This report examines the demographic and language characteristics and educational aspirations of Asian American and Hispanic American eighth graders and relates that information to their mathematical ability and reading comprehension as measured by an achievement test. Special attention is paid to students who come from homes in which a…

The National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88) is the first nationally representative longitudinal sample of eighth-grade students in public and private schools. Data provide measures of student performance and allow for the examination of attitudes and activities of eighth graders as they pass through the education system. Overall,…

The State Higher Education Executive Officers' Task Force on Achieving National Education Goals found four issues of immediate concern to higher education one of which was the role of higher education in accelerating school reform. This document presents a set of recommendations on that issue. Schools and universities must establish high learning…

The crisis of dropping out among Latino high school students points directly to the important role that teachers, counselors, administrators, parents, and community groups can play in creating for each student a vision of the future that includes postsecondary education. The Five Cities High School Dropout Study, which documents the effect of key…

The degree objectives of prospective graduate students from the various ethnic groups were investigated in this study by using the extensive (200,000 plus) Graduate Record Examination (GRE) registrant population of 1976-1977. GRE scores, undergraduate grade point average, and being a male were the important predictors of students' expectations of…

A case study of three high schools was conducted as the first phase of a 2-year study of comprehensive high schools' vocational course offerings and how they decide which students should be enrolled in them. The schools are similar in size and grade span and in the same labor market area; they belong to different school districts and serve…

An examination of the results of two surveys of the attitudes of entering freshmen at Muir College, University of California at San Diego (UCSD) is presented. The surveys were conducted in 1968 and 1984 in conjunction with national surveys coordinated by the Cooperative Institutional Research Program. Information is presented on: (1) changes in…

Student attrition at six South Carolina colleges was studied: three of the colleges were small, traditionally black, four-year private colleges, while three were mid-sized, public, four-year colleges, one of which was traditionally black. The sample of first-time freshmen consisted of 301 black males, 538 black females, 220 white males, and 319…

The college careers of students who had participated in the Advanced Placement Program (AP) in secondary school were studied, based on extensive information on 4,814 students who participated in the Personal Qualities Project, a longitudinal study in nine colleges and universities. The project included information on 1,115 AP and 3,699 non-AP…

The way that academic advisers, counselors, faculty, and administrators can help undecided college students set and implement educational and career goals is described. The focus is a developmental advising approach and career development concepts. Origins of indecision, categories of undecided students, and model programs for counseling and…

Determinants of postsecondary education were examined for high school graduates in 1980 to determine whether minority students achieved good rates of enrollment and attainment; and to assess the relative importance of demographic characteristics, achievement in high school, and students' expectations. Data obtained from the High School and Beyond…

The overall objective of this study was to assess the short-term economic advantages that accrue to young people as a result of vocational training. Using the High School and Beyond data base, specifically--sophomore cohort data--a study created 21 tables that show (1) relationships between the primary variables of race, gender, and socioeconomic…

Entering freshmen in 13 fields of study were compared longitudinally on demographic characteristics, high school achievement, college selection process, ability to finance college, highest degree planned, academic expectations, career plans, and aspirations. Attributes of students in the humanities and nonhumanities were also assessed. The…

The relationships among students' goals, demographic variables, and attrition at Delta Community College (Michigan) were investigated. A total of 600 (out of a random sample of 1,000) fall 1976 students credit courses agreed to participate in the study and identified their goals in attending the college. In the winter 1977 semester, 493 returning…

A questionnaire designed to assess seven non-cognitive variables found to be related to college success particularly for minority students (Sedlacek and Brooks, 1976) was administered to two successive samples of incoming freshmen at the University of Maryland, College Park. The Non-Cognitive Questionnaire (NCQ) consists to two nominal items…