Educational policy makers have questioned the effects of school reform on at-risk students and suggested that higher academic standards may be associated with greater numbers of dropouts. This study examines school average dropout rates for 2 consecutive years in conjunction with percent aid to families with dependent children (AFDC), total…

In 1990, a study was conducted at Florida's Miami-Dade Community College (MDCC) to identify institutional factors that predict pass rates on the College-Level Academic Skills Test (CLAST). Statewide results of the October 1989 administration of the CLAST were used for the study, including the scores of all students who indicated that they had…

Factors that influenced applicants' decisions to attend Tufts University, a private institution in Massachusetts, were studied based on a 1985 survey. Enrollment decisions were examined for the following groups: matriculants and nonmatriculants, liberal arts and engineering applicants, applicants from each of seven geographic regions, applicants…

Comprehensive or nonselective schools have been in existence in the United Kingdom for over 40 years, having gradually replaced the old selective system of grammar schools for able pupils and secondary modern schools for less able pupils. In spite of their growth in numbers, comprehensive schools have been subject to continual controversy, and…

The seventh annual survey of Alaska public and private high school seniors was conducted to document the pattern of postsecondary education outside the state and to understand underlying motivations. For 1983-84, 2,949 of a total of 5,952 seniors in 217 schools responded to queries on their sex, race, primary home language, family income, academic…

Characteristics of the rural school environment may partially account for the stability of rural students' science scores at a time of declining national science scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress Test. The relative success of rural science students may be tied to the rural student-teacher relationship. Several studies…

This review explores the debate on optimal school size and discusses policy options available to states for expanding curricular offerings in small rural schools. Policy options are divided into three broad categories: traditional, modified traditional, and nontraditional. The report explores the possibilities available under each approach,…

The extent and degree of student alcohol and drug involvement--and possible factors relating to the involvement--were examined in a study of 1,503 Nebraska high school students in 6 small rural schools and in 1 larger school (949 students) located in a medium-sized trade center. The survey was undertaken as a needs assessment in preparation for a…

Using the Offer Self-Image Questionnaire (OSIQ), the study examined the self-image of rural high school youth. The primary subjects were 127 randomly selected students from a rural community high school. The community was predominantly white and middle-class. A second rural sample consisted of 42 students selected from 3 tiny country schools from…

This research paper sought to determine whether smaller sized schools decrease student alienation and increase program diversity both within the school and compared to others. Hypotheses tested were: (1) participation in small work units positively affects teacher task interdependence resulting in greater teacher interaction; (2) teacher…

Four documents and seven journal articles on the management of enrollment decline, selected from those recently made available through the ERIC system, are described briefly in this report. Topics covered in the items listed include what can be done at the state level, suggestions for projecting enrollment, how instructional space is being…

The purpose of this study is to analyze overachieving and underachieving elementary schools in order to determine ways in which they differ. One hundred overachieving elementary schools across the nation were compared with 100 underachieving elementary schools. Questionnaires completed by sixth grade students, principals, and teachers of the…

The impact of recent technological, social, and economic change has necessitated a re-examination of educational structure, and has resulted in school district reorganization projects in many states. The purposes of this paper are to review the various legislative techniques employed by 33 states in their attempts to merge or reorganize school…

One of 52 theoretical papers on school crime and its relation to poverty, this chapter examines the human ecology of school crime. It explores the relationship between the structure of the school as a social system and the dynamics of student and staff behavior. The central thesis is that schools become "out of control" when they are large and…

In March of 1973 the superintendent of the Montgomery County schools appointed a task force of community representatives, principals, teachers, area and central office staff members, and county government representatives to develop recommendations on small elementary schools. The task force concluded that school size is not the determining factor…