The extent to which school mix--the social class composition of schools--influences school processes and student achievement has long been a matter of dispute. Drawing on a comparative ethnography of four New Zealand urban secondary schools, this article suggests that school mix probably does impact on school organizational and management…

The existence of a contextual effect of the social class composition of a school's intake on individual student performance--the school mix effect--has long been debated in qualitative school effectiveness literature. This paper reports on a qualitative study of four New Zealand urban secondary schools of varying social class composition (and…

This report examines the characteristics of less-than-4-year institutions and the students who attend them. Data are presented on the number and size of less-than-4-year institutions, their educational offerings, types of degrees awarded, and on student demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, attendance costs, and financial aid. Following…

The material in this unit is designed to introduce students to the origin and role of ideas in history, especially their role in the lives of ordinary people, in the rapidly industrializing United States of the 19th century. These lessons concern Americans in the great age of industrialization, from 1850 to 1900. Unit objectives include: (1)…

This report on the well being of the children of Wisconsin is motivated in part by growing evidence of the adverse circumstances of many children today. The report is descriptive, rather than analytic, and does not attempt to explain relations among variables. Section 1, the introduction, is followed by county-based information in section 2 on a…

The complexity of pluralism in this country makes it difficult for the educator to develop expectations of students based on their group memberships. This text examines these group memberships and ways educators can develop educational programs to meet the needs of those groups and the nation. The book provides an overview of the different…

This study uses data from the U.S. Census' 1980 and 1990 Current Population Survey to examine characteristics of the underclass populations in rural and urban areas. The analysis assesses changes of metropolitan and nonmetropolitan underclass populations between 1980 and 1990, with special attention to race and geographic area. Underclass…

In 1991, a survey was mailed to Arrowhead Community College Region (Minnesota) students who had graduated during the 1985-86 academic year. Of the 750 graduates that year, 213 responded. Survey findings, based on this 28.4% response rate, included the following: (1) 44.6% of the respondents had earned a bachelor's degree, 4.2% had earned a…

This report contains the first-year research and findings of the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) Puerto Rican Young Men and Poverty Project. This project is a 2-year community-based effort to understand and begin to explain the relationship between the experiences of Puerto Rican men aged 16 to 24 years and the persistent poverty of Puerto…

Data from the Bureau of the Census' March 1988 and 1989 Current Population Surveys (CPS) on the educational attainment of Americans are provided in 22 tables and 5 graphs. Summary data on the years of school completed by age, sex, race, and Hispanic origin are shown for 1988 and 1989 in Table 1. Other detailed data are shown for 1989 in Tables 2…

This study examined the relationship of ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status (SES), age, and self-perceived academic achievement to students' academic motivational orientations. Groups of 333 American students in Wisconsin and 375 Chinese students in Hong Kong in grades 8, 10, and 12 completed questionnaires that gathered demographic…

In 1996, follow-up questionnaires were mailed to a racially and ethnically stratified sample of 328 Coloradans who had earned General Educational Development (GED) diplomas in October-December 1995. Although responses were received from 235 (70%) of those surveyed, the response rates for African-Americans and Asian/Pacific Islanders were too low…

Using the High School and Beyond dataset, this report assesses the importance of social capital in determining academic outcomes of Latino youth. An introduction explains J. S. Coleman's definitions of financial, human, and social capital in the student's environment, social capital being the norms, social networks, and social relationships that…

This report provides a snapshot of the former Toronto (Ontario, Canada) secondary schools as they were in the spring of 1997. The 1997 survey of secondary school students is the ninth in a series going back to 1970. Data from these surveys is used in identifying student needs and developing programs to help students of all backgrounds to achieve…

Mathematics achievement and the relationship of low socioeconomic status (SES) students with teachers have been a major concern for educators. Although there are social and economic explanations of failure of low SES students, ultimate success and failure may be significantly affected by differing personal beliefs about learning among students and…