After the third semester of comparing college student performance in beginning courses in Century 21 shorthand and Gregg shorthand statistics failed to support the contention that Century 21 instruction produces a higher proportion of successes among students who speak a foreign language at home (Spanish). Results also indicated that the attrition…

Data were collected on 80 diverse items concerning student perceptions of teaching for a representative sample of 189 classes at a large university. The items were subdivided by type of focus into four categories: course content, objectives, and structure; instructor's behavior; instructional methods and materials; outcomes of instruction. The…

When two groups, initially dissimilar, undergo different treatments, can subsequent differences be partitioned in such a way that the difference between the two treatments is unbiased? This is the central problem of this paper, and it is confronted by the examination of two levels of information using a Follow Through Evaluation. The first…

The results of three years of evaluative investigation of the University of Pittsburgh Learning Research and Development Center's program of individualized education are described. The study was conducted in seven Follow Through sites and three Pittsburgh area schools. Standardized tests were used as input and outcome measures; questionnaires and…

This study extends previous research on university attrition and course completion by its focus on the reasons for attrition and tracking the subsequent enrolment and other outcomes of students who discontinue their university studies. It also looks at older students as well as students from younger groups. It finds that attrition from first year…

The nation's youth are increasingly affected by violence, both as its perpetrators and as its victims. Many violence prevention programs aim to reverse this trend, but few have been rigorously evaluated, and even fewer have been shown to work. To devise better programs, researchers need more information. To that end, RAND researchers identified…

This study investigated predictors of foreign language anxiety in 210 university students enrolled in French, Spanish, German, and Japanese language courses. Several instruments were used to gather information on student characteristics, study behaviors, attitudes, and language anxiety experience during the fourth week of the semester. Results…

A pilot project was designed to test the efficacy of profiling welfare recipients and referring them to welfare-to-work services targeted toward their specific work histories and skills. The general framework of Michigan's Work First program was used to illustrate how profiling can be designed and administered. A profiling model was proposed that…

The factors influencing active learning in small enterprises were examined. Data from earlier Australian studies were examined in an attempt to provide a framework that might inform the relationship between educational systems and small enterprises. Special attention was paid to a 1988 study of systematic differences between small businesses that…

A study examined key determinants of apprentice and trainee employment in small and medium-sized enterprises that play an increasing role in providing employment-based training in Australia. It used unit record data from four waves of the Australian Bureau of Statistics business growth and performance surveys 1994-95 to 1997-98, which sent…

This report is the second in a series of four final reports that present the findings of the Longitudinal Study of the Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) Services Program. Initiated in fall 1992, the study has tracked VR participation and post-VR experiences of applicants to and consumers of VR services (n=8,500) for up to 3 years following exit from…

The impact of career development interventions on career and technical education (CTE) students' academic self-efficacy and motivation was explored in a pilot study that elicited responses from 293 students at 20 high schools across the United States. The study included a literature review, survey of high school seniors that examined 44…

This report, using data from the 1992-93 National Study of Postsecondary Faculty, examines differences among postsecondary faculty by gender and by race/ethnicity. Comparisons were made on several human capital variables (education/experience) and structural variables (academic discipline/institution type), as well as for faculty outcomes…

This report discusses results of the Nevada Department of Education's fourth statewide administration of the Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Students in grades 9, 10, 11, and 12 (N=2,702) from 75 public high schools participated in the study. Nevada high school students reported behaviors that equaled or exceeded goals established in the national…

Data on the sophomore cohort of the original High School and Beyond (HS&B) study were analyzed to determine the value of the General Educational Development (GED) credential versus that of the conventional high school diploma in explaining the earnings of 27-year-old males in the early 1990s. The study sample consisted of those 4,899 male…