The multiple and conflicting identity pressures that young women in western society face have been remarked upon in the literature. Adolescence is a time when identity development activity intensifies, and this process can present young people with challenges. In this paper a social constructionist and interpretive frame is applied to such…

Argues that evidence for radical discontinuities between underlying organizations at different stages is often equivocal and that polarization of views concerning continuities and discontinuities in development may impede understanding. Specifically discusses major reorganizations, behavioral evidence for reorganization during development,…

This paper is basically the "story" of the Sloan Semester. It is written in a journalistic/case-study style. The Sloan Semester was a vibrant and vitally important undertaking that required the immediate attention of a group of dedicated educators. The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, though its sponsorship of the Sloan Consortium (Sloan-C),…

Focuses on the question of whether developmental improvement in performance on cognitive tasks is abrupt or continuous. Explains three model-based approaches to this question, and stresses that research conducted in these approaches has indicated that developmental improvements consist of jumps through discrete states. Concludes that these results…

The "right to education" proclaimed by the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights requires access to learning as well as the support systems. Since access can be interrupted by various circumstances, the possibility of providing continuity despite external dangers by using online distance education, offers an intriguing and valuable…

The third recommendation in ACTE's postsecondary reform position statement is to develop curriculum and instructional offerings that link to careers, foster lifelong learning, and encourage completion. Concrete linkages must be developed between middle and high school, postsecondary education and work, with lifelong postsecondary learning a part…

P-16 initiatives across the nation, with the endorsement of the National Governors Association, are striving to create a seamless education system from preschool through college graduation. P-12 and postsecondary educators are being asked to collaborate on a much deeper level. These efforts are rooted in the belief that "today's education system…

Nearly half of all American undergraduate students start their higher education at a community college. For the Latino population, that number jumps to over 60 percent. Many ENLACE sites realized that, to have an impact on the numbers of Latino students successfully attaining bachelor's degrees, they needed to bridge the transition between…

Reviews major federally initiated transition demonstration efforts of past three decades: Follow Through and Head Start Planned Variation; Project Developmental Continuity; Head Start Transition Project, National Transition Study; and National Head Start/Public School Early Childhood Transition Demonstration Project. Asserts that findings are far…

This monograph seeks to inform faculty, staff, administrators, and students about the nature of and structure in doctoral programs that lead to doctoral student development. It is accomplished through succeeding chapters, focusing first on an overview of existing student development theory and then on the structure of doctoral education and its…

This paper considers the bottom-up vision of the learning society. Unlike the top-down approach, the bottom-up approach does not start by specifying the purposes of learning which should direct the development of the learning society, but from observing interactions among learning individuals as agents. While in the relevant literature and…

Many studies measure developmental continuity in terms of an individual's maintenance of position on a given variable relative to the group studied. Such a measure is external to the individual and without reference to the function of the behavior for the individual. Research also tends to deal with variables rather than persons as the entities of…

P-16 education is an integrated system of education stretching from early childhood through a 4-year college, emphasizing continuity of student learning and alignment across school levels. It seeks to address problems with the present educational system, considering, for example, that "A" students in high-poverty schools score at the…

Examines two aspects of continuity, stability of individual differences and means, in a study from the middle elementary through high school years. Two hypotheses were supported: academic intrinsic motivation is a stable construct through these years, and with advancement in age, academic intrinsic motivation becomes increasingly stable. (Contains…

Reflecting on Bill Foster's influence on the author's work leads to reflections about the lifelong dialogue among scholars whose thinking and writing is continually refreshed and deepened by a scholarly field of dialogue. Over time, a dialogue between two scholars illuminates earlier scholarly influences on each of them, leading to the enrichment…