This colloquium presents seven analyses by social scientists of the controversial report, "Public and Private Schools," together with a response by the report's authors, James Coleman, Thomas Hoffer, and Sally Kilgore. (SK)

Consideration of 150 personal, social, and educational factors in relation to sports participation of Scottish adolescents suggested a number of paths leading to school sports involvement but emphasized particularly the important reciprocal influence of teachers' and pupils' expectations and perceptions. (Author/CM)

Discusses the International Survey on Reading Abilities in Primary School (IGLU) and its data on achievement in reading, mathematics, and natural science. Compares this data to that collected by the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA). Identifies achievement relevant correlations such as gender, migration background, socioeconomic…

Presents an historical overview of the development of research from a narrow input-output approach to a holistic approach that evaluates within-school processes. Finds that selective processes produce higher academic achievement. (CFR)

The five cross-sectional studies in this special issue are theoretically rich in their exploration of how principals exercise leadership that improves student performance. Notable improvements over earlier impact studies include a clear explication of theoretical constructs and models; use of multilevel, multivariate designs; more sophisticated…

A study with 288 college psychology students investigated the relationship between students' perceptions of the reasons for their academic success or failure (explanatory schemas) and the quality of instruction. Results are discussed in terms of the role of explanatory schemas as buffers or compensations for ineffective instruction. (Author/MSE)

The Nation is ill-equipped to meet the future demands for scientists to sustain scientific disciplines and the scientific literacy required in this technological era. In response to this state of affairs, reforms promote quality science for all but provide little guidance on how to achieve it. This study describes an approach that uses cultural…

The focus of this article is on leadership in primary schools and the author argues and provides some evidence that the leadership of the headteacher can make a dramatic difference and raise standards in a school. This is in sharp contrast to the rather tentative conclusions of previous academic research. The author also argues that school…

Noticeably absent from recent critiques of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLBA) has been the inclusive exploration of the NCLBA and Reading First implications as they directly relate to black and Latino student populations. In addition, a number of opportunities have been missed to comprehensively probe the ways in which this legislation serves to…

Access to important educational resources in California's middle and high schools is not equal among schools that serve different student populations. Overall, the most disadvantaged populations of middle and high school students are likely to have the least access to the resources necessary for learning. California policymakers are focusing on…

A project was conducted at American River College, in California, to develop and apply a transfer eligibility measure as a companion to the college's transfer rate. The transfer eligible rate is calculated by dividing the number of transfer directed students by those who are transfer eligible. In the original model, transfer directed students were…

This study examined the predictive factors of demand for degrees and academic performance at the University of the Basque Country (Spain). The study followed two cohorts of university students from secondary education to the completion of the third year of higher education. The data analyzed included secondary school qualifications, selectivity…

A longitudinal study of otitis media in young children, begun in 1981, aimed to provide information on the incidence and prevalence of otitis media in young children in the Newcastle (England) region and to follow their academic progress. Subjects selected for the study were kindergartners in five schools and represented an ethnically homogeneous…

As the latest in a series of studies analyzing the data reported on Tennessee's school district report cards, this paper focuses on finding a common statistical treatment to examine the impact of predictor variables on dependent variables. Investigations of the 1988-89 report card data explored the relationships among eight school district…

Mastery learning research focuses on learner-oriented and instruction-based factors that relate the concepts of time as a variable and high student achievement as a constant. This research emphasis encompasses optimistic assumptions about the capability of students to learn if: (1) alterable variables are optimized, and (2)…