Although the economic expansion of the 1990s was felt even in small towns and rural areas, events in recent months point out that the economic health of rural America remains fragile. Rural manufacturing has suffered sizable employment declines in recent months and only modest expansion has occurred in the service sector--the lifeblood of rural…

This qualitative study examined the spiritual experiences of Christian school leaders. A purposeful, nominated sample of 12 Christian school leaders was selected. In-depth, open-ended interviews were conducted, audio taped, and then transcribed verbatim. Data analysis was based on Rudestam and Newton (2001) and Creswell's (1998) method of…

This book presents information as to how teenagers select their friends. Material was garnered through a review of the literature and hundreds of interviews. The book opens with a focus on how teenagers make friends, and includes such issues as the power of self, finding groups, peer impact, the merging process, seeking significance, and putting…

A study investigated the experiences and perceptions of incoming, current, and former students with disabilities regarding access to and participation in postsecondary programs, educational supports available and effective for students with disabilities, and how well postsecondary experiences prepare students with disabilities for employment. Ten…

This study tested a causal model of the development of spatial visualization based on a synthesis of past and present research. During the summer and fall of 1999, 117 third- and fourth-year undergraduates majoring in architecture, mathematics, mathematics education, and mechanical engineering completed a spatial visualization test and a…

This study examined the influence of schools and teachers on students' attitudes and academic achievement, focusing on teacher characteristics in relation to student achievement. It also looked at three home environment factors (socioeconomic status, educational environment, and home climate) to see if students' family lives were an important…

This monograph summarizes what is known about youth and violence, identifying 10 myths that confound people's understanding of the real causes of youth violence. It focuses on: what contributes to youth violence (e.g., children exposed to domestic violence are at risk of using violence, children and adolescents use guns when they are easily…

The influence of family on institutional choice and post-freshman persistence of American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) students was studied at a small Bible college with a freshman retention rate of 86 percent. Data included interviews with 29 of the college's 62 AI/AN students. Findings indicate that family had both a positive and negative…

This 7-year study examined the consequences of early pregnancy and parenting for girls with serious emotional disturbances (SED) and risk factors identified with teenage pregnancy. Risk factors that were examined included sociodemographic characteristics, psychological characteristics, and psychopathology. The 109 participants in the study were…

This study analyzed common factors among Virginia Migrant Education Program students who had earned a high school diploma as compared with those who had not. Data on 50 Hispanic migrant students were gathered from a collection of diverse documents from various school divisions and states. All subjects had been enrolled in the Virginia Migrant…

A two-phase study assessed the extent to which a set of variables predicted rural secondary students' likelihood of continuing to college and sought to determine predictors of rural students' academic success at the completion of first-year university study. Participants were drawn from seven state coeducational secondary schools in the Riverina…

Case studies of Black farmers identified as successful were made to identify individual and institutional factors which facilitated or inhibited their achievement as farm operators over time. The interrelationship of the variables over time fitted Myrdal's principle of circular and cumulative causation. (Author/BR)

Interviews the Canadian Brass, a quintet of classically trained musicians who combine a disciplined performance with comedic presentation. The musicians discuss their education, family influence, early careers, and the contribution they make to music education efforts in general. (MJP)

Results from a self-report study of 1,139 Hong Kong secondary school students show that an equation containing peers' deviant behavior, peers' disapproval of deviant behavior, frequency of media exposure, preference for violent and obscene content, imitation of media characters, parents' deviant behavior, and teachers' negative evaluation…

Considers the formal education of a group of Native American students who have not traditionally done well in school and suggests a cultural mismatch between the home culture of these students and the culture of the Western school. Findings indicate that culture influences discourse styles, expectations for classroom behavior, and classroom social…