Policy-makers in almost all countries agree on one thing: namely on the importance of education and skills to ensuring future economic prosperity. A fruitful line of research has focused on determining the impact that acquiring education or training has on an individual's labour market productivity and earning prospects: this is known as rate of…

This monograph presents data and conclusions derived from one phase of an investigation of objectives and methods in the teaching of modern foreign languages in high schools and colleges. A committee of specialists operating under the auspices of the American Council of Education and with financial assistance received from the Carnegie Corporation…

The Common Core of Data (CCD) Nonfiscal surveys consist of data on the status of public elementary and secondary education submitted annually to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) by state education agencies (SEAs) in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands,…

Discusses "A Nation at Risk" in relation to the responsibility of college science teachers regarding the report, specifically the recommendations on content, standards and expectations, and teaching (including teacher education). Considers questions of leadership and the support of science education as political issues in the presidential and…

Issues and arguments leading to reestablishment of a foreign language requirement at Iowa State University are outlined, and the role of foreign language faculty in the process is discussed. Some personal predictions are made about the role of foreign languages in the college curriculum and beyond. A memorandum to the faculty senate is appended.…

Five state universities' programs to enhance persistence and graduation rates among minority students are profiled. For each, the graduation or persistence rate for a specific cohort is provided for all students, student athletes, and by ethnic group (American Indian, Asian American, Black, White, Other). Characteristics and goals of each program…

Evaluates how Puerto Ricans in the United States are worse off relative to other groups, and whether their disadvantage remains after the controls of family background and ethnic status are added. Results suggest that, compared to Whites, Blacks, and Mexicans, Puerto Ricans have a unique educational disadvantage that contributes to their having…

Presents a New England History Teachers Association survey and its results. Includes questions on curriculum, classroom materials, students, and general opinions. Concludes that teachers favor increasing history requirements to include U.S., European, and non-Western or global studies. Reports that teachers rely on locally developed activities…

This paper presents data showing how change of major, course load patterns, housing location, and first semester grade point average relate to the percentage of students in the following four outcomes: voluntarily not returning to college, being academically suspended, continuing enrollment, or graduating. (Author/MLW)

In an interview, former Georgetown University (District of Columbia) basketball coach John Thompson offers comments on the debate over the use of standardized test scores to determine college athlete eligibility, the National Collegiate Athletic Association and its regulations, academic standards and graduation for college athletes, and the nature…

A comprehensive, quantitative evaluation of an educational intervention program designed to reduce the attrition of minorities from the biological sciences was undertaken to ascertain whether such efforts adequately address the problem. Program participants had greater odds of persisting in basic math and science courses, and of graduating in…

This study was carried out with students and staff from a college of further education in south London. The college has a mix of male and female students from a range of ethnic groups, the largest of which is white British. A study undertaken by the college in 2003 indicated that there may be significant differences in achievement and completion…

Evaluation of high stakes testing regimes must consider not simply mean test scores, but their distribution among students. Taking high school graduation tests and black and white student populations to illustrate the argument, I identify two criteria of success: a larger proportion of black high school graduates and a narrower gap between the two…

The number of articulation agreements between Canadian colleges and universities has been increasing steadily since the early 2000s. Though various implications of these agreements have been discussed, missing are the students' grounded transfer experiences. This paper discusses the academic and social experiences of college transfer students at a…

Using data from Achieving the Dream: Community Colleges Count, this issue of Data Notes compares terminal-major, transfer seeking and undeclared students. The different educational paths represent students with different objectives and likely different needs, both of which may be related to persistence. Understanding these differences is critical…