This paper describes recent patterns of income stratification in American colleges. Data from the Current Population Survey provide estimates of college enrollment stratification by income during the period 1970-1988. The National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972 and the High School and Beyond survey provide data for two cohorts…

The Cognitive Education Project conducted a 3-year longitudinal evaluation of two cognitive education programs that were aimed at teaching thinking skills. The critical difference between the two experimental programs was that one, Feuerstein's Instrumental Enrichment (IE) method, was taught out of curricular content, while the other, the…

This report documents what has been learned through the National Longitudinal Transition Study (NLTS) of Special Education Students about regular education and secondary students with disabilities. Findings are based on data from more than 8,000 youth in secondary special education, ages 13 to 21, in 1985-86. Focus of the report is on how much…

This ongoing study is designed to examine the quality of early childhood education in England and Wales, identifying key aspects of professional ability crucial to the quality of children's learning. It also seeks to generate criteria for promoting the development of these aspects of professional ability and to develop consequent criteria for…

A collaborative day care and public school kindergarten intervention program for children in several public housing projects in Boston was evaluated by means of the Bronson Social and Task Skill Profile, a classroom observation instrument. This instrument has categories that measure behaviors related to competence in carrying out social…

This study examined dropout rates for the School District of the City of Saginaw, Michigan. Although a longitudinal study of dropouts has been conducted by the school district for over 25 years, this study begins a new format to coincide with State requirements. The dropout rate is defined as the percentage of students in grades 9-12 who leave…

Changes in mathematics achievement at grade 11 before and after the implementation of the Texas Educational Assessment of Minimum Skills (TEAMS) were studied in an urban school district in Texas. High stakes tests are used by state education agencies and school districts to monitor and increase educational achievement. The TEAMS is a minimum…

The use of analyses of achievement test data, particularly longitudinal data, in a wide range of court cases bearing upon educational policy and practice is examined, with an emphasis on assessments of the educational progress of students. The main purpose of the project is to show that assessments of educational progress (i.e., student learning)…

In order to study transfer trends in Maryland, a method was developed for matching student records at two-year sending institutions and four-year receiving institutions in the state. Transfer matrices, which utilized the computerized fall enrollment records of all public two- and four-year institutions in Maryland, allowed for a campus-to-campus…

The continuation of an earlier study examined to what extent students change in their use of evaluative criteria in writing between the fifth and sixth grade. Twenty-five students were interviewed in fifth and sixth grade. In the fifth grade, all students were taught writing by the same teacher who emphasized student choice of topic, recursive…

This paper highlights measurement issues faced when attempting to assess and interpret results of a school improvement project. Based on the assumption that to measure effectiveness, one must measure a wide variety of school factors, the paper presents a broad perspective on measurement problems and dilemmas in analyzing norm-referenced test data…

The effects of part-time work of high school students on school-related behaviors and on career expectations were studied. Five dependent variables were classified as school-related behaviors: days tardy, days absent, number of extracurricular activities, transcript grade averages, and self-reported grades. Four career expectation variables were…

To determine developmental patterns in emergent reading behaviors of young children, a longitudinal study was conducted of two-, three-, and four-year-old children's language when asked to "read" a favorite storybook. Thirty-two middle and low income children from a daycare center took part in four studies spaced over a year; four children were…

The High School and Beyond (HSB) Postsecondary Educational Transcript data file is provided. The transcript file includes data collected during 1984-85 from the school transcripts for all members of the HSB elder cohort (1980 senior cohort) who had attended any form of postsecondary institution since leaving high school. Data about the types and…

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 19.4% from fall 1987 to fall 1988, the highest since the…