The purpose of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development Conference (OECD) from which this paper is derived is to clarify the impact which educational policy has and can have on social structure (income and occupational) and individual life chances (social mobility and earnings). Most of the conference papers deal with analytical…

This study analyzes the enrollment patterns and academic achievement of 2,615 undergraduate students entering the University of Washington Educational Opportunity Program between fall quarter 1969 and summer quarter 1973. Categories chosen for data summarization were: ethnic composition, sex, admissions eligibility, and average quarterly credits.…

To determine whether the equality of educational opportunity increases in proportion to the rapid expansion of a national school system, questionnaire response data from 1957 to 1962 Danish higher education graduates were analyzed. Social inequality was defined as the relationship between social origin and educational potential. Data analysis…

Organizational differentiation of students is defined as the division of a student body into subgroups (classes, sections, streams) of a relatively permanent character for instructional purposes. A vast body of research exists on the effect of organizational differentiation, especially the effects of grouping according to ability. No coherent…

The Berkeley campus of the University of California has initiated the Educational Opportunity Plan (EOP) to recruit disadvantaged students and provide financial support, tutoring, and counseling. The purpose of the program is to assist and motivate California high school students who are members of culturally disadvantaged groups and who have…

The report, covering the period from June 12, 1972 through June 12, 1973, concerns the academic achievement and self-concept of pupils taught by participants in the Federally funded Career Opportunities Program (COP), the participants' professional growth, career progress, and recruitment classification, and the organizational climate and…

This study surveyed the effects of bussing nearly 1,200 blacks in the Buffalo (N. Y.) Public Schools from segregated inner city schools to schools where the population was primarily white. The blacks, in grades 5-7, were bussed from 6 inner city schools to 22 receiving schools. Findings include the following: (1) blacks integrated into classes…

THE RELATIONSHIP OF REACTIVE INHIBITION TO TEST PERFORMANCE AND TO ACHIEVEMENT IN READING, SPELLING, AND HANDWRITING WAS STUDIED. IN THIS STUDY, AS IN PREVIOUS WORK DONE BY HALL (1943), REACTIVE INHIBITION IS DEFINED AS THE ACCUMULATION OF A GRADUAL DECREASE IN THE LEVEL OF PERFORMANCE THAT RESULTS FROM THE PERFORMANCE ITSELF. WHEN GIVEN A LOW…

Considers problems associated with community college open admissions policies, questioning the colleges' effectiveness in developing needed skill levels. Reviews proposed solutions to literacy problems. Argues that literacy education is the responsibility of all faculty and that open door admissions must be accompanied by policies that facilitate…

This study examined high-performing after-school projects funded by The After-School Corporation (TASC), to determine what characteristics, if any, these projects shared. Evaluators reanalyzed student performance data collected during the multi-year evaluation of the TASC initiative to identify projects where the after-school program was…

The writer looks at the often contradictory ways in which tests are seen and used. We are told by its defenders that the SAT is a superb measure of academic promise, but its detractors insist that it is next to useless in helping colleges and universities select their entering class. Test-driven accountability systems have been criticized as…

Graduating more students and increasing the quality of their learning are national priorities. Every college and university can improve in these areas by focusing on the educational conditions that matter to student success. Decades of research studies show that a key factor is student engagement--the time and effort students devote to their…

The academic achievement of Native American students in the United States has consistently been the lowest in the nation. This study examined the school performance, involvement of Native parents in the school life of their children, and assimilation patterns of a specific group of Native Americans who have lived in Barstow, California, for at…

This project examined children's academic performance and psychological well-being in rural communities affected by mass layoffs. In one study (Study A), school level data were compared from similar communities where worksite closing had or had not occurred. Study B explored risk and resiliency processes in a sample of 55 rural Asian Pacific…

Provides a model for conceptually distinguishing among different kinds of minorities. Applies such distinctions to the school experiences of one castelike minority group (Black Americans) and one immigrant minority group (Chinese Americans) to show why the former but not the latter is characterized by persistent disproportionate school failure.…