Two hundred and six (206) first year college students from both structured and unstructured academic programs were administered Rotter's I.E. scale to measure the extent to which they see themselves as having control over their environments. Two reciprocal hypotheses were tested: (1) that the internally controlled student (who sees a relationship…

This study addressed the quality of the racial environment, the "racial climate," that students of color face on predominantly white campuses and the impact this has on student satisfaction and successful academic performance. The second question is that of the role of ethnic or racial identification in students' adjustment to the campus…

Based on 10 years of interviews with 1,600 Harvard students, this book offers concrete advice on choosing classes, talking productively with advisors, improving writing and study skills, maximizing the value of research assignments, and connecting learning inside the classroom with the rest of life. The chapters are: (1) "Introduction";…

In this study, the academic experiences of 33 male students from an industrial background were investigated as they completed a two-year education degree. The purpose of the study was to investigate the quality of student adjustment to an academic environment following extensive industrial training and experience. Students completed a series of…

In this retrospective study, the academic resilience of two individuals of Mexican heritage who graduated from Stanford University is described. The respondents (a woman and a man) now in their early 20s came from home backgrounds of extreme impoverishment and adversity. By means of in-depth interviews the challenges the two respondents faced in…

In this article, the author proposes that, aside from modified instructional strategies, cultural mediation by secondary teachers on behalf of minority students is the key to school adjustment and academic achievement of language minority students in secondary schools. Cultural mediation can be defined as a process of planned intervention in which…

The study's overriding objective was to map out the situation of immigrant pupils in the Rinkey School in Stockholm, Sweden. Two immigrant classes were selected: a class with 13 pupils of whom 12 were of Turkish origin and one with 7 Finnish pupils. All pupils were between 14 and 16 years of age and were formally enrolled in one of the upper…

Tested Cohen's hypothesis that students who develop the school preferred information processing approach will perform better than other students. Using six instruments designed to identify preferred cognitive strategies, 135 students stratified by achievement were tested. Results suggested achievement is signficantly related to the acquisition of…

This booklet contains a blueprint of questions that can be used at public and private four-year colleges and universities by an institution-wide task force examining the first-year experience or the broader campus experience. The blueprint can also be used to aid in an overall process of campus self-study or assessment. The questions a task force…

The essays in this collection, initially written for an online audience, focus on the philosophy, methods, and outcomes of assessing the first-year experience of college students. Several recurrent themes highlight general agreement about best practices in first-year assessment, but the collection contains some differences of opinion also. The…

Discusses study that assessed developmental students' adjustment to college using the Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire (SACQ). Findings revealed that student SACQ scores fell below the means of the norm sample on the Personal-Emotional, Attachment, and Social subscales. There was also a significant difference in scores, with regard to…

Students who respond to the ludicrous environments of schooling with behaviors and demeanor that do not fit school criteria frequently are given a medical label and drug treatment. The fact that Ritalin is given to 2.8% of all American children reflects a "treatment philosophy" in which professionals define problems and prescribe…

The problem of how to handle diversity is a prominent feature of modern schooling. Historical evidence indicates that the explanations of student problems of accommodating to schooling have varied. At present, neuropsychiatric diagnoses such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are widely used as interpretations of what constitutes…

Research shows that by the end of 3rd grade, one of six children in the United States has already attended three or more schools. During a four-year period, overall school stability can fall below 50 percent for many schools. Students--both those who move and those who remain behind--can suffer psychologically, socially, and academically from…

Mobility, rather than stability, has become the norm for students in schools across the United States. The student mobility rate is now higher in the United States than in any other industrialized country. This Information Capsule discusses the reasons for student mobility and the characteristics of highly mobile students and families. Research…