Compares the self-reported study behaviors of developmental students to those of regular admission students. The virtually identical self-reported study skills between the groups may be an artifact of using a Likert study skill measure. Discusses the rationale and evidence from other studies that substantiate the threat to validity posed by using…

Graduates of Sudbury Valley School (Framingham, Massachusetts) relate their learning experiences, including the positive relationships they developed with adults, their active role in school administration, the importance of play to their learning, the values they acquired as a result of their schooling, and how their experiences prepared them for…

Explains that an organic curriculum embraces a social studies curriculum that is supported by multidisciplinary social science methods and is grounded in the students' real-world experiences. Maintains that this organic social studies methodology is a means for implementing the thematic strands of the National Council for the Social Studies…

This article describes the development and validation of a biographical data (biodata) measure and situational judgment inventory (SJI) as useful predictors of broadly defined college student performance outcomes. These measures provided incremental validity when considered in combination with standardized college-entrance tests (i.e., SAT/ACT)…

This chapter discusses how alumni research can be used to inform key audiences about the impact of college on alumni, including the preparation of alumni for the workforce, alumni experiences as students, and whether alumni may be inclined to support their alma mater.

This article reports the connections among urban students' school-business partnership experiences, developmental assets or strengths they report in their lives, and positive developmental outcomes. Surveys were completed by 429 9th-to 12th-grade Hispanic and African American students, mostly low income in an inner-city high school, and 76…

This study utilized a national longitudinal data set of college students to examine the educational relevance of cross-racial interaction and how campuses can best structure such opportunities. The general pattern of findings suggests that cross-racial interaction has positive effects on students' intellectual, social, and civic development. The…

Three studies examined the perception among college students that school performance is instrumental to future goal attainment. Study 1, an exploratory study involving free report goal assessments, indicated that perceived instrumentality (PI) is a subjectively salient aspect of college students' achievement motivation. Study 2 provided evidence…

A pioneer effort when passed as a bipartisan bill into legislation in 1991, California's Healthy Start initiative now stands out as a promising model for the emerging community school movement. Healthy Start is intended to bring "comprehensive, integrated, supports and services" to California's most disadvantaged K-12 students and…

This paper reports on research conducted as part of a project, the aim of which was to utilise outdoor and adventurous experiences to help schools address their "if only" factor--that aspect of learning perceived to be key to raising standards, whether it be the acquisition of knowledge, skills or a change in attitudes to learning. The…

In the torrents of globalization and social transition in Taiwan, it is particularly important to reinforce a sense of cultural subjectivity and localization, and promote new trends of arts education that emphasize the development of self and spirit. The fundamental principles of these new trends are: (1) that the purpose of arts education is to…

We support role changes for educational and psychological consultants who work with children and youth with disabilities as they make important transitions. Principles derived from critical pedagogy and disability studies could provide the theoretical framework for the proposed shift in roles that change the basis on which consulting services are…

Purpose: This study asked if children's performance on language tests reflects different dimensions of language and if this dimensionality changes with development. Method: Children were given standardized language batteries at kindergarten and at second, fourth, and eighth grades. A revised modified parallel analysis was used to determine the…

Effects of ethnic/racial diversity among students and faculty on cognitive growth of undergraduate students are estimated via a series of hierarchical linear and multinomial logistic regression models. Using objective measures of compositional, curricular, and interactional diversity based on actuarial course enrollment records of over 6,000…

Concerns about noncompletion and the quality of the 1st-year student experience have been linked to recent changes in higher education such as modularisation, increased class sizes, greater diversity in the student intake and reduced resources. Improving formative assessment and feedback processes is seen as one way of addressing academic failure,…