This study sought to identify distinguishing characteristics of high school vocational students. Academic ability, post secondary school plans, student ratings of their school, psychological variables, values, extracurricular activites, and the influence of various key people were used as independent measures for identifying vocational students.…

This book presents 13 stories of Native American college students struggling for survival on several planes--intellectual, emotional, physical, spiritual--and striving for success in their own terms in a cultural setting not their own. Although all the students attended Dartmouth College and graduated, the salient common theme of the stories is…

Extensive interviews were conducted with 12 young adults with learning disabilities who were successful at the college level, as well as with their parents, along with a thorough review of available school records, in order to examine how well high-ability students with learning disabilities succeed in academic environments. Most of the…

A study investigated the reliability of international students' English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) class performance as a predictor of academic performance. Subjects were 169 international students at Portland State University (Oregon) whose freshman and sophomore grade point averages (GPAs) and English language test scores for each language skill…

A comprehensive course of study for natural resources was developed and offered to eleventh and twelfth grade students as an elective, to determine whether such a program was feasible in a high school vocational setting. An area-wide survey of environmental occupations was conducted and an advisory committee made recommendations as to course…

A study examined attitudes, cognitive and noncognitive experiences, and transfer-related behaviors of 277 nontraditional-age Hispanic students graduating from a community college. Measures were developed for family concerns, encouragement, social and academic integration, English skills, and educational and institutional commitments. Variables…

A study of 81 female graduate students over age 30 at a large urban research university investigated their experiences, problems, and demographics. Results indicate that variables important to persistence are marital status, quality of student/student and student/faculty interactions, and grade point average. Policy implications and possible…

This monograph consists of 13 chapters featuring a diverse range of perspectives centralizing student standpoints about their experiences in higher education and access programs. Chapter 1, "Student Perspectives on College Readiness" (Jeanne L. Higbee), provides the results of a survey of developmental education students regarding college…

Despite enormous political, social, and psychological forces working against them, some inner city black youths defy the odds and succeed academically. This study focuses on a group of successful at-risk minority students in an urban secondary school, and in particular on their student experience, including interactions with school culture,…

The effect of student-faculty interaction on student outcomes after four years was examined within the context of a causal model adapted from a general college impact model. This model includes three sets of variables: students' background characteristics, four aspects of student-faculty interaction, and four categopies of outcomes. The four…

Various topics concerning assessment in higher education are considered in five papers. In "Defining and Measuring the Competencies of a Liberal Arts Education," David G. Winter proposes that liberal arts competencies can be assessed by creative new quantitative strategies and outlines five important criteria, or standards, as well as measures of…

During the 1976 academic year the Evaluation Office continued its study of student development at Simon's Rock and of the factors that underlie successful academic and social adjustment at an early college. Included in the year's study are the characteristics of 1976 incoming students, compared with students entering in previous years, predictors…

This study assessed how in- and out-of-class experiences influenced the transition to college, student involvement with institutional life, and student perceptions about learning among 72 first-year community college students from three institutions with large numbers of either Hispanic or African American students. The students were interviewed…

A study involving 199 private liberal arts college freshmen found a weak but statistically significant correlation between high school grade point average and freshman grade point average (FGPA) but not between Scholastic Aptitude Test scores and FGPA. For academically underprepared freshmen, motivation-related noncognitive variables significantly…

In this paper, factors that influence academic achievement and self-concept of Year 12 students in their final year of schooling at a Catholic co-educational school in Adelaide, Australia were investigated. The study hypothesised there were differences in attitudes and academic performance due to prior schooling experiences, sex, home experiences,…