Results showed that the performance of the suburban and urban 10-year-olds on a Piaget-based map drawing task did not differ significantly, while the Appalachian children performed significantly better than one or both of the other groups on three out of the four spatial concepts. (JMB)

Discusses the problem of youth unemployment and describes a study (utilizing metropolitan and nonmetropolitan area data gathered through the Current Population Survey during 1976) which focused on youth labor force participation and employment patterns. (WL)

In the study reported, the labor force characteristics of the nation's 16.2 million teen-agers (aged 16 to 19) are reviewed and evaluated for three types of area: central cities, suburban rings, and nonmetropolitan areas. Tables give data on teen-age employment and unemployment, comparing sex, race, and occupational groups. (Author/AJ)

The influence of a student's background and setting upon school psychologists' diagnostic and program decisions was investigated. Results indicated that psychologists' decisions were not influenced by a student's background, school setting, or the psychologist's work setting. Findings suggested that school psychologists are not biased by these…

Data from new first-quarter students from 1982-88 (n=288) showed that (1) numbers of rural, semirural, urban, and suburban youth were relatively equal; (2) American College Test scores, unconditional admission, and class rank increased over the years; and (3) rural/semirural students took more high school vocational agriculture, but number of…

This study investigated the performance of three groups of educationally advantaged and educationally disadvantaged eighth grade boys on each of five measures of cognitive, linguistic, and intellectual functioning. The five measures included: (1) general intelligence, (2) field dependence assessed by an embedded-figures task, (3) level of…

Compared substance use perceptions and behavior using a sample of 3,009 African American youth. Overall, substance abuse is perceived as a serious problem at school. Early substance use and peer influence are major determinants of later substance use, although important differences exist in the prediction of alcohol and marijuana use. (RJM)

This study compares the abilities of urban, suburban, and rural students to think critically in the social studies. The specific purpose was to determine if differences existed among the three categories of elementary students. Eight hundred and twenty five 4th, 5th, and 6th grade students from urban, suburban, and rural schools in Washington D.…

This study compared the developmental levels of spatial concepts in children from three different environments in the United States. Matched groups of twenty 10-year-olds were selected from a rural Appalachian community, a middle-class suburban community, and a lower-middle-class urban community, and administered a Piaget-based map drawing task.…

Rural youth are a diverse group not only geographically, but socioeconomically, ethnically, and culturally as well. Historically, the rural student has not achieved as well as his urban counterpart in high school or in post secondary education. There is evidence that this is beginning to change and that rural students are doing as well or better…

The 1978 study, which was the first to use the Offer Self-Image Questionnaire (OSIQ) with rural youth, compared the self-image of rural and urban adolescent girls and sustained the hypothesis that adolescents in larger communities think more highly of themselves than adolescents in rural communities. Most previous studies, ambiguous with regard to…

To determine if tryout samples typically used for item selection contribute to test bias against minority groups, item analyses were made of the California Achievement Tests using seven sub-groups of the standardization sample: Northern White Suburban, Northern Black Urban, Southern White Suburban, Southern Black Rural, Southern White Rural,…

A survey examined the involvement of 11 voluntary agencies in providing employment-related services and programs for youth. A field-tested survey was completed by 1,005 respondents from corporate units of the following organizations: American Red Cross Youth Services, Boys' Clubs of America, Boy Scouts of America, Camp Fire, 4-H Youth Programs,…

To determine if tryout samples typically used for item selection contribute to test bias against minority groups, item analyses were made of the California Achievement Tests using seven subgroups of the standardization sample: Northern White Suburban, Northern Black Urban, Southern White Suburban, Southern Black Rural, Southern White Rural,…

Teachers, especially home economics teachers, would be better prepared to evaluate subject matter and to separate fact and personal opinion if they had a better understanding of diverse student backgrounds. To find out such background information, a study was conducted to analyze attitudes and values held by junior and senior students in home…