This study sought to determine the factors that influenced student decisions to participate in FFA in a rural school and their level of involvement as an FFA member. Data was collected from 2,111 high school students in 41 rural high schools in Arizona, Florida, and Texas. Discriminant analysis identified four factors that influence participation…

The purpose of this study was to examine whether college adjustment mediated the relationship between parental factors, such as parental attachment, parental education, and parental expectations, and academic achievement among White and Hispanic first-year college students. We found that adjustment mediated the relationship between parental…

This study sought to compare the performance of students in the College Board Advanced Placement Program® (AP®) compared to non-AP students on a number of college outcome measures. Ten individual AP Exams were examined in this study of students in four entering classes (1998-2001) at the University of Texas at Austin. The four main groups of…

Graduates of a post-baccalaureate secondary education program working on certification in five core subject fields served as a sample for transcript review to investigate how well the variables of number of hours completed for content major course work, the content major grade point average (GPA), and the age of content major course work predicted…

The role that early school retention, early childhood depression and self-concept had on levels of depression in 191 urban Hispanic adolescents was investigated. This exploratory study used a purposeful sample to study relationships and thus causality cannot be inferred. Statistically significant gender differences were found for depression with…

"High Schools That Work" (HSTW) is a school improvement initiative that was inaugurated by the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) in 1987. The main purpose of this concurrent validity study is to evaluate one or more measures by investigating their relationship to other commonly used and established measures given at or about the…

This paper uses administrative data from the University of Texas-Austin to examine whether high school peer networks at college entry influence college achievement, measured by grade point average (GPA) and persistence. For each freshman cohort from 1993 through 2003 we calculate the number and ethnic makeup of college freshmen from each Texas…

This research examined the predictive accuracy of selected variables (high school letter grade average, first-year college grade point average (GPA), residence location, cumulative hours taken, mother's education level, father's education level, and gender) on the persistence of college freshmen to their sophomore year. A model consisting of 1,014…

This multi-faceted study of dual credit programs in Texas was motivated by perceived discrepancies in dual credit data reporting and a lack of comprehensive, state-level information about dual credit student populations and coursework patterns. Using a P-16 framework, the author explored alignment issues that influence the delivery of dual credit…

Legislatures are set to convene in January in 43 states. This article presents the key issues that are expected to be debated by legislatures in states this year. These issues include: (1) Annulment of a controversial law in Texas that guarantees students who graduate in the top 10 percent of their high-school classes admission to any public…

In an attempt to gauge the effectiveness of their information literacy program, librarians at Stephen F. Austin State University began comparing average course grades in course sections that receive IL instruction to grades in sections that do not. The results varied, revealing no clear benefit to information literacy instruction. We discuss…

The goal of this analysis was to explore students' perceptions of the role of supportive relationships in their adjustment during their first year of college. A total of 22 second-year students, who had a GPA of 2.0 or higher (the university's standard of academic success), reflected on their first year during focus group interviews. Students'…

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.…

Comparing the performance of students majoring in Data Processing Programming, Dental Assisting, Electronics Technology and Mid-Management with control groups matched on the basis of sex and ACT scores, no apparant discrimination against the technical majors was found in terms of earned grade point averages or grades in selected courses, with the…

If the explanations offered are correct, inflation should be leveling off and a small amount of deflation might be expected. The major initial impact of declining enrollments, changing student quality, and financial pressures has already been felt, and the pressure within academe to contain grade inflation is mounting. (Author/IRT)