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…

Suggests that intellectual ability is a stronger determinant of academic success than family income, parental education, or socioeconomic status. Maintains that familial influence plays an important role in academic achievement but questions the specifics of that relationship. Includes statistical information on grade variation, siblings, and…

Demonstrates how information in the cumulative school file is a rich resource for understanding the patterns of achievement and underachievement among gifted students. High and moderative achievers and moderate and extreme underachievers (n=153) were compared on information found in the school file. Results show differences between achievers and…

Data from national sample of 3- to 16-year-olds show that lower test scores and increased behavior problems of children of younger mothers resulted from family background rather than maternal age. For nonfirstborns, maternal age at first birth, not at child's birth, influenced test scores. Disadvantage of children born to younger mothers was…

A 20-year follow-up study of 41 individuals with learning disabilities revealed attributes that differentiated the successful from the unsuccessful group. Some themes discussed include the critical influence of the learning disability across the entire lifespan, differences in participants' family functioning, and differences in participants'…

Socioeconomic status is strongly related to student learning by shaping the family culture. Strong family cultures provide children with intellectual, social, and emotional capacities that greatly improve their chances of school success. The wider community also contributes to the capacities needed for school success. Therefore, a variety of…

Fifty-two Indigenous adults in Northern Territory (Australia) who were returning to education reflected on their earlier experiences in school and on factors that contributed to their motivation to stay in school or drop out early. Factors included family support and family problems, influence of friends, problems with other students, and good and…

Studied impact of family background, parental attitudes, peer support, and adolescents' attitudes and behavior on academic achievement of adolescents from immigrant families. Found that first- and second-generation students received higher mathematics and English grades than peers from native families; the strong educational emphasis by students,…