Interpreting change in educational equity

The effect of changes in state revenue, property wealth, and enrollment from 1969–1970 to 1976–1977 on the equality of total educational revenue was investigated for nineteen states with available data. An exploratory two-stage methodology allowed a simulation of the effects of holding each of these factors at their 1969–1970 values and comparing the result with 1976–1977 predicted values. It was found that changes in state revenue were most equalizing, while changes in property wealth and enrollment were disequalizing. In addition, it was found that the change in the behavioral relationship between state revenue, property wealth, and enrollment, and local revenues from 1969–1970 to 1976–1977 was equalizing in twelve of the states and was larger than the change in the value of the most important of these factors (state revenue) in seven of the states.     

The Japanese education system with special emphasis on higher education

The purpose of this article is to provide a brief analysis of the Japanese educational system and to give a somewhat detailed discussion of Japanese higher education. Its main conclusions are: although the bulk of higher education is catered for privately, the prestige institutions tend to be public ones; the character of the system as a whole seems to reflect Japanese society very clearly indeed since it supports high growth industries, reinforces the traditionally accepted distinction between the sexes, and determines both the structure of wages and salaries in general and its sex variance in particular; and that there are very serious problems currently confronting Japanese educationalists - these relate to the official inspection of textbooks, the emergence of anti-teacher violence within schools and the reduction in the size of the public subsidy to private education.The authors are extremely grateful for helpful comments and suggestions from Margaret B. Sutherland, Professor of Education, University of Leeds and Dr. Penny Francks, specialist on modern Japanese history at the Department of Chinese Studies, University of Leeds. However, the usual disclaimer applies.Ali M. El-Agraa is a Senior Lecturer in Economics, School of Economic Studies, University of Leeds, England and is the Visiting Professor in charge of International Economics and Middle Eastern Studies, Graduate School of International Relations, International University of Japan, Niigata for the period September 1984–August 1985. Akira Ichii is Professor of Economics, University of Chuo in Tokyo and is currently (April 1982–March 1984) a Visiting Fellow in the School of Economic Studies, University of Leeds.     

Shared book experiences in kindergarten: Helping children come to literacy

Repetitive shared book experiences provided by public school kindergarten staff were used to improve literacy competence and preparation for formal first-grade reading instruction. The entire 1983–1984 kindergarten population (N = 228) of a rural, racially mixed, southeastern school district in South Carolina received eight shared reading experiences for each of three classic children's books. The shared book experience is defined as the situation in which a group of two or three children sit close enough to an adult to see the print as a book is read. Readings were provided by teachers, teacher aides, school volunteers, older students, and audiotapes. The children were individually administered the South Carolina State Department of Education's mandated Cognitive Skills Assessment Battery (Boehm & Slater, 1974) during the first 3 weeks of first grade. The control group, composed of the 1982–1983 kindergarten population (N = 269), had 73% of its children at or above the state cutoff for first-grade readiness, and the experimental group had 83% at or above the cutoff. (T = 22.2, p < .01). In addition, the school district staff reported a 10% increase in the number of children being placed in “top” reading groups. Repetitive, personal shared book experiences were found to enhance literacy awareness and competence, to improve preparation for formal first grade, and to broaden children's literacy interests.     

Predicting persistence from the student adaptation to college questionnaire: Early warning or siren song?

With the currently dwindling traditional applicant pool, retention is higher education's holy grail of the nineties. Western Psychological Services is marketing its new Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire (SACQ) as providing early evidence of poor adjustment and potential attrition. While the SACQ closely parallels Tinto's model of institutional departure, no previously published research addresses its ability to differentiate persisters from nonpersisters. Using discriminant analysis, the present study examined (1) the extent to which the SACQ accurately predicts student departure for a private, comprehensive university; (2) SACQ items distinguishing nonpersisters; (3) use with an incoming class; and (4) evidence linking the SACQ with intervention strategies. The paper will appeal to a wide audience, especially those concerned with enrollment management and assessment.Presented at the Thirty-first Annual Forum of the Association for Institutional Research, San Francisco, May 26–29, 1991.     

A Model of Future-Oriented Motivation and Self-Regulation

This article presents a theoretically grounded model of motivation and self-regulation that places personally valued future goals at its core. We attempt to integrate two lines of theorizing and research that have been relatively independent of one another: the social–cognitive perspective on self-regulation (e.g., Bandura, A., 1986) and theories of more future-oriented self-regulation (e.g., Markus, H., and Nurius, P., Am. Psychol. 41: 954–969, 1986; 1986; Nutin, J., Motivation, Planning, and Action: A Relational Theory of Behavior Dynamics, Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ, 1984; Raynor, J. O., Motivation and Achievement, Winston, & Sons, New York, Chap. 7, pp. 121–154, 1974). We argue that personally valued future goals influence proximal self-regulation through their impact in the development of proximal subgoals leading to future goal attainment. The development of a system of proximal subgoals increases the likelihood that proximal tasks are perceived as instrumental to attaining future goals. Proximal tasks that are perceived as instrumental to reaching personally valued future goals have greater overall incentive value and meaning than proximal tasks lacking this instrumental relationship, and their impact on task engagement is correspondingly greater. Research supporting these claims is reviewed and the implications of this model of future-oriented self-regulation for research and intervention are discussed.     

The Graduation Efficiency Index: Validity and Use as an Accountability and Research Measure

Legislatures and coordinating boards are looking for efficiency measures as greater numbers of students wish access to higher education. We propose the Graduation Efficiency Index (GEI) as an efficiency measure that is more valid and useful than elapsed time from matriculation to degree (time to degree). The index is computed by subtracting the number of transfer credits from the minimum credits required for the degree, then dividing the remainder by the sum of the enrollment census day credits in which the given student has enrolled while in college. Research is reported in which this index is applied to data from 1993–94 University of Washington bachelor-degree recipients. Among the results, nontransfers were found to graduate with more efficiency than transfers and B.A.-degree recipients with more efficiency that B.S. recipients. The GEI correlated only modestly with time to degree and part-time vs. full-time enrollment status, and correlations with admissions data were quite small.     

Expectations for college and student persistence

Tinto postulates that students enter college with expectations. If these expectations are unmet, there is early disenchantment with the social and academic communities. Such disenchantments hinder academic and social integration which, in turn, influence subsequent institutional and goal commitments and ultimately student departure. These formulations are tested in a multi-institutional study of 263 first-time freshmen who entered four-year colleges and universities. The findings indicate that both academic and social integration are positively influenced by the meeting of expectations for academic and career development. Social integration is positively influenced by expectations for opportunities for personal involvement, but negatively affected by expectations for a collegiate atmosphere. Indirect effects on intentions to remain in the focal college are indirectly influenced by collegiate atmosphere and academic and career development. Implications for enrollment management and the development of linkages between theories of college choice and student departure are drawn.An earlier version of this article was presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Atlanta, GA, April 12–16, 1993.     

The economic impact of nonresident students on West Virginia's economy

This paper describes a cost-benefit analysis of the impact of nonresident higher education students on the economy of West Virginia during the academic year 1985–86. During that year, the 10,091 FTE nonresident students enrolled in higher education institutions in West Virginia contributed to the state economy an estimated $72,182,000 through tuition and fees, living expenses, and travel expenses of parents and friends. The $72,182,000 flowing through the state's economy generated $86,618,318 in direct and indirect financial benefit to the state, while the state allocation attributed to the education of these nonresident students was $28,668,537. This return on investment, a benefit to cost ratio of 3.02, represents the net economic impact on West Virginia's state and local economies associated with higher education's nonresident enrollment in 1985–86. The ratio suggests that for each one dollar invested by the state in non-resident students, the state realized a return of $3.02 over the period of one academic year.Presented at the Twenty-Seventh Annual Forum of the Association for Institutional Research, Kansas City, May 1987.     

Issues management in strategic planning

The concept of issues management is gaining the increasing attention of both researchers and practitioners in the field of strategic planning. Issues management—which is concerned with the identification, analysis, probability, and timing of a developing issue and with the organizational response—can spell the difference between the success and the failure of the planning effort. This paper delineates the attempt of a major public university to integrate issues management into the institutional strategic planning process. The intent is to make issues management an ongoing and systematic organizational exercise.Paper presented at the Twenty-fifth Annual Forum of the Association for Institutional Research, Portland, April 28–May 1, 1985.     

Effects of social and economic factors on four-year higher-education enrollments in Virginia

Based on human capital theory, the demand for higher education is investigated within a statewide system. A multiple regression approach is applied to data that measure the following by geographic municipality (i.e., county or city): the ratio of high school graduates enrolled in a given institution to that institution's entering freshman enrollment (dependent variable); eligible population, academic ability, educational attainment, income level, wage rate, unemployment rate, cost of attendance, and local environment (independent variables). Using the SAS GLM procedure, various breakdowns of the demand function by institutional grouping are presented. Squared multiple correlations for the various models range from .3 to .5.Presented at the 22nd Annual Forum of the Association for Institutional Research, Denver, May 1982.     

The demand for community college education

This article describes a model of Community College (CC) enrollment which is tested using cross-sectional data for the 1969–1970 academic year. The sample consists of 126 relatively homogeneous CCs divided into sixty-two separate markets. Tuition, income, proximity of four-year schools, and the age of a CC are found to have significant influences on enrollment.An estimate is made of the marginal cost to a CC of attracting more students by lowering tuition.     

Reader and nonreader conception of the spoken word

The development of the concept of word in readers and nonreaders was investigated. Five reader and nonreader male students from four age groups (6.5–7.5; 7.6–8.5; 8.6–9.5; 9.6–10.5) were tested using the procedures developed by J. Downing and P. Oliver (Reading Research Quarterly, 1973–1974, 9, 581–586). Results from an analysis of variance indicated significant effects for reading levels (p < .001), age (p < .05), stimuli (p < .01), and a significant interaction between reading level and stimulus class (p < .05). Evidence indicates nonreaders may be confused about the differences between a short word and phonemes, syllables, sentences, and long words.     

Individual differences in trait motivation: development of the Motivational Trait Questionnaire

The development and initial evaluation of a measure of motivational traits, the Motivational Trait Questionnaire (MTQ), is described. Based upon theorizing by Kanfer and Heggestad (In B.M. Staw, & L.L. Cummings (Eds.), Research in organizational behaviour, vol. 19 (pp. 1–56). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press, Inc.) development of the MTQ began by identifying and defining five motivational traits. Item pools were generated for each of the proposed traits, and initial facets were developed through a content-sorting procedure. Two studies were conducted to evaluate the MTQ at the item, facet, and scale levels. In Study 1, the facet scales were refined based on item-level factor analyses and item characteristics. An exploratory factor analysis of the refined MTQ facets provided support for three of the proposed traits. In Study 2, the facets were re-evaluated at the item-level. The factor structure of the MTQ facets was similar to that found in Study 1. An extension analysis from the three trait factors to extant measures of achievement, test and trait anxiety, and personality provided construct validity evidence for the MTQ scales. Results from these studies support the multidimensional structure of motivational traits proposed by Kanfer and Heggestad (In B.M. Staw, & L.L. Cummings (Eds.), Research in organizational behaviour, vol. 19 (pp. 1–56). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press, Inc.). Implications for motivation research in education are discussed.     

Price response in enrollment decisions: An analysis of the High School and Beyond Sophomore cohort

Most research on student price response was conducted on students who entered college before the Pell Grant program was implemented in fall 1973. This study uses the High School and Beyond Sophomore cohort, the High School Class of 1982, to analyze the effects of the amount of tuition charged and aid offered on student enrollment decisions. The findings include (1) all forms of financial aid—grants, work, and loans—were effective in promoting enrollment; (2) one hundred dollars of aid (any type) had a stronger influence on enrollment than a one-hundred-dollar reduction in tuition; (3) low-income students were more responsive to increases in grant aid than to increases in loans or work study; and (4) high-income students were not responsive to changes in aid amounts.     

A constructivist approach to numeration in primary school: Results of a three year intervention with the same group of children

This article is a follow-up to an earlier article (Bednarz and Janvier, 1982) which presented the results of a research study on the understanding of numeration by primary school children. That study pointed out the main difficulties children meet in learning numeration, presented a theoretical framework that made explicit a conception of numeration different from the one considered in current mathematics teaching, and also proposed a reference framework utilizable for learning and evaluating this notion. The experimentation in a classroom announced at the end of the article, was undertaken from 1980 to 1983 with the same group of children from the time they were in first grade (6–7 years old) to the third grade (8–9 years). The theoretical and reference frameworks developed in the former research study proved to be effective for developing a constructivist approach leading children to build a meaningful and efficient symbolism of number.This article is mainly devoted to presenting the results of this three year longitudinal study (part C). At first, we shall characterize briefly our intervention based on a constructivist approach of numeration (part A). Also we shall describe the conditions under which the experimentation was carried out, and the means used to evaluate the impact on the pupils (part B).     

Michigan education trust: Characteristics of first- and second-round enrollees in a state tuition prepayment plan

Pay Now, Learn Later Plan Proves Popular in Michigan, said the headline (N.Y.Times, August 12, 1988). The plan was the Michigan Education Trust (MET) advance tuition payment plan proposed by Governor James Blanchard in 1986. The Michigan Legislature approved MET at the end of 1986, and open enrollment for the first round took place in 1988. The second round of enrollment occurred in October, 1989. This research paper examines the characteristics of the first- and second-round enrollees, and it then compares the beneficiary (the legal term for the child who was enrolled) characteristics with those of the general population of the state and with the 1988 entering freshman classes of public universities in Michigan.Presented at the Annual Forum of the Association for Institutional Research, Louisville, KY, May 13–16, 1990.     

Financial aid and student persistence: An application of causal modeling

This research uses path analysis to explore the relationships among a number of variables (including financial aid variables), which have been shown in both theory and prior research to be related to student persistence. The subjects were 227 full-time freshmen, who enrolled Fall Quarter 1982, in a liberal arts college at a large commuter institution of higher education, and who received financial aid. The model, which includes background and academic variables, accounted for 35% of the variance in persistence. Persistence was measured by credits completed over a two-year period. Significant variables that showed the largest total effects on persistence were college grade-point average and high school rank. The financial aid variables in the model showed no significant effect on persistence in this study of students who received aid. The model was cross-validated on a second data set and the model was supported.Revised version of a paper presented at the Twenty-Sixth Annual Forum of the Association for Institutional Research, Orlando, Fla., June 22–25, 1986.     

The national vocational education plan for unqualified young people (16–18 years old): The French experience (1982–1984)

In 1982, the French Government instituted a new National Vocational Education Plan (NVEP) to combat the nationwide problem of students leaving the school system prior to receiving adequate vocational preparation. This plan affects 100,000 young people between the ages of 16 and 18 years. The NVEP gave to each Regional Government the opportunity to create its own programmes and curricula; it renewed counselling and individual assessment facilities; it established new tracks within the education system; it also established co-operative education (linking education to the world of work). Concurrently, an Assessment and Observation System was created.During the first assessment year (1982–1983), information was gathered about existing local educational resources, counselling facilities, characteristics of the 16 to 18 year-old population, functioning of the educational tracks and co-operative education system. During the second year (1983–1984), the assessment provided quantitative statistical results. The most striking result concerns the configurations of educational and employment experiences which seemed to determine the ability of students to find employment. Students with a background of job intensive experiences were more successful in finding subsequent employment than those without. Students with education intensive experiences entered an educational programme because they were unable to find a first job.While the benefits of the NVEP were not immediately apparent, it nevertheless became evident that at this level of training, education was not necessarily the royal road to employment. However, employment criteria cannot be the only way to assess a vocational education system.

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Zusammenfassung 1982 setzte die französische Regierung einen neuen Nationalen Berufsausbildungsplan (NVEP) inkraft zur Bekämpfung des landesweiten Problems des Abgehens der Schüler von den Schulen, bevor sie durch eine entsprechende Berufsausbildung vorbereitet sind. Dieser Plan betrifft 100.000 junge Leute im Alter von 16 bis 18 Jahren. Der NVEP gab jeder Region die Möglichkeit, ihre eigenen Programme und Curricula zu entwickeln; er erneuerte die Möglichkeiten zur Beratung und individuellen Bewertung; er bahnte neue Wege innerhalb des Erziehungswesens und führte die kooperative Erziehung (Verbindung von Schulbildung und Arbeitswelt) ein. Gleichzeitig wurde ein Bewertungs- und Beobachtungssystem geschaffen.Während des ersten Jahres der Bewertung (1982–1983) wurden Informationen zusammengetragen über bestehende lokale Bildungsressourcen, Beratungsmöglichkeiten, typische Merkmale der Bevölkerungsgruppe der 16 bis 18jährigen, über die Auswirkung der neuen Wege im Erziehungswesen und über das kooperative Erziehungs-system. Während des zweiten Jahres (1983–1984) wurden durch das Bewertungs-system statistische Ergebnisse quantitativer Art bereitgestellt. Das beeindruckendste Resultat betrifft die Konfigurationen von Schul- und Berufserfahrungen, die anscheinend die Fähigkeit der Schüler, eine Anstellung zu finden, bestimmen. Schüler mit einem Hintergrund intensiv berufsbezogener Erfahrungen waren erfolgreicher später eine Anstellung zu finden, als Schüler ohne solche Erfahrungen. Schüler mit intensiv schulbezogene Erfahrungen meldeten sich zu einem Weiterbildungsprogramm an, da sie nicht in der Lage waren, eine erste Anstellung zu finden.Während die Vorteile des NVEP nicht sofort offenkundig waren, wurde dennoch ersichtlich, daß auf dieser Ausbildungsebene Schulerziehung nicht notwendigerweise ein Tor zur Anstellung öffnet. Gleichwohl können berufliche Einstellungskriterien nicht der einzige Weg zur Bewertung eines Berufsausbildungssystems sein.

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Résumé En 1982, le gouvernement français a inauguré un nouveau Plan National d'Enseignement Professionnel (PNEP) afin de combattre à l'échelle nationale le problème des élèves qui quittent le système scolaire avant d'avoir acquis un niveau adéquat de formation professionnelle. Ce plan concerne 100.000 jeunes gens âgés de 16 à 18 ans. Le PNEP donnait la possibilité à chaque Région de créer ses propres programmes et curricula; il renouvelait les possibilités de consultation et d'évaluation individuelle; il ouvrait de nouvelles voies au sein du système d'éducation; il jetait également les bases d'une éducation coopérative (entendue dans le sens d'une liaison éducation—travail).Au cours de la première année d'évaluation (1982–1983), des informations furent compilées sur les ressources éducatives locales disponibles, les possibilités de consultation, les caractéristiques de la tranche d'âge des 16 à 18 ans, le fonctionnement des voies éducatives et du système d'éducation coopérative. Lors de la seconde année (1983–1984), l'évaluation fournit des résultats statistiques quantitatifs. Les résultats les plus significatifs concernent les configurations des expériences éducatives et relatives au travail qui déterminaient apparemment la capacité des étudiants de trouver un emploi. Les apprenants aux expériences intensives de travail avaient plus de facilité à trouver un emploi par la suite que ceux qui n'en avaient pas. Les étudiants aux expériences intensives d'apprentissage commençaient un nouveau programme d'étude parce qu'ils n'arrivaient pas à trouver un premier emploi.Si les résultats positifs du PNEP n'ont pas été immédiatement apparents, il est cependant apparu évident qu'à ce niveau de formation, l'éducation ne représentait pas la voie royale conduisant à un emploi. Toutefois, les critères relatifs à l'emploi ne peuvent constituer le seul moyen d'évaluation d'un système d'enseignement professionnel.

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The Assessment and Observation System was supported by the French Ministry of Vocational Education and directed by Dr. G. Malglaive. The assessment of the National Vocational Education Plan was conducted by the National Assessment Team (S. Aubrun, E. Beauvallet, P. Chevalier, D. Colardyn, A.-M. Lucas, J.-G. Meilhac) with the effective contribution of 15 regional teams.

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We are specially grateful to Jessie Miller, graduate student in Psychology, Boston University, whose co-operation and helpful comments on a previous draft made this paper possible.     

Co-analysis of work in the triadic supervision of preservice teachers based on neo-Vygotskian activity theory: Case study from a French university institute of teacher training

The goal of this study was to evaluate the effects of the joint training activities of a cooperating teacher and a university supervisor during an advisory visit on (a) the professional development of a preservice teacher's activity and (b) the reorganization of mentoring activity following this visit. The results are considered from a theoretical perspective based on cultural-historical psychology (Leontiev, A. (1984). Activity, consciousness, personality. Moscow: Progress Editions.; Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Interaction between learning and development. In: M. Cole, V. John-Steiner, S. Scribner & E. Souberman (Eds.), Mind in society (pp. 79–91). Cambridge: Harvard University Press.; Vygotsky, L. S. (1997). Thought and language. Paris: La Dispute.; Vygotsky, L. S. (2003). Consciousness, the unconscious, emotions. Paris: La Dispute.) and the clinical study of activity (Clot, Y. (2003). Vygotsky, consciousness as liaison. In: Vygotsky, consciousness, the unconscious, emotions. Paris: La Dispute, pp. 7–59.; Clot, Y. (2004). Work between functioning and development. Bulletin de Psychologie, 57(1), 5–12.; Clot, Y. (2008). Work and the power to act. Paris: PUF.; Clot, Y., & Faïta, D. (2000). Types and styles in work analysis. Concepts and methods. Travailler, 6, 7–43.). The discussion focuses on the conditions that led to the greater effectiveness of the advisory visit, which is an integral part of teacher training programs that alternate classroom work with co-analysis of the work. Proposals are also made for new directions in training supervisors and cooperating teachers with a view to building a training team.     

Letter name knowledge and the ability to learn to read by processing letter–phoneme relations in words: Evidence from Brazilian Portuguese-speaking children

Previous studies [Scott & Ehri (1990) Journal of Reading Behavior22: 149–166; de Abreu & Cardoso-Martins (1998) Reading and Writing:An Interdisciplinary Journal 10: 85–104] have shown thatprereaders who know the names of the lettersuse a visual–phonological strategy to learn toread words in which the names of one or moreletters can be clearly detected in thepronunciation of the words. The present resultsextend these findings by showing that BrazilianPortuguese-speaking prereaders who know thenames of the letters can process letter–soundrelations to learn to read spellings in whichthe letters correspond to phonemes, not toletter names. Following Ehri & Wilce'sprocedure [(1985) Reading Research Quarterly 20:163–179], Brazilian preschool childrenlearned to read two types of simplifiedspellings: phonetic spellings, that is,spellings in which the letters corresponded tophonemes in the pronunciation of the words(e.g., SPT for sapato), and visualspellings, that is, spellings in which theletters did not correspond to sounds in thepronunciation of the words, but which werevisually more salient (e.g., VST for pijama). The children learned to read thephonetic spellings more easily than the visualspellings, suggesting that they recognized theletter–phoneme relations in learning to readthe phonetic spellings. This interpretation isbolstered by the results of correlationalanalyses between knowledge of letter sounds andperformance on the two word-learning tasks.While knowledge of letter–phonemecorrespondences did not correlate withperformance on the word-learning task with thevisual spellings, it correlated significantlyand positively with the children's ability tolearn to read the phonetic spellings.