College students' self-reported test anxiety levels in English, mathematics, physical science, and social science were compared to develop empirical support for the claim that students, in general, are more anxious about tests in rigorous academic subjects than in the humanities and to understand the curriculum-related sources of anxiety. It was…

Reports the findings of a survey of school library media centers in eight large urban areas with large enrollments of Hispanic children that was conducted to determine the availability of Spanish language literature. Highlights include media specialists and support staff; holdings; budget; book selection process; and library events and activities.…

National samples of the general public (n=1,001) and community opinion leaders (n=300) were asked to evaluate the importance to their communities of 10 different roles of the public library. Respondents evaluated each role in terms of its importance to their communities. Survey results indicate that the public library's roles to support the…

A study was conducted at two California community colleges to examine the academic progress toward transfer of potentially at-risk Hispanic students who had indicated transfer as a goal. Specifically, a comparative analysis was conducted of student outcomes at the two colleges, which had traditionally placed disparate emphases on transfer, with…

The State Bilingual Education program, the Local Bilingual program, and the Migrant Education program are designed to meet the needs of bilingual and migrant students in the School District of the City of Saginaw, Michigan. Instruction consisted primarily of one hour of supplemental reading and mathematics. Students in grades 7-12 also received…

The study was designed to evaluate the acceptance, appropriateness, and use of an experimental Spanish edition of the April 1980 "Ranger Rick's Nature Magazine"; to identify similarities and differences in the reactions to the translated edition of various groups within the Hispanic population; and to collect the recommendations for the…

This five-part report describes a study conducted by Middlesex County College (MCC) to examine the problems and experiences of various segments of its student body and to determine, on the basis of this examination, factors that aggravate student/college interaction and increase student attrition. Part I details study procedures, which involved a…

This report examines current practices in defining, identifying, documenting, and tracking school dropouts in Ogden City School District (Utah), as well as demographic and personal characteristics of Ogden's high school dropouts. Data collection included a review of school and district records, interviews with administrators and staff, and…

Prepared as part of a needs assessment for the Watsonville Center of California's Cabrillo College, the three reports included in this document present findings from studies conducted of area high school students and CC students. The first report presents findings from a fall 1995 study of 1,234 students at California's Aptos High School and…

This document reports on the results of five surveys conducted during the 1980s by the Field Institute and Los Angeles Times that included questions of particular interest to the Latino community. Between 1982 and 1989, 6,668 California residents participated in the 5 surveys. Surveys included questions addressing the impact of Latino immigration…

This project investigated the different perspectives of families from diverse backgrounds on augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). The transcripts from the focus groups and individual interviews at five national sites conducted from December 1995 to August 1996 are provided. The following focus groups were held: (1) family involvement…

Six American universities were studied to assess the predictive validity of Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores and other admissions data and of student language background relative to college grades for Hispanic students. Sample sizes at the universities ranged from 76 to 686 for Hispanic subjects and from 924 to 4,919 for White students. The…

This study investigated the role of language factors as potential determinants of Hispanics' educational progress. Language background factors included exposure to, use of, and proficiency in both Spanish and English, and the students' perceptions of those factors. They were studied in relation to standardized measures of college aptitude and…

A 4-week study at Goshen (Indiana) Middle School examined the internal and external factors affecting Hispanic student achievement. Data were collected through classroom observation, student interviews, and a survey of Latino parents. Although teacher responses to Hispanic student classroom participation were always positive, student responses,…

This study investigated the impact on ethnic, language, and gender groups of a new kind of essay prompt type intended for use with the new SAT®. The study also generated estimates of the reliability of scores obtained using the prompts examined. To examine the impact of a new prompt type, random samples of eleventh-grade students in 49…