A review of nine major studies of preschoolers compares the predictive validity of achievement and psychoeducational tests in the identification of at-risk learners with the predictive validity of socioeconomic information. Findings indicate that tests used for special education identification have only a slightly better than chance prediction…

The purpose of the National Science Foundation's Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program is to provide undergraduate students with hands-on research experiences. Two kinds of grants are provided: Sites, in which groups of students participate in various organized activities with several researchers; and Supplements, where one or more…

Volunteers (N=83) from paired classes, including Mexican Americans, Anglo Americans, Black Americans and others, visually classified one another in regard to ethnic identity, in an attempt to assess the accuracy of visual identification when used by researchers to achieve such classification. Findings were that major ethnic groups were quite…

The purpose of this study was to compare long-term achievement gains of first, second, and third grade students who attended a public school kindergarten, nonpublic school kindergartens, or no kindergarten prior to first grade entrance. The study also sought to determine whether or not gender and race were related to academic achievement.…

The differential performance of black and white college freshmen on a direct measure of writing skills, the essay portion of the American College Testing Program's Collegiate Assessment of Academic Proficiency (CAAP), was studied. The data consisted of responses of a sample of 998 black and 3,727 white examinees to two individual prompts for…

The purpose of this longitudinal study was to examine associations among background characteristics, commitment levels, institutional involvements, and persistence for male and female university students. Data were collected from college records and surveys completed by 316 university freshmen at the beginning of and 10 weeks into the 1984 fall…

Recent reports have revealed that inequalities exist between males and females, racial minorities and whites, and rich and poor in accessibility to and use of computers. This study reviews the research in the field of computer-based education to determine the extent of and reasons for these inequities. The annotated research articles are arranged…

A method for drawing inferences from complex samples is based on Rubin's approach to missing data in survey research. Standard procedures for drawing such inferences do not apply when the variables of interest are not observed directly, but must be inferred from secondary random variables which depend on the variables of interest stochastically.…

To gather evidence on black-white differences in media-use habits, a study compared mass media and news exposure among university students in sub-Sahara Africa and in the United States. Two versions of a self-administered questionnaire were developed, one for each sample group. One part of the questionnaire--common to both groups--sought to…

A study of exceptional secondary school biology teachers was conducted to determine what factors might be important in encouraging young women to remain on the "science track" during high school. Each teacher had a record of encouraging his/her female students to enroll in further science and mathematics courses. Three questions were…

The relationship of students' certainty about academic and career plans to student retention and persistence to graduation was investigated. The effect of race was also considered. In fall 1979 a survey was administered to 3,277 freshmen entering a major, public, research university. Respondents indicated reasons for choosing a college, their…

This report presents background information and statistical data on the problem of infant mortality. Contents include (1) a discussion of the causes of infant mortality; (2) data on infant mortality and low birth weight; and (3) information on federal programs affecting maternal and child health. Data tables depict infant mortality in terms of…

Re-examination of a 16-county area of southern Alabama last studied in 1968 found it still economically depressed, especially for blacks. Black unemployment remains two to three times higher and black poverty rates up to five times higher than those of whites. Blacks are generally employed in the lowest paying jobs. Both black median family income…

After reviewing the literature on mentoring, this report presents the results of a study of 544 students enrolled at Florida A&M University (FAMU), a historically black institution. Students responses to the following issues are analyzed by gender, race, classification, and school and college: (1) reasons for having a mentor relationship at…

This report attempts to identify and analyze the causes of the differences between the earnings and employment of black males and white males. Although the earnings gap between black and white men was substantially reduced between 1940 and 1980, black men still earn less than white men. While the relative earnings of black men has risen since…