In February 2005, The Dallas Morning News published a multipart series on steroid use among high school students in Texas. The paper's four-month investigation was wide-ranging, but shined a particular spotlight upon alleged abuses in the 13,700-student Grapevine-Colleyville Independent School District, north of Dallas. Use of steroids and other…

The purpose of this study was to analyze the spring 2008 Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE) results from a community college located in Southeast Texas to determine what relationship student engagement had to student persistence and academic performance and if that relationship differed by race, ethnicity, or academic program.…

The purpose of this study was to examine students' levels of engagement in educational practices by enrollment status, time of enrollment, and size of college in community colleges. Specifically, this study assessed the quality of the undergraduate education through students' self-reported data about their academic and nonacademic activities. The…

A survey of 290 secondary vocational agriculture program graduates revealed the relationship between participation in selected Future Farmers of America (FFA) activities and choice of career. Results indicate that students active in FFA enter agricultural professions at a higher rate than the others. (CH)

The purpose of this study was to examine self-determination and achievement motivation as predictors of successful school performance for high school African American males enrolled in an urban Texas school district. The students (N = 108) were placed into two distinct groups: higher-performing and lower-performing African American males based…

A study was conducted to gain a better understanding of how the term "at-risk" is defined and applied in the schools and to assess the intended and unintended consequences of four policies: attendance, the Texas Educational Assessment of Minimum Skills exit-level examination, the no pass/no play rule, and the driver's license law on…

The Texas Supreme Court ruled that students' rights to participate in extracurricular activities were not on the same level as rights to free speech and found that the state law barring failing students from extracurricular activities was rationally related to a legitimate state interest in educational quality. (PGD)

Most typical high school programs are not meeting the needs of gifted and talented students. Programs for the gifted are often neither interdisciplinary nor differentiated as encouraged by Texas state guidelines. Gifted students can gain much from well-designed extracurricular activities. Grade weighting schemes in which gifted courses are…

Describes the activities of the Walter Prescott Webb Historical Society, a Texas-based student association composed of a private four-year college and three community colleges. The society is dedicated to the study of local history. (DC)

Summarizes a study to determine the importance that 77 east Texas middle school principals accorded middle school concepts and to discover degree of concepts' implementation. Survey respondents considered the majority of 30 middle school characteristics important. There were considerable gaps between perceived importance and actual implementation…

Reviews recent court cases relating to student, school, and staff responsiblity regarding student activities. Includes discussions of regulations concerning student participation, limitations on participation based on conduct, charging fees, and liability in injury cases. (MD)

Describes as an example of what a non-school agency is doing to ease desegregation the Greater Dallas Human Relations Commission's sponsorship of the Washington Street "Soul Survivors," a group of 12 blacks and 12 whites performing race relations-oriented entertainment. (JM)

This is the third issue of the magazine to focus on baseball in Panola County (Texas). The issue salutes the Carthage High School baseball program during two periods of its history. The first period was the early 1940's under Coach E. B. Morrison, whose teams were State Finalists in 1941 and 1942. The second period covered is the era of Coach…

Reports conclusions and implications from a study to assess the worth and conduct of Future Farmers of America (FFA) contest activities in Texas, as perceived by secondary school principals, parents, current FFA members, and teachers of vocational agriculture. (MF)

Describes a project undertaken during fall semester, 1976, with secondary-science student teachers at the University of Texas at Austin. The project was designed to help student teachers identify science attitudes and successfully involving them in classroom activities. (HM)