The Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) is currently implementing two comprehensive school reform initiatives, Making Middle Grades Work (MMGW) and Making Schools Work (MSW). The purpose of both initiatives is to raise student achievement, and they both rest on the belief that all students can complete a rigorous program of studies at middle…

In fall 1996, California's Los Rios Community College District (LRCCD) undertook several initiatives to increase enrollment, including the construction of state-of-the-art computer laboratories to meet demands for high tech training and the expansion of course offerings to non-traditional times. To evaluate the effectiveness of these efforts,…

The academic crossover study was developed to answer two questions: (1) What is the course-taking pattern of the different groups of academic majors? (e.g. what is proportion of academic load taken outside the major); and (2) What is the client-serving pattern of the different subject disciplines? (e.g. what are the groups of students served by…

This study examined the relationships between students' noncognitive characteristics and their performance on the ACT Assessment. Of particular interest were the contributions of these noncognitive variables to explaining ACT Assessment performance (over and above course work taken, grades earned, and high school attended). The sample for the…

Describes the course content and structure of a one-credit, elective senior seminar designed to inform a college psychology department about the effectiveness of their instruction. Assessment measures included a faculty-generated multiple choice test, a student-generated multiple choice test, student surveys, focus groups, and a student essay on…

Describes a study done at Oakton Community College which assessed how student characteristics, self-perceptions, academic skills, and course-taking patterns can predict academic achievement. Findings show that students have unrealistic perceptions of their own academic competency and that math skills are a stronger predictor of academic…

Analyzes enrollment and other statistical data from Harvard University toward discussing the question of why women are less likely than men to major in economics. Discovers little evidence to suggest that the dichotomy is dependent on mathematics aptitude. Alternative explanations include a lack of interest and socialization. (MJP)

Discussed are the results of a questionnaire which concerned students' course choices and why students chose not to study computing. The lack of human orientation, mathematical ability, and lack of computer contact in secondary schools are identified. (KR)

The process of choosing a scientific major was examined in a nationally representative sample of 2,592 male and female college students of above-average ability. Socioeconomic status, high school teacher and guidance counselor influences, family and personal life priorities, and attendance at a four-year college were predictive factors. (TJH)

Discusses the development of early attitudes to mathematics and how these may account for the differences in the numbers of boys and girls achieving success with mathematics in the secondary school and electing to study mathematics at the senior level. (YP)

Identifies the determinants of female junior high school students' intentions to enroll in elective physical science courses in high school using the theory of the Reasoned Action model. Finds that the intentions were a function of both attitude toward performing the behavior and subjective norms. (Author/YP)

An Australian study of year 11 girls investigated factors in their choice of mathematics instruction beyond required courses. It is argued that the campaigns being undertaken to encourage girls to choose mathematics are sometimes undermined by the structure of the mathematics curriculum available to them. (MSE)

Examines the motivational factors that contribute to course selection in a sample of students enrolled in an intensive three-week academic experience for gifted adolescents. Researchers evaluated the selections of 947 students and found that course participation fell along traditional gender-stereotyped lines. The complex motivations behind…

Asserts that the number of students who major in economics is important to economics departments because college and university budgets often are affected by enrollment. Reviews the number of four-year economics degrees since 1977-78 as reported by the National Center for Education Statistics. (CFR)

Examines between-school variation in gender and ethnic inequality in course-taking of physics and biology. A multilevel analysis of 19,743 Israeli twelfth graders reveals the sciences are taken less often by underprivileged Jewish ethnic group students, physics is taken more often by males and biology by females, and gender typing is particularly…