National statistics reveal an alarming trend concerning the use of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, which is better known as ecstasy. Results from the Monitoring the Future survey of 50,000 secondary youth reveal that use among 8th graders rose to 3.1%, 5.4% among 10th graders, and 8.2% among 12th graders. High school faculty and staff must be…

This study examined area-specific self-esteem scores by sexual behavior relative to adolescents' values concerning participation in sexual intercourse as an unmarried teenager. The sample consisted of 332 students in grades 7-12 from a Southern rural school district. Students were asked if they had ever had sexual intercourse (yes/no) and if they…

This unit focuses on a dramatic moment in the Renaissance from about 1420 when Filippo Brunelleschi single handedly created, defined, and engineered a new architecture by building the great dome of the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence. The dome became the symbol of Florence's grandeur during the Renaissance, and a model for great…

Metacognition is considered by most educationists to be an element necessary for many cognitive learning tasks. In general, within problem solving tasks, procedural, factual, and conceptual knowledge, by themselves, are insufficient for successful task completion. To be successful, the problem solver must usually demonstrate higher level cognitive…

This occasional paper updates and extends earlier papers in the Monitoring the Future project. It provides a detailed description of the project's design, including sampling design; data collection procedures; measurement content; and questionnaire format. It attempts to include sufficient information for others who wish to evaluate the results,…

Extensive testing data from federal, state, and private sources indicate that Indiana students underperform their peers in most other states. Contrary to conventional wisdom, the shortcomings of Indiana students relative to students elsewhere are most severe among students from middle- and upper-income families. Forty percent of 3rd-graders, 52…

A sample of 333 8th, 10th, and 12th graders completed a questionnaire measuring their academic motivational orientations through items investigating perceptions of causal attributions and actual causal attributions. Results show a number of gender differences, with girls more likely to attribute failure to lack of ability and lack of effort. (SLD)

A study of Southeast Asian-American immigrants showed that English writing skills for mainstreamed students were the same at the eighth-, tenth-, and twelfth-grade levels and were the same as nonnative university students. Results suggest that age on arrival was a more important factor than number of years in United States and grade at entry. (21…

The aims of this study were considered under three headings. The first was to elicit misconceptions that students had about the terms "solute", "solvent" and "solution." The second was to understand how students' prior learning affected their misconceptions. The third was to determine if students were able to make a…

Objective: To assess the sexual health knowledge of secondary school pupils in order to ascertain whether the current government public health and education policies are having any impact on pupils' sexual health. Design: Results obtained from a questionnaire as part of a two-phase intervention study. Setting: Nineteen mixed-sex, state secondary…

This year the Center on Education Policy analyzed data on the achievement of different groups of students in two distinct ways. First, it looked at grade 4 test results to determine whether the performance of various groups improved at three achievement levels--basic and above, proficient and above, and advanced. Second, it looked at gaps between…

This study examined the relationship between participation in school-based sports and drug use among Black and White high school students, using data from participants in the National Educational Longitudinal Survey of 1988 (NELS, NCES, 1988) and follow-up surveys in 1990 and 1992. While previous research produced inconsistent results, the present…

This unit is one of a series that presents specific moments in history from which students focus on the meanings of landmark events. The purpose of this unit is for the student to explore the advances in scientific knowledge made in Europe in the mid-sixteenth to mid-seventeenth centuries. These advances, beginning with Copernicus, radically…

The Applied Biological and Agribusiness Interest Inventory was revised to reflect seven agricultural career clusters and to measure agricultural interest of eighth-grade students. A study conducted in Pennsylvania tested the interests of 8th-grade students and then developed scoring keys using 10th-grade students as the basis for the key. The…

Most research conducted on the amount of time English language learners (ELLs) require for the acquisition of academic English suggests that 4-10 years are required to be near or on par with fully proficient English (FEP) peers. In this study, data from three administrations (1999, 2000, and 2001) of the FCAT writing test of the Florida Writing…