High rates of failure in secondary level science classes are a problem worldwide. Effective teaching and efficient management of schools requires information as to the causes of failure. One approach to acquiring this information is to improve our understanding of what the students themselves perceive as the causes and antecedents of school…

This report explores contributions that schools, communities, and families can make toward preventing and intervening in behavior that places young adolescents at risk. The first part of the report considers characteristics of early adolescents and an environmental balance that capitalizes on the diversity of adolescents to minimize their risk of…

Case studies were used to explore parents' role in first-grade reading success of nine at-risk, low-income, Hispanic students in a small, predominantly Hispanic school district in Southern California. Refuting the theory that low achievement results from differences between home and school norms and values, the study found that all 15 parents…

For Mexican American students, grade-level reading and overall academic achievement decline, as measured by standardized tests, as they progress through the educational system. By grade seven, 65% of Mexican American students fail one or more grade levels below expected achievement. To reverse this trend of academic failure, teachers need to use…

The self-serving effect (SSE), often depicted as a bias, is the tendency to accept responsibility for one's own successes but not one's own failures. Two studies of Australian fifth graders (n=226, n=559) were further analyzed to investigate individual differences in SSE. The Sydney Attribution Scale measured students' perceptions of the causes of…

The term "urban education" generally refers to that education provided in inner-city schools for mainly poor and minority students. Although billions of dollars have been spent on special programs to upgrade the achievement levels of such students, urban education must be regarded as a failure, for it has left its participants without the reading,…

The paper demonstrates an approach for describing educational organizations in terms of their multiple evaluating environments. A college profile is drawn based on the diverse criteria that students, faculty, administrators, admissions staff, and athletics staff use to assess the success or failure of undergraduates. The relative values that 377…

Forecasting models for maximizing postsecondary futures and applications of the model are considered. The forecasting of broad human futures has many parallels to human futures in the field of medical prognosis. The concept of "exasperated negative" is used to refer to the suppression of critical information about a negative future with…

A longitudinal study was undertaken in Alberta to pilot an evaluation model which was devised by Robert E. Stake and which could provide feedback on the merit and effectiveness of vocational education in the provincial high school curriculum. Using both student records and questionnaires administered to the students, information was gathered over…

PRESENTED IS AN INFORMAL REVIEW OF RESEARCH SPONSORED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA ON IMPROVING THE EDUCATION OF THE STATE'S DISADVANTAGED CHILDREN. VARIOUS PROJECTS ARE EXPLORING (1) ATTITUDES AND SELF-IMAGE AMONG NEGROES, (2) THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SOCIAL CLASS, ATTITUDE, AND ACHIEVEMENT, AND (3) THE SCHOOL EXPERIENCE OF MEXICAN-AMERICAN…

This study evaluates the effects of busing on the subsequent achievement performance of bused black students. Differences in achievement gains or losses are hypothesized as being both a function of bused students attitudes toward busing and desegregation and of the interracial climate of acceptance in the receiving schools. Findings from data…

The late commissioner of education, James Allen, proclaimed the "Right to Read" as the educational target of the current decade. The object was to inculcate and improve reading skills among 25 percent of the American population who either lacked or were deficient in them. Has this goal been at least half-way attained? Midway through the…

This paper reviews some significant research on ethnic variables as they relate to the process of schooling such as ethnicity and performance. Particular ethnic groups such as Spanish speaking subgroups in New York City, Mexican Americans, blacks, and American Indians are then discussed in order to provide a body of information as well as to…

This report includes the following addresses to the conference: (1) "Some Socio-linguistic Considerations in the Teaching of Foreign Languages", (2) "The Case of Afro-Portuguese Literature", (3) "Foreign Language Success Stories--Hackensack Has It!", (4) "On Apes, Poetry, and Language Teaching", (5) "A Sociolinguistic Aspect of Japanese Americans…

Describes an unsuccessful attempt at teaching a well-motivated adult non-reader to read. Details different approaches that were tried, such as the sight method, auditory methods, tactile methods. Suggests ways to avoid reading failure in adults, such as checking for disabilities, and getting to know the student. (SKC)