Despite a fifth year of economic recovery in 1987, the poverty rate for Hispanic Americans remained at nearly the same level in 1987 as during the severe recession of the early 1980s. Among non-Hispanics, by contrast, poverty rates have declined during the recovery, making Hispanics the only racial or ethnic group whose poverty rates remain at or…

This report covers the October 1985 educational and career postsecondary activities of the June 1985 graduates from 146 Connecticut local public high schools, and 92 nonpublic high schools; and the February 1986 activities of the June 1985 graduates from the 17 regional vocational-technical schools (RVTS). The number of Connecticut high school…

Annual surveys of North Carolina State University's first-time freshmen are conducted during freshman orientation. This study compared first-time freshmen in the fall of 1977 (n=2,343) with those in the fall of 1986 (n=3,130). The questions deal with the students' attitudes, plans, needs, family and community background, and political views. They…

Results are presented of the 1985-1986 administration of the California Achievement Tests (CAT) in the Montgomery County (Maryland) Public Schools. Each fall, the battery is given to grades three, five, and eight under a state mandate, and to grade eleven under a local mandate. Overall student performance improved slightly in 1985 from the already…

Fifty-four middle and lower class, black and white adolescents were observed interacting with their mothers during a discussion of seven child rearing problems. Maternal references to a range of disciplinary measures were identified, analyzed, and related to the subjects' scholastic performances. A factor analysis of process measures confirmed…

Studies of the relationship of counselors' dress to clients' evaluations of counselors have been based on the assumption that the formal/informal nature of clothing is the essential dimension for assessing the meaning of counselor attire. Caucasian (N=226) and Sioux Indian (N=155) high school students and 193 Caucasian community college students…

A special study pertaining to the career and occupational development knowledge of 17-year-olds, both in and out of school, was conducted for the Department of Labor by the National Assessment of Educational Progress. For the 49 cognitive items measured, performance percentages were up on two items, about the same as in previous assessments on 18…

This paper investigated the predictive validity of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) for members of different gender and minority status groups. The following data were obtainted on 45,067 undergraduates enrolled in 31 different institutions in a state college system: SAT Verbal (SAT-V) and SAT Mathematics (SAT-M) scores; high school average…

This study investigated the influence of student and classroom characteristics on a sample of 17-year-old students' (N=1955) inquiry ability. The sample was obtained from a 1981/1982 national assessment in science carried out by the Minnesota Science Assessment and Research Project. Specific areas addressed included: (1) the effectiveness of the…

The effect of job candidates' race on employers' job placement decisions was examined through an experiment in which white personnel officers were presented with a vignette describing a particular candidate, told that their company had employed that person, and asked what sort of position that person is likely to be hired in. The results suggest…

Post-high school activities of 1983 California graduates were studied as part of the initial phase of a 5-year follow-up study. Of 11,512 graduates who were mailed a questionnaire, 4,040 responded. About 75 percent indicated that they were enrolled in a school or college during the last fall or winter; about 49 percent were employed and about 16…

The role of distance learning in higher education has exploded in recent years. The Sloan Center for OnLine Education reports that the number of students taking online courses has been growing at approximately 20 percent per year and that more than 1.9 million students were taking an online course in the United States in Fall 2003 (Carlson, 2004).…

The functional competencies of 131 women offenders incarcerated in Texas were assessed and than compared to the functional competencies of 868 free-world women in Texas surveyed during the Adult Performance Level (APL) Project. The findings support the following conclusions: (1) women in the free-world are more functionally competent than women…

Information derived from a mailed questionnaire sent to a proportionate random sample of 5,500 Kentucky licensed drivers was used to determine opinions regarding the seriousness of community problems and desired levels of government expenditures for these problem areas. Eleven community problem areas were ranked by respondents as follows:…

A study (based on data from the National Longitudinal Surveys of Labor Market Experience) was conducted to determine the causes and consequences for women of leaving high school before completion. Four factors (race, school leaving, motherhood, and employment status) were explored by comparing data obtained annually between 1968 and 1973 for 5,000…