Over 500 Navajo high school students completed the Inventory of School Motivation, based on the personal investment model of motivation. Results suggest that the model's most salient elements for this group were sense-of-self components and one task component, striving for excellence. Combinations of variables were useful in predicting student…

Investigated how Hispanic American and white students from rural and urban high schools differed in their perspectives on postsecondary plans according to grade level, ethnicity, and urbanicity. Surveys and focus groups illustrated differences in attitudes and behaviors depending on urbanicity. Students' ethnicity affected high school experiences.…

Comparing the responses of 6,849 rural and 13,768 nonrural seniors to the High School and Beyond survey revealed only a small difference in the educational aspirations of rural and nonrural youth, which can be attributed to the lower socioeconomic status of rural families, and rural adolescents' tendency to aspire less often to the highest-level…

Using a theory of resiliency, this study provides a Chicana student's perspective of the role of parents in the development of college aspirations. Qualitative interviews with Chicana high school seniors shed light on the different ways these students perceive and come to understand the manner by which their parents influence and shape their…

This article develops a model for potential working-class applicants to university, using multinomial logit regression to analyse a national UK sample, drawn from lower middle and working-class adults aged 16-30. Influential factors are belief in ability, preference for university rather than earning money, qualifications and family encouragement;…

This study examined African American and White ninth grade students' aspirations for college attendance, utilizing the predisposition stage of Hossler and Gallegher's (1987) model of college choice as a conceptual framework. This study also introduced a measure of student perceptions of how well high school was preparing them for college. Findings…

Risk and protective factor indices were developed to examine vulnerability to drug use among Latino high school students. Survey data was collected from 516 Latino 9th and 10th grade youth in the Los Angeles (California) area. Frequency and quantity of use data were collected for a range of drugs including inhalants, cocaine, and other hard drugs.…

This Colorado statewide survey of student intentions was administered to 3,219 community college students in April 1996. The survey collected data on perceptions of goal attainment and compared shifts in intentions of students attending inner city, suburban and rural community colleges. Most respondents (79.2 percent) reported no change in their…

The concept of goals has emerged as a useful and important social-cognitive approach to understanding motivation, achievement, and learning. Recent work reveals that the environment of the classroom affect the types of goals which students adopt: students are likely to adopt ability-focused goals when they see their teachers emphasizing relative…

A survey was conducted in Brownsville, Texas, to identify the educational and occupational aspirations and expectations of Hispanic females and to determine whether these expectations and aspirations differed from those of the dominant culture. Survey instruments were distributed to all senior females (N=853) in local high schools, requesting…

Disabled students (58 male and 43 female) attending colleges participating in the Washington D.C. area Coalition of Disabled Student Service Providers were administered a questionnaire to assess their experiences, attitudes, and perceptions within the context of the higher education environment of their particular schools. Students responding to a…

This paper compares the educational outcomes and student aspirations of graduates from three typical upper middle class high schools and an atypical lower middle class high school that used Mastery Learning to guide the delivery of instruction. The Johnson City School District (JCSD) in New York has used this form of instruction through the first…

The study of engineering can be likened to a game. To become a master student, one must not only play the game but devote time and energy to learning how to play it. The purpose of this book is to give students ideas and perspectives which must be addressed in order to be effective students. It focuses on the nonacademic aspects of being a…

Normative data on students who took the American College Testing (ACT) Program Assessment during the 1980-1981 academic year are presented, based on a 10-percent national sample. Statistics are presented on academic abilities, interests, goals and aspirations, high school achievements and student characteristics, evaluation of the local high…

Normative data on students who took the American College Testing (ACT) Program Assessment during the 1981-1982 academic year are presented, based on a 10 percent national sample. Statistics are presented on academic abilities, interests, goals and aspirations, high school achievements and student characteristics, evaluation of the local high…