This study examined patterns of coursework and levels of involvement of 1,099 adult students to evaluate whether some key factors commonly used to predict undergraduate students' academic performance are appropriate for use with this population. Results suggest traditional models are inappropriate for this large and growing proportion of the…

The connection between the variables of socioeconomic class and social networks are explored, and the outlines of a model are suggested that can integrate the variables coherently. Evidence from research in Northern Ireland and Philadelphia is used to help show the role played by weak network ties. (67 references) (Author/LB)

A study of 70 children found that hearing levels at 12-18 months were significantly associated with speech delay and low language outcomes at 3 years of age. Significant and substantial effects of hearing levels at 12-18 months on speech status at 3 years were significantly mediated by language status at 3 years. (Contains extensive references.)…

Educational practices involving emotional intelligence should be based on solid research, not sensationalistic claims. There are two emotional-intelligence models based on ability and an ability/social-competence mixture. Emphasizing cooperative behavior could stifle creativity, healthy skepticism, or spontaneity. Teaching emotional reasoning pays…

Evaluated systematic empirical evidence of how postsecondary institutions support and promote the use of student assessment information in academic decision making using linear regression techniques. Found that student assessment data has only a marginal influence on academic decision making, with slightly more influence on educationally related…

Data mining of IPEDS data is used to develop models that calculate predicted graduation rates for two- and four-year institutions. (Contains 7 tables and 5 figures.)

This study reexamines the relationship between economic globalization and manufacturing employment in affluent democracies. After reviewing past research, including the well-supported Rowthorn model, we propose a differentiation-saturation model that theorizes that globalization has a curvilinear relationship with manufacturing employment. Using…

Gender was investigated along with other academic variables as predictors of success in entry-level freshman courses from liberal arts mathematics through calculus. The female students were more successful than the male students in all the courses, but gender became less significant as the sophistication level of the course increased. (Contains 16…

Academic motivation as a predictor of academic performance for college athletes has been debated in the literature. This study examined the utility of academic and athletic motivation as a key variable in predicting academic performance among 211 college athletes at a Division I institution in the Midwest. After controlling for background…

This study examined how background and high school variables affected participants in either realizing their potential by completing a bachelor's degree or experiencing lost talent by not completing a bachelor's degree. A sample of participants who had demonstrated above average cognitive ability and had high postsecondary educational goals when…

In this article, Anane Olatunji examines the effects of work experience on early high school attrition among Mexican-origin adolescents. He proposes a theoretical model that takes assimilation into account as a potential predictor of the consequences of work for this group. In order to estimate the effects of eighth-grade work experience on…

Findings yielded a comprehensive portrait of the predictive relations among children's aggressive or withdrawn behaviors, peer rejection, and psychological maladjustment across the 5-12 age period. Examination of peer rejection in different variable contexts and across repeated intervals throughout childhood revealed differences in the timing,…

Logistic regression is employed to develop a model that enhances early identification of freshmen at risk of attrition. Independent variables employed to predict attrition include demographics; high school experiences; and attitudes, opinions, and values as reported on a survey administered during freshman orientation. Model and results are…

The neural mechanisms of fear suppression most commonly are studied through the use of extinction, a behavioral procedure in which a feared stimulus (i.e., one previously paired with shock) is nonreinforced repeatedly, leading to a reduction or elimination of the fear response. Although extinction is perhaps the most convenient index of fear…

The study presented in this paper was conducted within the theoretical framework of the three-dimensional global-trait model of lexical knowledge proposed by [Henrikson, B. 1999. Three dimensions of vocabulary development. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 21, pp. 303-317], consisting of "breadth," "depth," and "receptive-productive"…