National data were used to study the longitudinal effects of variables on choice of Holland social type college majors versus other majors for 524 Asian/Pacific Islanders, 509 Hispanics, 507 Blacks, and 568 Whites. Effects of mathematics scores and gender were fairly consistent across racial/ethnic groups, and effects of reading scores and…

This study seeks to discover whether beginning kindergarteners vary in early literacy readiness according to their county's metro/nonmetropolitan status, county-level economic and social characteristics, individual demographic characteristics, family social capital resources, and preschool childcare. Using student-level data from the Early…

Substantial uncertainty exists about the impact of school quality on the black-white achievement gap. Our results, based on both Texas Schools Project (TSP) administrative data and the Early Childhood Longitudinal Survey (ECLS), differ noticeably from other recent analyses of the black-white achievement gap by providing strong evidence that…

This second annual report for the Wake County (North Carolina) Public School System examined students' achievement indicators among groups that vary in gender, race, and economic status. The graphic format displays the extent of some of the gaps in academic achievement among the groups examined that existed in the 1993-94 school year, and compares…

This report summarizes the level of academic achievement, and the extent of racial and gender gaps in that achievement, of students in North Carolina's Wake County Public School System (WCPSS). The comparison was conducted using 1993 End-of-Grade (EOG) tests; low income group EOG test performance; 1993 writing tests and high school writing…

Reviews of research, studies of early readers, and investigations of emergent literacy uniformly conclude that parents' beliefs, aspirations, and actions affect their children's growth into and embracing of literacy. However, conflicting results call into question the utility of simply correlating race or various socioeconomic factors, such as…

A study compared the scores of Catholic and public school students at three different grade levels on educationally pertinent characteristics such as race, ability, level of parental education, amount of homework, and high school curricular track. Subjects, approximately 2,000 Catholic school students and 30,000 public school students in grades 3,…

Testwiseness (TW) and its effect on the reading comprehension scores in four ethnic populations (Black, Hispanic, Native American, and Anglo) from the Tucson Unified School District were investigated. Inservice-trained teachers presented seven classroom TW teaching and practicing sessions of 15 minutes each to students in grades 3, 5, and 7.…

This paper highlights the results of analysis of achievement trends, described in report "Changes in Student Performance by Achievement Class and Model Class." This paper extrapolates from the complete study those findings that have the most direct implications for education policy and decision makers. Overall, students in the lowest…

This experiment deals with a test of auditory discrimination between standard Black English and nonstandard Black English. The test consists of two sections, one emphasizing phonological variables and the other emphasizing grammatical variables. It was administered to 83 black and 71 white children who were second, fourth, and sixth graders in…

This study was designed to answer two key questions about the fixed portions of the fourth, eighth, and tenth grade spring 2003 Idaho Standards Achievement Tests (ISAT) in Reading, Language Usage and Mathematics: (1) To what extent do test items exhibit substantive differences in functioning across student groups formed based on ethnicity and…

The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) is an assessment of reading comprehension of nine-year-olds in 35 countries and was conducted by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA). This report compares findings from the United States with other countries and takes a closer look at…

Beginning in the 2002-03 school year, the revised Florida School Code required 3rd grade students to demonstrate reading proficiency by scoring at level 2 or higher on the reading portion of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT). If not, the student must be retained, unless exempted from mandatory retention for special circumstances…

Male student behaviors and student-student interactions were studied in racially integrated activity-centered junior high classrooms. Coded behaviors included: how time was spent by both Black and White students, the number and nature of within-and cross-race interactions, and the relationship between learning behaviors and grades. (Author/PN)

This report is the nation's sixth look at how its major city school systems are performing on the state assessments devised to boost standards, measure progress, provide opportunity, and ensure accountability for results. Data are presented on 66 city school systems from 38 states and the District of Columbia. The statistics are presented…