In this paper the first descriptive results of a longitudinal study of organization and learning effects of 24 preservice teacher education programs are reported. Between August 1982 and November 1986 different kinds of qualitative as well as quantitative data were collected among 357 students and their 31 university supervisors and 128…

Newman (1984) examined the causal relations between math self-concept and math achievement in an 8-year longitudinal study using Linear Structural Relations (LISREL) analyses. He concluded that math self-concept did not influence subsequent math achievement. However, the study suffered in that math self-concept was inferred from a single-item…

National normative data for 1986 from the 21st annual survey of college freshmen are presented as part of the Cooperative Institutional Research Program longitudinal study of American higher education. The 1986 norms were based on questionnaires completed by 204,491 freshmen entering 372 colleges and universities. Findings include: freshman…

Observations of a 12-year-old boy provide an in-depth look at the writing of a successful adolescent writer, as it developed over a 2-year period. The subject was interviewed once a week in his home. In addition to the information obtained in interviews, his texts were analyzed for formal features. Three factors emerged as particularly…

This paper suggests that students' opportunities to learn may be stratified both between and within schools. Schools serving a more affluent and able clientele may offer more rigorous and enriched programs of study, and students in college preparatory curricular programs may have greater access to advanced courses within schools. This notion is…

Longitudinal data are presented relating to Bakersfield College (BC) students who transferred to public four-year colleges and universities. Highlighted findings include the following: (1) first-time transfers from BC to the California State University and College (CSUC) system increased by 5.7% from fall 1984 to fall 1985, continuing a gradual…

This review of the current data collection activities of the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is divided into two parts: a section of major recommendations applying to NCES plans in general, and a section reviewing each data collection activity and presenting specific suggestions. Section I recommends that NCES should: (1)…

The rationale, strategies, and methods of The Mercy College Self-Study Project are considered, and evaluation instruments are provided. This program of institutional evaluation and planning was initiated in 1980 and consists of: standardized surveys, a 10-year longitudinal (panel) study, and academic department self-studies. Questionnaires…

The performance of students of different ethnic backgrounds as they progressed through school was investigated. The school was a traditional one that focused on academics and in which all students followed the same program of study. The study analyses similarities and differences in grade point average and scores on standardized tests for…

The development of and relationship between early language, symbolic play, sensorimotor skills, and social development were examined in a longitudinal study conducted in Japan with two young autistic males who were observed from the approximate ages of 2 to 4 years in clinic, day care, and home settings. One child acquired speech; the other did…

Once every three years, school districts receiving Chapter 1 funds are required to conduct a study of the sustained effects of their Chapter 1 programs. To meet this requirement, the Columbus (Ohio) Public Schools employed a fall-spring test design to determine the degree to which pupils who participated in the Compensatory Language Experiences…

The "Guided Studies" program at a comprehensive community college was evaluated. The program was designed to restrict student course enrollment until academic deficiencies could be erased through successful completion of courses in developmental education. The persistence rates and academic performance of students placed in the program…

A longitudinal study of stepfamilies, divorced maternal custody families, and nondivorced families was conducted to assess the competence of mothers in different family structures, examine stepfather-stepchild relationships compared to relationships between nondivorced biological fathers and their children, see how relationships changed over time…

Retention at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, was studied, based on the entire population of 29,372 undergraduate degree-seeking students enrolled in a semester between fall 1981 and 1987. Two measures of the retention rate are used: cohort survival, the percentage of the original cohort of entering students that is enrolled in or has…

Indiana's Evansville-Vanderburgh School Corporation began full-day, everyday kindergarten in four schools in the 1978-1979 school year. In 1980, an evaluation of the effectiveness of the first two years of full-day kindergarten was published. A longitudinal study of the effectiveness of full-day kindergarten, including information concerning…