This report contains four studies related to preparation of youth for employment after leaving school. The first study, "Learning as a Product of Exposure and Readiness" (Hotchkiss), examined the effects of curriculum on the learning of basic skills using an interaction model. The data collected revealed statistically significant interactions…

This paper describes the Manifold Access Model, which has been developed for the simultaneous representation and analysis of the interrelationships between five variable clusters: (1) computer access; (2) personal and social attitudes and values with respect to computer use; (3) self-assessed competence and confidence with respect to computer use;…

A study was conducted to determine if a teacher-constructed cloze procedure correlated significantly with two standardized tests of reading achievement, thereby testing G.D. Spache's claim that most teachers are unable to design valid and reliable assessment materials. Subjects were 60 fourth and sixth grade students who were administered the…

Career attainment levels of black college graduates and predictors of career attainment were studied. Attention was directed to the effect of college control (public/private), college racial composition (traditionally black institutions--TBI and predominantly white institutions--PWI), college grade average, and parents' socioeconomic status on…

This study investigated the development of teachers' conceptions of learning disabilities (LD) as a function of experience with pupils having LD. An expert group of 25 LD-certified special education teachers, a transition group of 24 regular classroom teachers of mainstreamed LD pupils, and a novice group of 20 undergraduate special education…

The relationships between teachers' attitudes toward responsibility and locus of control and other characteristics such as stress, educational attitudes, and attitudes toward change were studied in 54 (35 female and 19 male) experienced primary and secondary school teachers taking a course on classroom-based research. Attitude toward…

This study sought to determine whether there is a set of in-school factors which might help explain the differences in dropout rates among schools with very similar student bodies. The study was designed as an in-depth ethnographic examination of four pairs of Chicago (Illinois) public high schools. One school in each pair had a high dropout rate…

The study reported here employed a quasi-factorial ecological approach to explore the possibility of using economic and social indicators available from the 1980 census to construct a socio-economic status (SES) index. The study hypothesized that if an appropriate factor analysis model could be identified, factor score equations could be used to…

One factor which limits efforts to increase the number of black health professionals is performance in science courses at the college level. This study is one of several designed to identify factors which lead to success in the sciences at Xavier University of Louisiana, a small, historically black institution in New Orleans. The current…

Data from 10,000 17-year-old respondents to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 1975-76 Special Mathematics Probe (Basic Mathematics Assessment) were analyzed. The primary purpose was to identify respondents' background characteristics associated with basic mathematics achievement. The achievement items and 241 background…

Assuming that today's school administrator must manage the organizational contraction associated with declining resources, the authors of this research report investigated the causes of contraction and its effects on school systems in terms of demographic changes, economic changes, and political considerations. The researchers examined the policy…

The logic of using a gain score approach versus longitudinal causal models is studied in this secondary analysis of a complex data base. The gain score model used by the Federal Reserve Bank and the School District of Philadelphia in their "What Works in Reading?" study is successively refined using the LISREL structural equation…

Academic, personal, and attitudinal/behavioral predictors of black and white students' college performance were studied, along with the effect of differences in the quality of college experiences. The sample of 4,094 students and 706 faculty from 30 southern and eastern colleges completed the Student Opinion Survey/Faculty Opinion Survey, the…

Data from the Gallup Polls of Public Attitudes Toward Education, administered in 1974, 1977, 1980, and 1983, were re-analyzed using multivariate analysis methods. An attempt was made to determine what segments of the public demonstrated support or non-support for the public schools. Survey responses were available for over 1500 people for each…

Systematic classroom observation instruments were used to study the relationship between observed classroom behaviors--specifically student coping style and teacher control--and student growth in reading. Classroom behaviors were recorded in the fall and the following spring with the use of the Coping Analysis Schedule for Educational Settings for…