A random sample, predominantly black, of about 100 rural Louisiana residents was interviewed in 1979-80 to determine the extent to which rural residents' educational and occupational motivations were related to their adoption of agricultural technology. Published literature relevant to the subject was reviewed. With the exception of an…

A sample of graduates from the terminal grades of upper secondary school in Sweden were studied in 1970 and 1971 to determine the relationship between choice of postsecondary studies and the students' previous level of achievement, social background, interests, attitudes to school, and education. For males, it was found that a considerable portion…

Models that have appeared in the student attrition literature in the past decade and behavioral models from the social sciences that may help explain the dropout process are examined, and an attempt is made to synthesize a causal model of student attrition. The models of Tinto, Spady, and Rootman in the area of student attrition, and models of…

This study focused on the intrinsic motives that account for teachers leaving their profession. Former teachers in the Haifa area of Israel participated in interviews, giving reasons for leaving teaching that correlated with those found in a study of the literature. The most frequently mentioned reasons for leaving teaching were: (1) burnout and…

The emergence of the field of labor studies in both undergraduate and graduate programs, its struggle for acceptance within academe, and its effects within the labor movement are studied. Particular emphasis is given to the impact of the credentials issues on the character of the American union, which has traditionally prized experience rather…

The study described in this paper investigated whether the race of elementary school teachers in black schools affected teachers' expectations for student achievement and perceptions of ability and effort. A factor analysis revealed four clusters of items dealing with teacher perceptions of students' achievement and motivation, and teachers'…

An important objective of many educational institutions is to prepare students for work. School officials need a "good" measure to know how effectively and efficiently their programs are meeting this objective. Three commonly used measures of measuring a school's performance are placement rates, the proportion of graduates in education-related…

Rural youth are a diverse group not only geographically, but socioeconomically, ethnically, and culturally as well. Historically, the rural student has not achieved as well as his urban counterpart in high school or in post secondary education. There is evidence that this is beginning to change and that rural students are doing as well or better…

The primary purpose of the research presented in this paper is to develop a more complete model of educational attainment. Age at first birth is examined by multiple regression, along with other independent variables that have been found to affect educational attainment, including age at marriage. The second purpose of this paper is to address the…

This profile of the population of Thailand contains 35 tables of selected demographic information, including size of population and estimates of fertility and mortality, beginning in 1950. An adjusted distribution of the population by age and sex is given for the latest census year, as well as for 1976. Projections of the number of women of…

In trying to determine race and sex differences in earnings, some chapters in this volume examine the hypothesis that earnings differences are caused by skill differences. Findings indicate that skill differences cannot account for much of the earnings differences. Education levels required by various jobs are analyzed and compared to the actual…

Rural Africa includes some 80% of the African population; its people are poverty stricken, illiterate, ill-sheltered, and ill-nourished. These circumstances make rural development absolutely vital. However, past rural development policies have failed to take into consideration the structure and division of labor in the farm family, the traditional…

From 1964-71, 323 pairs of twins and 740 age-matched controls born in 1954-55, were investigated. Compared to schoolchildren in 1880 and 1940 the children in the present study were taller, reached maturity earlier and passed through puberty faster. No differences between socioeconomic strata defined by father's occupation and family income were…

The possibility that certain features of items on a reading comprehension test may lead to biased estimates of the reading achievement of particular subgroups of students was investigated. Item response data on the reading comprehension section of a frequently used achievement test were obtained from the Anchor Test Study data files. Eight…

PLAINTIFFS COMPLAINED THAT THE VALLEY SCHOOL, ONE OF THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS IN MANHASSET, NEW YORK, WAS SEGREGATED. NEGROES IN THE VALLEY AREA LIVED AT A LOW SOCIOECONOMIC LEVEL. TYPICALLY, THEIR CHILDREN WERE FROM 2 TO 3 YEARS BEHIND THE NORMS IN READING ACHIEVEMENT. EXCERPTS FROM THE COURT CASE, R. BLOCKER VERSUS THE BOARD OF EDUCATION OF…