJP)

Examines the relationship between school library collections and reading achievement in Los Angeles for both middle school and high school students. Previous studies are reviewed, and current results continue to identify socioeconomic status as the strongest predictor of reading comprehension test scores. (Author/LRW)

Examined relations between early family risk and later maladaptive social information processing and conduct problems among 178 economically disadvantaged boys. Found that early childhood assessments of disadvantage and maternal depression predicted boys' maladaptive response generation and conduct problems at age 10, accounting for 6 and 14…

Forty-eight general education and 48 special education students (grades 3-6) were rated by general education teachers, and 75 students were rated again 1 year later. Significant differences between students successful and unsuccessful in mainstream environments were found on socioeconomic status and social/behavioral variables (peer relationships,…

High School and Beyond data for 1,332 male and 1,608 female African Americans indicate that several domains of influence help predict African-American males' postsecondary educational attainment. Family socioeconomic status, educational plans, father's influence, and peer influence are important predictors and indicate areas where student…