A study was conducted to: determine the aspirations and capabilities of rural youth in selected low-income counties in Arkansas; relate aspirations, capabilities, and the discrepancy between the two to the experience background of the youths studied; and relate the youths' occupational plans to present and projected labor market requirements. The…

The relationship between socioeconomic status and academic achievement was studied. Cross-comparisons were made of this relationship in terms of different racial-ethnic groups, various regions of the United States, and metropolitan-nonmetropolitan locations. Subjects were sixth, ninth, and twelfth graders from the North, the South, and the West.…

This study investigated factors that promote and inhibit the academic success of elementary African American males in grades 3 through 6 in a rural school in Mississippi. The qualitative study analyzed interview data gathered in 6 face-to-face interviews with 16 African American males over a 3-month period in the 2002-2003 academic year. All…

Baker's Elementary School in Halifax County, North Carolina, has an all-black, rural student population, about 52 percent of whom live with both parents, 32 percent with one parent (mother only) and 16 percent with their grandparents. Data on the students' academic achievement indicated that in the language arts area, children from one parent…

An experimental procedure to increase children's rate of hand-raising is reported. The procedure was tired with 240 grade school children and is held to be effective. (DM)

Changes in marriage and procreation aspirations of South Carolina high school students between 1966 and 1973 are examined. Data were collected as part of a regional project in several Southern states. During the 1966-67 school year, all 10th grade students were interviewed in 42 randomly-selected high schools stratified by students' racial…

In this longitudinal study of rural adolescent males (Negro and white), 3 hypotheses were tested: (1) that occupational and educational aspirations of these youth will either be stable at a low level or change downward from higher levels over time, (2) that Negro youth will experience significantly more downward deflection of status projections…

It is hypothesized that the process of development of orientations toward marriage and procreation will differ for Negro and white girls in terms of goal definitions, import accorded the goals, and dynamics of these orientations. Regarding the latter, it is expected that orientations of both groups will become more realistic over time,…

Studied the effects a high stakes test designed to end social promotion would have on poor black students in the 39 Georgia counties characterized as "declining rural counties." Findings suggest such tests would have a disparate impact on African American children, limiting their educational attainment. Illustrates the argument with the…

This study demonstrated that black first grade children from disadvantaged backgrounds understood a Black English version of a story better than an equivalent Standard English version. The testing was done in South Georgia. The story was "peer-prepared," that is, it was a story told by a black child about his own experiences and in his own words.…

Oberle's (1974) research examined the role model preferences of black and white youth and found that young blacks had different role models from white students; however, he did not examine whether place of residence was related to role model preference. This study extends Oberle's research by analyzing the relationship between place of residence…

Examined differences in occupational aspirations, expectations, and anticipatory occupational goal deflection in rural Black, White, and Native American adolescents (N=520). Results indicated few ethnic differences in aspirations. Females aspired to higher level occupations but experienced expectations lower than aspirations more often than males.…

This paper focuses on identifying the nature of immediate postsecondary educational activities in a rural area and compares these activities to educational aspirations held in high school. As part of a larger study in the rural Eastern Shore of Virginia, all students in grades 9-12 in Northampton and Accomack Counties were surveyed in 1995. These…