The paper examines parent involvement in the governance of schools. Five structures that incorporate elected parent representatives in consultative and decision-making committees established by law are discussed: (1) School Improvement Councils (Massachusetts); (2) Boards of Governors (England and Wales); (3) Counseils d'etablissement (France);…

Four operational null hypotheses were assessed in a study of ninth graders placed in junior high schools (grades 7 through 9) or senior high schools (grades 9 through 12). The hypotheses state that there would be no significant differences in: (1) the mean number of extracurricular activities (EAs) in which ninth graders participated, whether in…

In May 1987, the Legislative Audit Commission for the State of Minnesota directed the Program Evaluation Division to examine noninstructional expenditures for elementary and secondary education. This report, the first of two, focuses on two questions: (1) Has the commitment of resources in Minnesota to instructional activities declined relative to…

Average salary increases for 6,899 faculty in the field of education are reported for 1984-1985 and 1987-1988, as part of the College and University Personnel Association's annual faculty salary studies. Included are comparative data for 160,596 faculty at 216 public colleges and 266 private colleges, representing 45 academic disciplines. In 1984,…

Average salary increases for 877 faculty in the field of student counseling and personnel services are reported for 1984-1985 and 1987-1988, as part of the College and University Personnel Association's annual faculty salary studies. Included are comparative data for 160,596 faculty at 216 public colleges and 266 private colleges, representing 45…

The increased demands that will be placed upon those in the work force of the year 2000 have been well covered in numerous studies. The need to help those students who will be entering the work force to acquire and maintain a competitive edge has been discussed repeatedly. A 1987 study comparing the earnings levels, unemployment rates, and…

A study of the intellectual talents involved in learning a foreign language compared the composite predicted score of high school students on the Pimsleur Language Aptitude Battery with selected factor scores on the Structure of Intellect-Learning Abilities Test to determine whether any of the factors correlate highly with foreign language…

A guide to English pronunciation instruction for native Spanish speakers uses eight basic steps to find and use appropriate techniques to address a specific phonological problem. The steps are (1) calling the student's attention to the learning point; (2) focusing attention on the problem area; (3) sharpening student recognition of the sound in…

Student academic performance, racial attitudes, and college satisfaction were examined with a national sample of black students attending selected predominantly white and historically black, state-supported universities. The effect of student background, campus experiences, and personality orientation was investigated. Specific variables included:…

A sample of six small, liberal arts, Christian colleges were compared to schools within the structural classification of liberal arts colleges. The comparison was based on 11 environmental dimensions measured by the Institutional Functioning Inventory (IFI), which used the collective perception technique (i.e., the combined responses of all…

This "communication lexicon," a new source of information in the field of language and area studies, describes how selected themes such as family, society, work, and entertainment are perceived and understood by members of the Mexican, Colombian, and United States cultures. It identifies broad trends of perceptions and evaluations…

A comparison of the vocational education and training (VET) offered in Japan, the Federal Republic of Germany, and the United States revealed that programs in all three nations emphasized the following aims: competence at work, commitment of all to achieve excellence, and capacity to contribute to change. Organizations in all three nations were…

Factors that have affected the decline in black college enrollments in the 1980s are explored. Demographics of the teenage cohort during 1973-1983 are reviewed, and attributes of blacks and whites are compared to determine any significant changes among or between the black and white teenage populations that would account for the decline in black…

A study was conducted to determine whether there were significant differences in the characteristics of students who followed the "cooling out" process and those who did not. The "cooling out" process was defined as a set of counseling strategies designed to assist students with unrealistic aspirations in selecting alternative career goals which…

Using Amitai Etzioni's (1961) sociological model as a basis for analysis, the paper examines the relationship between central student characters and their chief reference group or significant other(s) in the schools as portrayed in three films: "If" (1969), "Child's Play" (1972), and "Educating Rita" (1983). Two…