The National Education Longitudinal Study (NELS) database was used as a data source to examine school and nonschool factors related to the educational attainment of African American students. The 1,868 African American students who participated in the NELS First Follow-up were the focus of the study. Five predictors of mathematics and reading…

This paper offers suggestions for teaching high school and college students about cultural diversity and for providing them with multicultural educational experiences. After presenting a background and rationale for such teaching, the paper gives a list of classroom activities, including student reactions to statements regarding racism and…

This study examined differences and similarities in first-year college retention among Anglo, Black, and Hispanic students. Data were gathered on nearly 3,000 new undergraduate students who entered Barry University in Miami Shores, Florida, between 1991 and 1995, including full-time, part-time, and transfer students. Data included demographic…

This investigation explored the differences in the motivational beliefs of ninth-grade Asian American and non-Asian students. Participants were 154 Asian Americans of various ethnicities and 372 non-Asians. Student beliefs about achievement were explored through a questionnaire developed for the study. The statistical findings suggest that the…

This qualitative study explored personal and program experiences that affect dissertation completion and non-completion to provide insights that might help students and faculty in their decision-making and advising. Interviews were conducted with 13 graduates and 9 "all-but-dissertation" (ABD) students regarding the traits they felt led…

The articles in this reader provide a review of the history of education policy in relation to issues of equality and inequality. They also offer an overview and critique of specific areas of policy and a look at the ways policies operate in practice. The eight papers of Part 1, "History of Education Policy," outline the history of…

This study was a secondary analysis of data from the Prenatal/Early Infancy Project (PEIP), a randomized clinical trial of nurse home visits for socially disadvantaged families in a semi-rural community in upstate New York. A sample of 141 primiparous women between 13 and 21 years, unmarried and from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, was selected…

The research reported followed groups of young women from large national samples to begin to understand the complexities that explain the loss of scientifically talented young women from the sciences. The study explores women's experiences in diverse areas of science and presents a picture of the successful woman scientist. Data sets used are the…

This digest reviews findings about the nature of rural child care and suggests implications for practitioners and policymakers. Rural families experience child care differently from urban ones on a number of counts. Center-based care is less available to rural children, and rural day care centers tend to be of lower quality in terms of teacher…

This report describes the early development, recent revision, and some uses of a special Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) database for studying talent flow between undergraduate and graduate school. It discusses the following: (1) development and expansion of a talent flow database containing all variables from the GRE General Test files on all…

This study focused on the relationship between high school students' course-taking patterns and their achievement of higher-order thinking skills. PLAN scores (in grade 10) and ACT Assessment scores (in grades 11 or 12) were collected for 73,818 students in 1,174 high schools. The findings show that, in a typical high school, eleventh- and…

Two studies examined conversations between mothers and children from three different groups to determine culturally preferred narrative elicitation patterns: (1) Japanese-speaking mother-child pairs living in Japan; (2) Japanese-speaking mother-child pairs living in the United States; and (3) English-speaking Canadian mother-child pairs.…

This study investigated: (1) whether there is a gender effect in the speech of Japanese learners of English as a Second Language; (2) whether the effect is positive if the interlocutor is female; (3) whether there are associations of gender effect with specific features of speech; and (4) in which linguistic features of learner speech the gender…

This study analyzes the standard Pakistan social studies curriculum to investigate (1) the extent to which it represents ethnic nationalities of Pakistan, and (2) the extent to which it demonstrates its contribution to the process of national cohesion and integration. The findings presented are based on a content analysis (both trend and variable)…

This book, the 22nd edition of a series initiated in 1975, provides general statistical data to the public, professional educators, and the North Carolina General Assembly. The statistical profile includes information on public school students, personnel, and finances. Tables with statewide data are presented in Part I. The first section of the…