In 1974, the College Board in Puerto Rico initiated a program on educational counseling for high school-bound students. The program was designed to help students define their educational goals and career interests before entering the ninth grade where they would be required to make specific curriculum choices. The program calls for the…

The National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972 (NLS) critical data base contains 151 items (plus background information) from the base year and followup questionnaires; about thirty-seven percent of all items. This set of critical items consists of: (1) basic demographic variables; (2) items necessary for defining activity states…

One hundred and forty-five Head Start teachers, from lower-middle class families, attended a workshop in 1965 before working in the Head Start program. During the workshop and again in 1967 they filled out autobiographical and experience forms. The forms were used to test three hypotheses regarding differences associated with differential teaching…

This analysis of entry into the labor force by American men between the ages of 30 and 39 was based on a set of about 1,600 retrospective life history interviews, approximately half from whites and half from blacks. At the time of entry the mean level of whites' education was higher than that of blacks and this was translated into jobs with higher…

Thirteen predictors of self-reported high school leadership were investigated using data from the Project TALENT sample of high school seniors. The high school leader was characterized as mature, interested in business management, self-confident, socially sensitive, vigorous, and having high socioeconomic status. Cognitive variables were not…

One way for agencies to reduce fiscal stress is to minimize employee turnover. A project undertaken by San Bernardino County (California) to reduce employee turnover through the development, validation, and use of a non-traditional worker selection instrument (biographical inventory) is described. This project was aimed at the specific…

The Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) is a continuing longitudinal study of the American higher educational system. CIRP annually conducts a survey of students entering college as first-time, full-time freshmen. The freshman surveys began in 1966; the 1984 survey is the nineteenth in the series. All institutions responding to the…

In the past only academic variables have performed well in the prediction of attrition. Ideally, persons in higher education would like to predict attrition prior to its occurrence, but many academic variables are not available until after the fact. Thus, the isolation of those motivational and personality variables which identify individuals as…

Two concerns led to the development of the screening test which is described: (1) the present 28% rate of attrition of Navy female first enlistees is too high; and (2) attrition is expected to increase when a high school diploma is no longer required for women to enter the Navy. Thus, a screening instrument was needed which could be used…

The job placement guide, designed to help individuals (high school or college students or graduates) find suitable employment, is presented in five sections. Each section contains items such as checklists, suggestions, and inventories which a student can use independently to improve his chances of finding a satisfactory job. The first section…

A sample of 593 pilot trainees in Officer Training School were administered the Strong Vocational Interest Blank and the Officer Biographical and Attitudinal Survey. Their performance in pilot training was monitored in order to assess the effectiveness of biographical, attitudinal, and interest data in predicting pilot training criteria. Using…

Suggestions are offered for constructing a test which would predict how a teacher would teach, thus providing school personnel officers, teacher certification agencies, and other clients with an index of the degree to which a candidate has mastered the content of teacher education. Three tasks in constructing this type of teacher examination are…

Probes the logistical problems of assigning a term paper to large history classes. Proposes a solution that asks students to write a biographical sketch of a notable individual in western civilization. Describes paper requirements and student responses to the assignment. Stresses the importance of developing writing skills in the liberal arts. (RW)

This booklet is designed to provide historical and cultural information about Blacks and Mexican-Americans and to give some perspective on other minorities in the United States. The following topics are included: (1) a historical timeline of key events for ethnic groups in American history; (2) a historical perspective on Black Americans; (3)…

This study investigated the possibility that the effectiveness of an educational program for an individual student is dependent on his or her background. A 101-item biographical data questionnaire was administered to the parents of 43 Follow Through and 38 non-Follow Through students who had just finished the third grade. The biographical…