Percentage plans such as the Talented Twenty program purport to assist and motivate high ranking students to attend college and grant access to higher education. This type of plan is particularly important to students enrolled in high priority schools who might not view themselves as potential college students. This study examined the relationship between Florida’s Talented Twenty program that begins intervention with juniors and the college aspirations for high ranking students at a high priority school. Numerous studies have established that increased levels of education lead to higher salaries, career mobility, and an increased quality of life (e.g., Bowen, 1997; Leslie & Brinkman 1988; Pascarella & Terenzini, 1991, Swail, 2000). Given the importance of students’ decisions regarding whether or not they will attend college, understanding how and when they make decisions about attending college is important for them, their parents, advisors, and educational administrators. This research examined students’ perceptions and insights via interviews. The overarching research question was: How do high ranking high school students attending a high priority school in a south Florida district perceive their college opportunities? Sixteen high ranking students, grades nine – 12 from a high priority school in Miami-Dade County participated in the study. Participants were identified by a school counselor and individual semi structured interviews were conducted at the school. Utilizing a student development theoretical framework developed by Hossler and Gallagher (1987) that centered on students’ predisposition, search strategies and choices, data were organized and emergent themes analyzed. The analysis of the data revealed that in alignment with the framework (a) parents were the strongest influence in the development of these students’ college aspirations, (b) these students formalized their higher education plans between eighth and 10th grade, (c) these students actively engaged in academic searches and learning opportunities that increased their chances to be admitted into college, and (d) there was no relationship between knowledge regarding the Talented Twenty program and their educational decisions. This study’s findings suggest that interventions and programs intended to influence the educational aspirations of students are more likely to succeed if they take place by the eighth or ninth grade.

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No description available.

The purpose of this study is to make an investigation relating to certain factors and influences that have some bearing upon decisions made by graduating seniors in high schools to attend college or vocational school before entering a vocation or professional career.

by Josephine Shui-fun Law. / Includes questionaire in Chinese. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 46-62). / ACKNOWLEDGEMENT --- p.i / TABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.ii / LIST OF TABLES --- p.iii / LIST OF APPENDICES --- p.iv / ABSTRACT --- p.1 / Chapter CHAPTER I -- --- Introduction --- p.2 / Sociological Factors Socioeconomic Status --- p.5 / Psychological Factors Achievement Motivation --- p.6 / Self-Esteem --- p.7 / Sex Role Orientation --- p.8 / Gender differences on Aspirations Educational Aspiration --- p.11 / Career Aspiration --- p.12 / Purpose of the Study --- p.14 / Chapter CHAPTER II -- --- Method Subjects and Data Collections --- p.15 / Instruments --- p.16 / Chapter CHAPTER III -- --- Results --- p.23 / Chapter CHAPTER IV -- --- Discussion --- p.34 / REFERENCES --- p.46

This project examines the impact factors such as parent involvement and teacher support have on Mexican American students' decisions about higher education.

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

The study was concerned with the testing of a modified causal model of college anticipation and attendance for a nationwide sample of Puerto-Rican and Mexican-American high-school seniors. The key problem of this study was defined on the basis of two fundamental criteria. The first states that social-structural and social-psychological components of sociological theory can provide basic information needed to comprehend the educational aspirations and achievement behaviors of Hispanic youth in the United States. The second theoretical tenet of this study was that the logic of the modified Wisconsin Model of status attainment can be understood as a common process that applies to all sectors of the American system of stratification and mobility. The data used in this study were extracted from the High School and Beyond: A National Longitudinal Study for the 1980s (HSB) and its First Follow-Up. Path coefficients associated with the direct and indirect effects were used in attempting to explain the variance in postsecondary educational plans and attainments of the subjects. A summary of the most significant findings, using the aforementioned data follows. The analysis of the educational attainments for the two ethnic group subsamples shows no statistically significant difference when the two samples are classified by gender. The recursive causal model used in this analysis is not completely successful in explaining the variance in the dependent variables (postsecondary educational plans and attainments) of both Mexican-American and Puerto-Rican high-school seniors. As a result, only about one-fourth of the degree of change in postsecondary educational plans and less than one-half of the variability in the level of educational attainments are accounted for by the antecedent variables. Present results reduce the impact of some of the social-psychological intervening variables on the level of educational plans of Hispanic adolescents. On the other hand, the role of objective variables (academic achievement and socioeconomic status is magnified. The influence of some of the objective variables on the process of educational attainment is also noticeable.

Thesis (M.A.)--Miami University, Dept. of Speech Pathology and Audiology, 2008. / Title from first page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 35-38).

Dissertation (Ph.D.)--The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2009. / Directed by Andrea Hunter; submitted to the Dept. of Human Development and Family Studies. Title from PDF t.p. (viewed May 5, 2010). Includes bibliographical references (p. 62-74).