This occasional paper is intended to serve as a supplement to the larger annual volume, "Monitoring the Future National Survey Results on Drug Use, 1975-2006: Volume I: Secondary School Students." This supplement contains the graphic presentation of the trends in drug use for various demographic subgroups, namely those defined by gender, college…

The longitudinal analysis population of the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88) is used to produce descriptive findings about the transition to high school of eighth grade students. An overview summarizes some of the policy issues of the study and sketches the research design and samples. First, longitudinal data are used to…

The Kansas Minimum Competency Tests (KMCT) were designed to provide information about student performance on selected minimum competencies in reading and mathematics. The KMCT were criterion referenced tests in which each item was keyed to a minimum competency objective; student performance was measured against a predetermined standard. The tests…

This paper describes a model for the evaluation and approval of a test battery for compliance with a midwestern state law mandating criterion-referenced testing of specific objectives. Standards specifying that the test scores must demonstrate content validity and criterion-related validity form the foundation of the model. The model also…

GRADES OR AGES: 1-12. SUBJECT MATTER: Health education, tobacco, alcohol, and narcotics. ORGANIZATION AND PHYSICAL APPEARANCE: The introductory material discusses pre-planning and the general characteristics of physical development in early school, upper elementary school, and preadolescence. The material for grades 1-3 covers the body, human…

This study used data from the base year and first followup year of the National Educational Longitudinal Survey of 1988 (NELS:88) to investigate determinants of achievement in minority versus nonminority students. In the base year, the NELS:88 collected data on eighth graders. Because there were so few American Indians, that group was eliminated…

Social and personal concomitants of exceptional academic capability in the context of various educational settings were studied, using 143 fifth-, 118 eighth-, and 93 tenth-grade gifted students. Results provide insights into the students' peer relations, social competence, academic self-concept, and attitudes toward school. (TJH)

Adolescent health service provision is an area of growing concern in the UK, where a number of studies have indicated that young people in their teenage years find accessing formal health services difficult. The Bodyzone Project in Oxfordshire is an innovative programme aimed at bringing health services into schools to ensure greater…

This monograph provides the 1975-2005 national trends in smoking, drinking, and illicit drug use among American secondary school students. It covers subgroup differences, attitudes and beliefs about use, social milieu, degree and duration of drug highs, initiation rates, prevalence and frequency, and trends in illicit drug and alcohol use. Drug…

The study focuses on the gendering of Australian school students through their participation in school. Specifically grades 7, 8 and 10 were studied. The initial group of 112 middle class students was studied by an ethnographic investigation of schooling practice in four classes of senior elementary school students for one year. Fifty-two students…

This survey is a follow-up to a comprehensive survey of eighth- and tenth-grade public school students conducted in 1988. The 1990 sample includes over 3,400 students from rural, metropolitan, and mixed school districts. Data were collected using a 120-item questionnaire and compared to available information from the 1988 survey. The study…

GRADES OR AGES: K-12. SUBJECT MATTER: English Usage. ORGANIZATION AND PHYSICAL APPEARANCE: There are four major sections: Prekindergarten-grade 3; grade 4-grade 6; grade 7-grade 9; grade 10-grade 12. Learning experiences are listed for each grade. The guide is offset printed and bound with a soft cover. OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES: The program is…

This publication presents an overview of the 2000 survey of 8th, 10th, and 12th grade students, with a particular emphasis on recent trends in the use of various licit and illicit drugs. It also shows trends in the levels of perceived risk and personal disapproval associated with each drug, which this study has shown to be particularly important…

The National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88) is the first nationally representative longitudinal study of eighth grade students in public and private schools. It is sponsored by the National Center for Education Statistics to provide longitudinal data about critical transitions experienced by young people as they develop, attend…

This study demonstrates that the validity and usefulness of mathematics achievement tests can be improved by defining psychologically meaningful subscores that yield differential relations with student, teacher, and school variables. The National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88) 8th- and 10th-grade math tests were subjected to full…