The use of categorical dependent variables with the classical linear regression model (CLRM) violates many of the model's assumptions and may result in biased estimates (Long, 1997; O'Connell, Goldstein, Rogers, & Peng, 2008). Many dependent variables of interest to educational researchers (e.g., professorial rank, educational attainment) are…

Over the past 20 years, gaps in students' educational aspirations have shrunk considerably (Roderick et al., 2008; Roderick, Nagaoka, & Coca, 2011; Kao & Tienda, 1998; Avery & Kane, 2004; Turner, 2007; Deil-Amen & Tevis, 2010). Similarly, racial and ethnic gaps in college enrollment have shrunk. The one area in which postsecondary…

One of the most pressing problems facing our nation is the large percentage of students who enroll in college but never complete a degree. The U.S. Department of Education estimates that only 57 percent of students who sought a bachelor's degree and enrolled in a four-year institution in the fall of 2002 completed that degree within six years. For…

The authors interviewed Black and Latino students from five high-poverty high schools as they attempted to make the transition into college. Their ability to exert individual agency with regard to their entrance exams and their college transition was circumscribed by the messages and behavioral norms that dominated their low-performing high school…

This document contains a summary descriptive analysis of a sample of 19,716 students who took the ACT test (American College Testing Program) and were enrolled in the public community colleges of Illinois during the fall 1975 term. The sample of students represented 12% of the total freshman enrollment and 20% of the full-time freshman enrollment…

Data from 18,385 first-time full-time students, approximately 10% of total freshmen enrolled during 1977-78 at Illinois public community colleges, who took the American College Testing Program (ACT) test showed average ACT composite scores of 16.7 and average high school grade point averages (GPA) of 2.6, compared with national norms for entering…

Based on the data provided by the American College Testing Program (ACT), this report summarizes the characteristics of the 12,196 Illinois community college freshmen who took the ACT examination in Fall 1979. The summary focuses on: (1) the average ACT scores of the community college students on the English, Mathematics, Social Studies, and…