White, Black, and Hispanic students were studied during their transition from school or work to a community college. Students (N=71) at the College of Lake County (CLC) in Illinois attended focus groups formed according to race or ethnic group (White, Black, or Hispanic) in the spring and fall semesters to discuss their goals, experience, and…

This study focused on identifying factors that would enhance the probability of college attendance among African-American students. These factors included parental involvement, high school curriculum track, the prestige of one's life goal, socioeconomic status, and amount of television viewing. Data were drawn from a random selection of 1,394…

This report overviews the rationale for conducting an ethnographic study of cultural factors that influence student aspiration in Tremont, a small rural community on Mount Desert Island, Maine. Although Tremont is the poorest community on Mount Desert Island, Tremont students scored as well or better on the Maine Educational Assessment than did…

This volume contains selected papers presented at National Black Student Retention Conferences between 1988 and 1991, that examine ideas concerning educational access and retention. The volume and papers are divided into three groupings which address: (1) The Psycho-Social Implications; (2) Model Strategies and Programs; and (3) Impacts of Faculty…

This article reviews the existing anthropological and sociological evidence on school choice and educational stratification in Japan. Traditional linear models developed in the West have given little insight into how stratification processes actually occur. There must be analysis of the institutional linkages and organizational cultures of schools…

By examining educational aspiration, this study uses data on high school senior females to explore the contention that race remains embedded in late 20th-century American culture as a primary qualifier of gender role. The study focuses on a sample of 4,573 black and white female high school seniors in the class of 1980 using data from the national…

Though recent research indicates a stronger sense of purpose and satisfaction among faculty at community colleges relative to four-year institutions, criticism of community colleges for alleged deficiency in facilitating transfer to the four-year schools is widespread. This function however, is only one of the many comprehensive services provided…

The goals and aspirations of 35,950 students who had attended Maryland community colleges were surveyed 18 months after college entry. For first-time credit students who entered college during fall 1982, comparisons were made of two groups who returned usable responses to mailed questionnaires. The first group consisted of 5,133 students who were…

For more than three decades, the courts have attempted to resolve the effects of desegregation on educational quality and educational access. This report reviews a recent court ruling on the 26-year-old desegregation case, Mapp versus Board of Education, in relation to emerging demographic patterns in the Chattanooga (Tennessee) Public Schools…

A survey was administered to 789 agricultural students in Korea, and to 1019 students in 1890 schools and 2535 students in 1862 schools in the southeastern United States; responses were compared to establish similarities and differences between Korean and American students attending agricultural colleges. Differences between Korean and 1890…

Equity in the institutional choices of enrolling college students was assessed. The focus of study was whether students similar in educationally relevant characteristics, but dissimilar in ascriptive or socioeconomic background characteristics, attend similar institutions at similar rates. The study was based on multiple regression analysis of…

This qualitative study examined the role played by race in the college choice behavior of a group of minority females. It examines the college aspirations and decision making processes of Black female college-bound students and the influences of their parents, friends, college counselors, teachers, and school staff. Subjects were 50 students at 3…

To investigate the social context of education for low-income Southerners, a study concentrating on white Anglo-Saxon Protestants in a rural Southern mill village in general, and on 22 white 10th grade children and their parents in particular, used a combination of ethnographic techniques and standardized interview questions. Responses concerning…

A 120-item questionnaire was administered to 750 Irish adolescents, aged 12-17. It measured sex differences in the following variables: academic achievement; educational and occupational aspiration; self-assessment of achievement; assertiveness; and stereotypes toward adult roles and three achievement-related traits (striving, competence, and…

Middle school students (N=712) were surveyed about their achievement goals and cognitive processing strategies. Results suggest that academically at-risk students use deep strategies less and are less learning focused than not at-risk and special education students. Special education and at-risk students tended to be more ability-focused than not…