A study of leading state-level policy actors in Florida's higher education identified a hierarchy of power and influence. Policy elites were legislators and key legislative staff consultants, the university system chancellor, and the state board of regents. Least influential in policy formation were faculty and student interest groups and…

This study examined freshman college students' attitudes about date rape and how such attitudes changed over the course of their college experience. It is based on a subset of data from the 1990 annual national survey of freshmen and a follow-up study in 1994 collected by the Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) survey, namely 10,155…

A political-cultural model explores the educational process and its impact on Native Hawaiians over a 140-year period. The theoretical model suggests that core political values are transmitted to educational policy and school-related activities, and thereby impact the social, economic, and academic status of Native Hawaiians. Three historical case…

This paper constructs a profile of the condition of the diverse areas of rural America at the Beginning of the 1990s. The widely used designation of metropolitan or nonmetropolitan areas based on the metropolitan statistical area (MSA) does not describe the diverse nature of rural America. One alternative typology differentiates nonmetro counties…

To determine formal principles of discourse processing and production, a study reviewed theories in various disciplines related to language and/or thought and thereby rationalized an approach of quantitative matrix analysis to the problems caused by discrepant discourse structures encountered in second language learning. Statistical analyses of…

The research on which this paper is based examined the legislative process resulting in Minnesota's tuition tax concession statutes through a study of four decision events: the 1955 passage of a tax deduction, the 1971 adoption of a tax credit, the 1976 increase of the 1955 deduction allowance, and the 1981 retention of this deduction in a climate…

A key determinant of the persistence of preadult's political predispositions is the strength of the residues of preadult political socialization. Neither the strength of those residues, nor the impact of major socialization experiences on attitude strength, has been examined closely in the past. Political socialization proceeds through a series of…

The way that the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, has tried to depoliticize minority admissions through the use of predicted graduation equations that are race specific is examined. Multiple regression and discriminant analyses were used with nine independent variables (primarily academic) to predict graduation status of 1974 entering…

In an attempt to determine the impact of desegregation upon a rural Southern community, this paper chronicles the changes brought about by school desegregation in St. Mary Parish, Louisiana. Statistical data, geographical characteristics, and a description of the city and towns within St. Mary Parish are presented as background. An historical…

The relationship between the authoritarian state and higher education in Mexico is examined in this case study. Focus is on the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) since it receives 40 percent of the federal budget for higher education, which makes it a prime example of autonomy within an authoritarian political system. Using three…

The study brings together in one work a brief history of American Indian policy in the United States for the use of students, teachers, government employees, and the general reader. More detail has been supplied for the period since 1930 to enable the reader to see the processes involved in the adoption, administration, and eventual changes in…

This study of experiments with a new type of educational institution in Communist China is based upon an analysis of materials from Chinese Communist newspapers and periodicals. Reliance upon a discriminating use of such materials is necessitated by the lack of impartial first hand evaluations of these new institutions by qualified outside…

A yearlong, qualitative investigation of fourth and fifth graders in two elementary classrooms refines an emerging conclusion about children's historical thinking--their tendency to see historical events in terms of individuals' personal intentions and interactions and to ignore the role of societal institutions (government and the economy). An…

A model of public opinion on government spending for child care was developed and examined. Respondents' views were depicted as a function of symbolic politics, self-interest, and demographic and control variables. Results suggest that symbolic politics were more revealing than self-interest factors in divining public opinion. (RJM)

A survey of 55 Chinese students and scholars visiting the United States investigated attitudes toward the spread of Putonghua, the standard variety of Chinese. Results indicate six categories of attitude, five supporting its spread. They also show a correlation of attitude with age, birthplace, current residence, and parents' occupation.…