The purpose of the study was to identify and analyze strategies used by successful, goal-oriented Hispanic high school students. This study sought to suggest ways that school personnel can be more deliberate and effective in promoting these strategies to increase the number of Hispanic students attending college. It sought to explore the impact of social class, income, and teacher expectations on mobility for Hispanic high school students. A survey was conducted on one hundred twenty-one Hispanic high school students who attended the 1988 Chicano Latino Youth Leadership Conference. Interviews used a retrospective format. The overall approach for the study was ethnographic, since it provided greater opportunity to generate observations. Ogbu's (1986) minority typology identifying minorities as caste, immigrant, or autonomous was adapted and used to analyze and explain variations in the sample. The study identified four dominant themes that were mobility strategies for these students. The first strategy was shared values, i.e. believing that success was possible for them and that education was a means to obtaining that success. Second, the students all identified a period of time when they made their decision to achieve. For the lower income and lower class student, school personnel had a major impact on this decision to achieve. Last, these students all had strategies for avoiding distractions and managing the demands of school life that enabled them to stay focused on their goal. The study found that class, culture, and school do affect mobility. The lower the class and income, the more difficult the mobility process. The minority typology adopted in this study was useful for describing within group differences among Hispanics. Autonomous students are those whose parents' education and family income levels are in the middle to upper class range. Immigrant students are foreign born or have foreign born parents, and income levels range in the lower to middle class range. Caste students are born in the United States and parents' education and income levels are underclass or lower class. Teachers and counselors need to be aware of the critical importance they have in the lives of caste students. Caste students are the most at-risk of not having a challenging curriculum nor mentors who hold high expectations for their learning potential. They can be influenced by positive teacher expectations, such as high track placement, and mentoring relationships. In addition, community leaders and parents must step in and promote high academic standards for Hispanics, especially when peer pressure not to excel in school exists.

A three week orientation program was compared with a control program at a California continuation high school. Method. Every three weeks during the first semester of the 1989-90 school year students new to the school were randomly assigned either to take a three week orientation class as part of their five period schedule (n = 88) or a minimal two-hour session only (n = 66). Dependent variables were in five areas: school attendance, student productivity, involvement in career related programs, student citizenship, and perceptions and knowledge related to school adjustment. These yielded 16 specific DV's. Findings. Of the five areas of predicted differences, the first three were not supported, the fourth seemed supported, and the fifth partially so. Five of 16 null hypotheses were rejected: controls had significantly (p $<$.05) more students referred to the principal for discipline and days suspended; and experimentals showed higher perceptions of knowledge of the school's system, tested familiarity with that system, and familiarity with staff names and roles. Conclusions. It appears that the three week orientation program had some positive effect on student citizenship, on perceived knowledge, on tested knowledge, and on familiarity with staff names and roles. Four variables dealt with citizenship: number of students referred for discipline was significant but total number of referrals was not, and total days of suspension was significant but number of students suspended was not. Interpretation. (a) multiple staff involvement in the orientation program affected tested knowledge of staff names and the discipline and suspension variables; (b) information taught about the school system affected tested and perceived knowledge about it; and (c) increased knowledge of the school's system did not appear to affect attendance, productivity, or career involvement.

The purpose of this study was to examine the mentor relationship in a mentor program and to investigate its effects on at-risk students in relationship to their motivation, communication, and self-concept. The mentor relationship was an essential component of the dropout prevention program. The dropout prevention program was a mentor model designed to help at-risk students improve their grades and attendance and stay in school. Subjects of the investigation were 70 ninth and tenth grade students at a central California high school. The mentor group was pre- and posttested with a Piers-Harris Self-Concept Scale. The mentor group and the mentors were given the Mentor/Mentee Relationship Questionnaire Survey and the Mentor Analysis Questionnaire Survey respectively. It was hypothesized that a mentor relationship had a significant impact on grades and attendance of at-risk students and influenced higher levels of motivation, communication and self-concept. The data were analyzed using statistical procedures of means, t-test, and the analysis of variance (ANOVA). The results of the study supported the development of the mentor relationship as consistent, effective, and beneficial to both mentor and mentee. There were insufficient data to support higher levels of trust and motivation among students who completed the mentor program. However, communication and self-concept scores were higher among those students (p $>$.05). Approximately 75 percent of at-risk students who participated and completed the dropout prevention program (mentor program) significantly improved their communication, self-concept, grades and attendance (p $>$.05). The quality and function of the mentor relationship contributed significantly to the effectiveness of the program.

Relationships between feminism, clinical feminism, and professional characteristics of counselors were examined. A gender-proportional probability sample of Marriage, Family and Child Counselors (MFCCs) received a 3 part mail survey: (a) the Attitudes toward Women Scale (AWS) short form, measuring feminism, (b) the Feminist Family Therapy Literature Survey (FLS) assessing reading in the field, and (c) a background form eliciting characteristics of MFCCs' current practice. AWS scores did not differentiate between feminists and nonfeminists, requiring item analysis and manipulation of the factor space. The data were thus distributed between 4 categories: Strongly and Mildly Profeminist, and Strongly and Mildly Nonfeminist. The items were also reclassified for descriptive purposes relevant to today's feminism: Economic behavior, Family behavior, Legal behavior, Leadership behavior, and Social behavior. Due to almost complete ignorance of the feminist critique of family therapy, homogeneity in FLS data further contributed to ineffective Pearson correlations. It was determined that the feminist critique of family therapy has had virtually no impact on the current self-reported practice of MFCCs. Clinical feminism may be practiced by up to 5% of the sample, at least 95% retaining theoretical systems no longer useful in light of the sweeping social changes of the last 2 decades. Approximately 35% of the sample's gender-relevant beliefs were nonfeminist, a condition of fair weather feminism prevailing: feminist principles were likely to be abandoned in a clinical context. Various theoretical orientations may differentially mediate feminism. Feminist literature proportionally influenced more women than men, and a greater proportion of women were more profeminist than were men. Few MFCCs specialize primarily in family therapy, individual therapy being the preferred treatment mode. Finally, support was found for the feminist argument that it is within women's personal lives that their oppression is enacted and reproduced.

Purpose. Youth suicide and child abuse are major societal problems of the late twentieth century, with alarming rates of occurrence and significant negative effects. Prevention and treatment programs exist for students once they are identified as abuse victims or at high risk for suicide. However, the identification process is made difficult by the lack of discriminating signs and symptoms. Peers are often the first to hear about a friend's abuse or intent to suicide, but may not share that information with an adult. The purpose of this study was to determine whether exposure to information on reporting personal knowledge of abuse or suicidal intention affects the inclination of middle school students to report such knowledge to adults. Procedures. Three hundred and twenty three middle school students in public school classes in San Joaquin County (California) were included in the sample. A total of 14 classes (seven control and seven experimental) were used. A questionnaire (Peer Confidant Survey) developed to measure students' inclination to report peer disclosures was used in the study. During the study the questionnaire was administered three times to each classroom: pre-training, immediately following training and one month after completion of the training. The Peer Confidant training for the experimental group consisted of information on discrimination of disclosures, listening skills, training on whom to tell and what to tell, and discussion of what constitutes being a friend (not betraying a confidence versus reporting). Findings. Results of the study suggested that middle school students are already inclined to report knowledge of abuse and suicidal intent among their peers to adults. They also demonstrated the ability to discriminate between reportable and non-reportable disclosures. After exposure to the training program designed to increase inclination to report knowledge of abuse and suicidal intent, students appeared to temporarily increase their inclination to report knowledge of suicidal intent but not knowledge of abuse. No significant group differences were found among sixth grade, eighth grade, special education and gifted students. Implications of the study and areas for further research are discussed.

No description available.

The aim of this study was fourfold: (1) to measure the extent to which select circumstances weighed in driving-under-the-influence (DUI) offenders' intentions to drive after drinking; (2) to assess the impact of formal sanction, informal sanction, and moral inhibition with respect to intentions to drive after drinking; (3) to investigate the likelihood of each of fourteen rationalizations to represent a justification to drive after drinking; and (4) to examine possible associations between DUI offender characteristics and the factors indicated above. The offender characteristics of age, prior DUI offenses, and motor vehicle accidents involving alcohol were statistically significant, yet showed negligible relationships with intentions to drink and drive. Age, motor vehicle accidents involving alcohol, and "feeling mildly relaxed" were negatively, yet weakly, correlated with the Decision to Drink and Drive rating scale; that is, when these characteristics or factors were present, there was a weak association with the intention to drive. In general, the offenders disagreed with the rationalizations to drive after drinking and to a statistically significant degree. Notable exceptions were as follows: males agreed that it was not so wrong to drive after drinking if a sick friend needed to be taken home or if one had a tolerance for alcohol. Males (59%) and females (45%) tended to agree that it was not so wrong to drive while under the influence of alcohol on an open highway with no traffic. Tentative conclusions were offered: (1) the results may suggest a "treatment effect" related to the stringent enforcement efforts and the recency of conviction of 54% of the sample; (2) completing the survey provided information the offenders did not have at the time they drove after drinking, as well as, a symbolic opportunity to avoid the arrest and consequences for driving after drinking; (3) a demand characteristics effect may have been operating in that socially desirable responses were selected; (4) the number of vignette factors used may have been excessive and contributed to errors on the rating task.

Students have reacted positively to personal contact with school counselors in regard to learning about themselves in relationship to potential career goals. There appears to be a need, however, to ascertain the effect of career counseling at the upper elementary grades upon career awareness and development at a later secondary grade. In addition, there is a need to study the effects of individual versus group career guidance at the upper elementary grades with reference to the career choices selected at a later secondary grade.

The purposes of this exploratory study were to determine whether behavior modification procedures interrelated with group meeting experiences could be used effectively with boys on probation in their natural social environment to influence the frequency of: (1) school attendance, (2) promptness to classes, ( 3) disciplinary referrals , ( 4) violations of probation, and (5) attendance at group meetings. A final purpose. of the study was the development of a group meeting system using school counselors as cooperative treatment personnel with probation officers to increase rehabilitation contacts with delinquent youth. The study was based upon the assumptions of behavioral psychology. Thus, focus was on the observable interactions of human beings and environmental events, the experimental field study as an objective measure of this functional relationship, and the management of reinforcement contingencies to increase desired behaviors. An intrasubject replication design was used with the experimental group. In the first phase of the study, lasting eight weeks, baseline data on the four behaviors, school attendance, promptness to classes, disciplinary referrals and violations of probation were collected. During the second phase, a six-week reinforcement procedures, the experimental subjects were offered the opportunity to attend group meetings conducted by the probation officer and school counselor. The subjects could earn points for attending group meetings and for their performance relative to the four behaviors. These points could be exchanged later for days off probation at a prescribed ratio. At the end of the six-week phase, all reinforcement procedures were terminated temporarily; the weekly meetings continued, however, using conventional group counseling methods. This four-week non-reinforcement condition served as a second baseline phase alter which the positive reinforcement system was re-instituted for another six weeks. In addition to the experimental group, a control group of subjects was offered the opportunity to meet with a probation officer and school counselor using conventional group counseling methods. Data on the four behaviors and attendance at group meetings were recorded for both groups over the twenty-four weeks of the study. Two types of analysis were reported for the data. First a detailed presentation of the findings was made with both groups analyzed for intrasubject and intersubject effects. A two-factor "mixed" design was used in the analysis. Second, the various components of the cooperative group meeting system were descriptively analyzed. Also, individual subject profiles and profile assessments were included as a function of the intrasubject replication methodology. Several conclusions were reached as a result of this study. First, school attendance, classroom promptness and discipline referrals were not significantly altered through the use of behavior mortification techniques. Second, probation violations were significantly reduced through the use of behavior modification techniques. Finally, group meeting attendance was significantly higher during the reinforcement phase than during the non-reinforcement phase and also higher than for the group using conventional group counseling. The group meeting system offers an approach in which public schools and correctional agencies could cooperate in the rehabilitation of delinquent youth.

Purpose . The purpose of this study was to determine (a) the perceptions of teachers concerning the desirability and effectiveness of selected alternatives to social promotion and grade retention, (b) the perceptions of elementary school principals toward selected alternatives to social promotion and grade retention, and (c) compare the differences and similarities of perceptions of teachers and elementary school principals toward selected alternatives to social promotion and grade retention. The rationale for this investigation was derived from empirical research demonstrating retention's negative impact on retained students. Procedure . The sample population in the study included 114 second and third grade teachers and 36 elementary school principals. The study determined and compared the effectiveness of alternatives to social promotion and grade retention as perceived by representative samples of second and third grade teachers and elementary school principals from Stockton Unified, Manteca Unified, Lincoln Unified and Lodi Unified School Districts of San Joaquin County, California. Data for the study were collected through mail survey, which contained 29 items. Participants in the study expressed their degrees of agreement or disagreement regarding each item by selecting the appropriate response on a four-point Likert-type scale. Data collected through the survey were statistically analyzed using the Statistical Package of Social Science (SPSS) on a personal computer. Means, standard deviations, and rankings were computed for each survey item. A series of independent sample t tests were performed to determine if any significant differences existed between teachers' and school administrators' perceptions with regard to selected alternatives to retention. Findings . Principals and teachers strongly endorsed parental involvement, early identification and timely intervention, providing high-quality curriculum and instruction, high-quality professional development for teachers, and recruiting and retaining highly qualified teachers as the best alternatives to social promotion and grade retention. Conclusions and recommendations . Schools need to identify at-risk children early and provide targeted intervention. Parental involvement in the education of their children is crucial. School Districts should also strive to hire, and retain well-trained teachers and equip every classroom with high-quality curriculum and rich learning environment.