Early childhood experience is often crucial in establishing the cognitive and affective structures of the child. In particular, the preschool experience of the lower class child establishes patterns of responsive behavior and ways of relating to the authority structure of the school which are not conducive to academic learning and prevent the…

The correlation between educational aspiration and educational achievement was investigated in 6 Southern states via a longitudinal study (1965-1972). Approximately 1,200 rural youth, stratified by race, sex, and socioeconomic status, were contacted when sophomores, when seniors, and when 4 years beyond high school graduation. Findings revealed…

Like other Indigenous populations worldwide, China's ethnic minorities have faced considerable obstacles to acquiring education. At higher levels of education, minority students have far lower enrollment rates and far higher dropout rates than Han majority students. This is particularly true at the point of college admittance, since only 2 percent…

Males from rural economically deprived school districts, were surveyed a fourth and final time 10 years after high school graduation. Results show over the 10-year period the occupational and educational achievements and aspirations have been significantly higher for the high-identification with their father group than for the low-identification…

The study's purpose was to determine the degree to which homogeneous rural youths living in an economically impoverished region might be vulnerable to anomia, powerlessness, and deviance given varying levels of perceived limitations in opportunity and self-ability. Comparative data relative to earlier studies in rural areas was also provided.…

One of the most consistent empirical findings in the increasing research on the sociology of sport revealed that white urban male high school athletes manifest higher-level educational orientations than their non-athlete counterparts. This study expanded this empirical literature by assessing the nature of the athletic participation and…

The purpose of this study was to compare attitudes of secondary school teachers in 28 Ohio counties (considered by the Appalachian Regional Commission to be a part of Appalachia) with those of teachers in the remaining 60 counties. A questionnaire of 122 items, 94 of which were attitudinal, was used with a random sample of 600 teachers, 300 each…

The function of schooling on different levels in the direction of the processes of social mobility which influence the development of rural areas in Poland were studied during 1967-71. Data was collected by means of a network of 35 permanent teacher correspondents, as well as 2 field stations which were operated for 3 years in 2 investigated…

An exploratory study focusing upon the career choosing patterns of high school seniors in a relatively isolated, coal-mining county of West Virginia is reported in this paper. The 2 basic hypotheses examined were that rural youth from upper status family backgrounds will have higher status career orientations than those from lower status family…

In 1973, the Polish Minister of Education ordered objective competitions at the primary school level in the fields of Polish studies, Russian language, and math. In order to determine whether such subject competitions were justified and if they contributed equally to the development of interests and abilities among the rural and urban and…

More research into illicit substance abuse in rural African-American communities is needed. The existing literature indicates that patterns of use for licit substances (alcohol and cigarettes) are either similar for rural Blacks and Whites or lower for Blacks. However, the negative health and social consequences of smoking and abusive drinking are…

This study examined the effects of school attendance on the grade point averages (GPAs) of 70 regular education and 17 learning disabled fifth-graders in a rural school district. It found that school attendance had a significant positive influence on the regular education and learning disabled students' GPAs, indicating that absenteeism directly…

Evaluations of 2 experimental programs developed by the St. Cloud, Minnesota, school system with funds from Title III, Elementary and Secondary Education Act are given in this report. Section 1 describes the Junior High Development Center, a program designed to help students who had very low basic education skills and showed signs of becoming…

A review of the available research relevant to the characteristics of disadvantaged rural students shows them to be affected in several areas. The low socioeconomic status of large numbers of noncorporate-farm families and rural ethnic minority groups is a characteristic of prime importance, particularly in view of the relationship between…

Students who score highest on the California Achievement Tests in reading and mathematics come from close, supportive family networks with strong educational and social direction from parents. These students also have positive educational experiences, highly developed social networks outside of their families, and identify strongly with positive…