As high schools offer more pre-Advanced Placement (pre-AP) and Advanced Placement (AP) courses to prepare students for college academics, students often are given quality grade point average (GPA) points to help compensate for the rigorous curriculum. In states where class ranking determines automatic university admission, fluctuations of class…

The College Board Advanced Placement Program allows high school students to take college-level courses and if an appropriate score on an exam is received, college credit is earned. While the program has had its detractors (access in rural and inner-city schools, lack of diversity, pre-selection of talented students, poor articulation with actual…

Results from prior research indicate that a student's academic self-concept is negatively influenced by the achievement of others in his or her school (a frame of reference effect) and that this negative frame of reference effect is not or only slightly reduced by the quality, standing, or prestige of the track or school attended (a "reflected…

Traditionally class rankings have been used by high schools to determine valedictorians and salutatorians. These rankings have also been used by colleges to make admission decisions and for awarding scholarships. While there is no direct link between college rank and college admission, there is evidence that not using class rank can reduce stress…

Objective: The purpose of the study was to determine whether students consume alcohol in greater quantities when drinking in celebration of an event or holiday versus typical drinking use. Celebratory occasions include tailgating during football games, holidays, and the beginning and ending of academic semesters. Participants: Traditional…

The purpose of this research is to compare students' perceptions of the learning environment in a traditional science classroom and a field study classroom. This mixed methods study used a sequential explanatory design. Phase one was the quantitative phase using two survey tools. A modified version of the "What is happening in this Classroom…

In 2001, the Louisiana Board of Regents adopted the "Louisiana Master Plan for Public Postsecondary Education: 2001" as a signal for new accountability standards in Louisiana institutions of higher education. The purpose of this study was to examine the power of the academic criteria utilized by the "Master Plan" to predict…

Texas' 2006 House Bill 1, which required all high schools in Texas to provide students with the opportunity to earn a minimum of 12 hours of college credit prior to their graduation beginning the fall of 2008, changed the high school experience. The goal of the bill was to smooth the transition from high school to higher education. By looking at…

This study examines student's perception of the campus racial climate and interactional diversity at selective undergraduate liberal arts institutions through an examination of data collected in the 2005 National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE). Student responses are selected from institutions identified as members of a specified group of…

The University of Texas at Austin administrative data between 1990 and 2003 are used to evaluate claims that students granted automatic admission based on top 10% class rank underperform academically relative to lower ranked students who graduate from highly competitive high schools. Compared with White students ranked at or below the third…

This study examines service-learning participation and religiosity for their effect on structural and individualistic attributions for poverty. Research on these factors is either insufficient or nonexistent. The data for this study come from a random sample of college students in a Southeastern state. Results indicate that participation in a…

The purpose of this study was to better predict how a first semester college freshman becomes prepared for college. The theoretical framework guiding this study is Vrooms' expectancy theory, motivation plays a key role in success. This study used a hierarchical multiple regression model. The independent variables of interest included high school…

An early admission call-up was used to attract high-achieving students to a private university in Lebanon. The call-up, which is essentially an offer of admission before the student takes any formal steps, was administered to the top 25th percentile ranked students of main feeder schools at a private university in Lebanon. Data were accrued for…

We find an individual's rank within their reference group has effects on later objective outcomes. To evaluate the impact of local rank, we use a large administrative dataset tracking over two million students in England from primary through to secondary school. Academic rank within primary school has sizable, robust and significant effects on…

New Leaders for New Schools, a nonprofit organization committed to training school principals, heads the Effective Practices Incentive Community (EPIC), an initiative that offers financial awards to effective educators. Through this initiative, New Leaders offers financial awards to educators in two urban school districts and a consortium of…