This annotated bibliography is reformatted and customized by the Center for Positive Practices. Some of the authors featured on this page include Patricia Lester, George F. Harrison, Vernon M. Briggs, Ronald E. Blood, Celestino Fernandez, Lily Chu, Everett D. Edington, Denver. Colorado Migrant Council, Norman Kaufman, and David L. Williams.
(1980). The Farmworker in the U.S.: A Profile. Social, economic, educational, and attitudinal data concerning migrant and seasonal farmworkers in 16 states were obtained through personal interviews from January 1978 through February 1979. Responses involving about 84,000 individuals were tabulated for use in program planning, administration, and funding. Data from interviews conducted in the field or in farmworker service organization (FSO) offices were recorded on standardized forms and sent to the Farmworker Data Network (FDN) in Wheatridge, Colorado, for compilation and entry into the computerized data base. Analysis of FDN data from 16 states, using FSOs in New Mexico and North Dakota as control groups, showed that the average farmworker earned $3,025 per year, had completed 7.3 years of school, had 3.94 dependents, and was approximately 33 years old. Hispanics comprised 55% of the experimental group, males were the head-of-household 87% of the time, and food was the primary need. As the study evolved, 10 research hypotheses with suggested methodology, thought to be of major importance in increasing understanding of seasonal and migrant farmworkers, emerged for future research. Besides numerous tables and figures, this report contains 22 photographs, 7 one-page excerpts from related articles, and copies of the interview schedule. Descriptors: Agricultural Laborers, Attitude Measures, Databases, Demography
(1981). Television as a Means of Training Rural Young-Adult Apprentices in Solar Energy. Using television as a means of delivery for an educational program in rural areas and looking at the media preferences of young adults, this study was conducted in a non-metropolitan area of northwestern New Mexico to examine the effectiveness of television and videotape to provide basic principles of solar energy to 15 young apprentices in a sheet metal program. Pretests were given, followed by classroom study of printed materials, re-testing, and home study. Five audio visual segments were shown in two subsequent meetings, and the final comprehensive test administered. Information from a questionnaire was used to obtain group means, variances, and standard deviations, and minimum and maximum scores were obtained from aptitude tests, pretests, posttests, and final tests. Learning gains were shown by almost all, and the apprentices scored a pretest average of 14.73, a posttest of 22.07, and a learning gain of 7.33. Findings revealed that learning by preferred medium (print/audiovisual) does not appear to lead to greater learning gains, but significant learning can take place using audiovisual or printed materials. Therefore, television is recommended as an effective means of providing instructional programs for young adults who are long distances from centers of instruction. Descriptors: Apprenticeships, Audiovisual Instruction, Instructional Materials, Intermode Differences
(1980). Youth Employment Programs in the Southwest. Three Case Studies. This report presents planning, implementation, and first-year operational phases of Youth Employment and Demonstration Projects Act (YEDPA) programs by prime sponsors in the Southwest. The prime sponsors were the city of Albuquerque and the encompassing county of Bernalillo, New Mexico; the Coastal Bend Manpower Consortium Area in Texas (administered by the city of Corpus Christi, Texas, plus 12 additional counties, most of which are rural); and the city and county of El Paso, Texas. Although widely separated in geographic location and significantly diverse in industrial composition, the three prime sponsor areas had several common key characteristics. All have large minority group populations (mostly Hispanics); all have large youth populations; all three are characterized as generally low-wage labor markets, are largely nonunion areas, and have serious poverty and unemployment problems. The report contains information on the following from the three case histories: knowledge development (no significant efforts undertaken); content and quality of work experience, including job quality and effects on the summer program for youth; youth participation and targeting, including participant characteristics and enrollment; substitution and overhead of the program; institutional change; changes at the local level; federal influences upon local planning and legislative uncertainties about Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) programs; and response of local administrators to federal policy decisions. Descriptors: Adolescents, Case Studies, City Government, Disadvantaged Youth
(1979). Difficulties Encountered and Potential for Technical Assistance in Developing Three-Year State Plans in Adult Education. This report focuses on the areas of difficulty encountered by states in developing their three-year Adult Education State Plan required by the Adult Education legislation of 1978. It highlights those areas when technical assistance from the United States Office of Education is warranted. Findings and recommendations are based on the Division of Adult Education's (DAE) interviews with adult education state and local staff and observations of the critical processes and events which transpired during the planning process in a nationally representative sample of seven states: California, Delaware, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, and New Mexico. The first chapter is an introduction. Chapter 2 describes five types of technical assistance provided to the states through DAE: (1) model for participating in developing and carrying out adult education state plans, (2) regional meetings, (3) state plan development specialist, (4) draft regulations, and (5) national conference. Chapter 3 discusses difficulties encountered in planning as a result of the new legislation, including participatory planning, needs assessment, services expansion, interagency cooperation and collaboration, and local education agency (LEA) vs. non-LEA grants. The final chapter presents seven recommendations formulated by the DAE as a result of observations and discussions regarding the state plan development process. Descriptors: Adult Education, Adults, Agency Cooperation, Consultants
(1981). A Retrospective Examination of a University's Thirteen Years in Latin America. The context of educational reform within which U.S. higher education has worked in selected Latin American countries is examined, with attention directed to the specific experience of the University of New Mexico. The evolution of the Latin American Programs in Education office (LAPE) in the university setting, the organizational milieu in which the university attempts to deliver its professional expertise in the international arena, and the impact of those efforts upon the host countries who have been the recipients of the university's services are considered. Although in the early years LAPE was a marginal unit within the university, over a 15-year period it has achieved full legitimacy as a result of the growth of the bilingual faculty in the College of Education and in other university units, as well as the creation of a master's degree program in educational administration and supervision specifically designed for Latin American educators and conducted completely in Spanish. Attention is directed to the differences in degrees of bureaucracy among the cooperating units, the differences in time perspective and orientation, the differences in relationship to impersonality and value-neutrality, and the differences in organizational perspectives derived from goal differences. The difficulties of dealing simultaneously with three superstructures and three cultures–the university, the United States Agency for International Development, and the foreign government–are considered. The need for caution in evaluating the impact of the university program on educational practice in Latin America is addressed. Descriptors: Bilingual Teachers, Bureaucracy, Consultation Programs, Cultural Differences
(1979). Schooling in the Borderlands: Neglect, Inequality and Cultural Conflict. Of the more than 2 million Spanish-surnamed students enrolled in the public elementary and secondary schools, more than 70% are located in the five Southwestern states of Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas, and of these more than 95% are Mexican Americans. However, in all five Southwestern states the proportion of Chicano students to Anglo students decreases at every level, due mainly to the higher attrition and dropout rate for Chicanos than for Anglos. Two key resources are recommended to those interested in understanding the Chicano experience in schools. First is Thomas Carter's "Mexican Americans in School: A History of Educational Neglect," and the second is a set of six reports published between 1970 and 1974 by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. Four other publications are briefly noted in this paper. Results of research in the literature are discussed in the areas of achievement, self concept, aspirations, and bilingual/bicultural education of Chicanos. The basic conclusion reached is that the literature available is minimal, inferior in quantity and quality, and falls far short of providing a basis for comprehensive assessment of the problems in Chicano education or a basis for formulation of policies to ameliorate these problems. [More] Descriptors: Academic Achievement, Aspiration, Bilingual Education, Elementary Secondary Education
(1981). Assessing Parent Education Program Relevance to Changing Family Structures (Executive Summary). The relevancy of parent education program (PEP) activities to family structures, especially non-traditional family structures, was examined among 209 responding PEPs in the states of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. Although programs were not randomly selected, an attempt was made to ensure that those selected included private, church, school, community, city, county, state, and federal programs. The survey instrument used covered four areas of investigation. Part I, Family Structure, asked respondents to describe the extent to which their planned program activities dealt with issues related to various family types. Part II, Topics in Parent Education, requested respondents to indicate the extent to which their planned program activities dealt with a selected range of topics. Part III, Program Description, asked respondents to describe aspects of their programs. Part IV, Participant Description, requested that respondents provide demographic information about the clients they serve according to four main variables: (1) family type; (2) employment pattern; (3) racial group; and (4) income level. Results indicated that while PEPs show signs of becoming more relevant to non-traditional families, most PEP activities are provided for traditional families. [More] Descriptors: Family Structure, Parent Education, Participant Characteristics, Program Descriptions
(1981). Resource Directory: Migrant and Indian Exceptional Children. Designed as a supplementary resource for special education directors and teachers, this directory covers a five state area which includes Arizona, California, New Mexico, Texas, and Washington, and concentrates on targeted resources for Indian and migrant children with exceptional needs. After general discussions of services available for migrant and Indian children and of regulations covering the transfer of information, the directory lists the five states alphabetically, and includes state and regional resource people. Health clinics or hospitals for migrants are named, followed by names of Crippled Children's Services, Indian health facilities, and urban Indian health centers. All health facilities are listed alphabetically under each category by city or town. Where available, types of services are indicated. The last section is a listing of Bureau of Indian Affairs social service agencies. The directory includes all Title IV Indian Education Act projects for Texas. For each state, Bureau of Indian Affairs and Indian Health Service agency offices are listed under their administrative area office. [More] Descriptors: American Indian Education, American Indian Reservations, American Indians, Children
(1980). Tuition and Fees in Public Higher Education in the West: Practices, Trends, Policy Considerations. WICHE Clearinghouse Information Series 3. Information on the way in which tuition and fees are determined in each of the 13 western states served by the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming) is presented. Changes in tuition and fee charges at western institutions since 1977 are also reported. Several issues related to setting public college tuition are reviewed, including the following: the share of the cost of education in each type of institution that should be borne by students through student charges, and whether the cost borne by each source of financial support should be different for different levels of education (lower and upper divisions and graduate). The policy or basis for setting tuition and fees for full-time students at colleges and universities in each of the 13 western states is described, and policy profiles for public four-year and two-year institutions are appended. Additional considerations for setting tuitions are examined in regard to the following broad categories: determining the share of costs for tuition charges, determining tuition increases, and technical considerations in defining the cost of education. Recent changes in the amounts charged for tuition and fees and information on tuition differentials for resident and graduate students are examined. The analysis indicates that four states index charges to some percentage of the cost of education and nine do not. Furthermore, although authority to set tuition is usually reserved for the appropriate governing board, state legislatures strongly influence the process. [More] Descriptors: College Students, Comparative Analysis, Decision Making, Educational Finance
(1980). Oversight Hearings on Indian Education. Hearings Before the Subcommittee on Elementary, Secondary, and Vocational Education of the Committee on Education and Labor. House of Representatives, Ninety-Sixth Congress, Second Session (September 3, 5, 1980). The hearings dealt with Office of Indian Education (OIE) administration of the Indian Education Act, especially the part A entitlement grant process. Representatives from Title IV projects and Indian organizations (All Indian Pueblo Council; Gallup-McKinley County, New Mexico, Public Schools; Oregon Indian Education Association; Robeson County, North Carolina, Compensatory Indian Education Project; North Carolina Consortium on Indian Education; Native American Resource Program; Indian Parent Committee, Waterford, Michigan) noted problems with the administration of the fiscal 1980 grant process, including poor cash flow, reduced involvement of Indian parents with their children's education, reduced funding because of the program's "cost guide," local program cancellation, ambiguous certification forms, inconsistent and contradictory rulings, lack of technical assistance, and poor communications. Department of Education and OIE representatives responded to critical testimony, stressing their offices' commitment to Indian Education and describing a new organizational arrangement to help create important links among different Federal programs serving American Indians. They outlined past operations and recent changes (regarding technical assistance, the cost guide, and application quality reviews) to promote improved operations regarding title IV part A. The project and organization representatives outlined some as yet unsolved problems within the Department of Education and OIE. [More] Descriptors: American Indian Education, American Indians, Elementary Secondary Education, Federal Aid
(1980). Impact of a Developmental Program on Student Performance. AIR Forum 1980 Paper. The effectiveness of a basic skills program instituted in fall 1979 at the University of New Mexico is discussed. Freshmen falling below specified American College Testing program cut-off levels were placed in developmental courses that they had to complete successfully before being eligible to enroll in freshman classes in the area of their deficiency. The social studies and natural science portions of the program are considered. The courses were designed primarily to raise students' ability to read, analyze, and evaluate social studies or natural science materials and only secondarily to enhance knowledge in a particular subject. The pre/post-test changes of students who passed a social studies or natural science basic skills course are described, with particular emphasis on students' growth in skills and content areas assessed by a standardized test. Secondly, through covariance analysis, the individual departments that taught the basic skills courses were compared to determine whether they were equally effective in raising students' skills, which was the fundamental goal of the program. Descriptors: Academic Ability, Basic Skills, College Freshmen, College Preparation
(1980). Research on Disadvantaged Students and Graduates. A study compared the academic achievement and job market success of academically and/or economically disadvantaged and nondisadvantaged vocational education students. Data from student records and transcripts and employer follow-ups were collected on 2,191 students enrolled in vocational majors in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Students were classified into four categories (economically disadvantaged, academically disadvantaged, economically and academically disadvantaged, and nondisadvantaged). They were compared with respect to twenty-three variables. (One measured success in a vocational major; fourteen measured initial job market success; and eight measured long-term employment success.) No significant differences were found between academically disadvantaged and nondisadvantaged students. Differences between economically disadvantaged and nondisadvantaged students were found for seven variables: economically disadvantaged students had higher drop-out rates and were rated less highly both soon after and a year or more after employment. Their initial salaries were higher, but this difference was no longer evident after a year. Participation in a preparatory program obliterated most significant differences between those classified as economically and academically disadvantaged and those classified only as economically disadvantaged. Further research on the causes of these differences and on possible changes in student testing and placement is recommended. (A list of variables and employer follow-up responses are appended.) Descriptors: Academic Achievement, Comparative Analysis, Economically Disadvantaged, Educationally Disadvantaged
(1980). Effects of a Multicultural Awareness Course on Teachers of Ethnically Different Students. During the summer of 1980, 27 graduate students (13 Chicano and 14 Anglo) at New Mexico State University participated in a course designed to emphasize 3 areas of awareness relevant to multicultural education: (1) clarification of personal ethnic, cultural, and sex role attitudes and identification; (2) increased sensitivity to ethnic, cultural, and sex role stereotypes and biases and the acquisition of accurate information and realistic understanding of minority groups; (3) recognition of potential areas of bias in existing curricula and the development of strategies for integrating multicultural education in public school curricula. Activities of the course were focused on helping students clarify their attitudes about their own ethnic, cultural, and sex role identification, sharpen their awareness of ethnic and cultural groups, and find strategies for implementing multicultural education. Results of an ethnic literacy test administered the first and last week of the course indicated a gain of more than seven points on the mean score. A recommendation for more courses of this nature was indicated by student feedback and the instructors' comments. Descriptors: Cultural Awareness, Cultural Education, Ethnicity, Higher Education
(1980). Personality Factors and Achievement Motivation of Women in Higher Education Administration. Female and male higher education administrators in Texas and New Mexico were compared in terms of their sex role orientation, motivational factors, and administrative styles. In addition to individual interviews of the 68 administrators, a questionnaire was developed that included items from the Bem Sex Role Inventory, Work and Family Orientation Questionnaire (a measurement of motivation), Texas Social Behavior Inventory (a measurement of self-concept), and Attitudes Toward Women Scale (a measurement of profeminist attitudes). For comparison purposes, the same instrument was administered to 111 undergraduate students and 69 public school teachers. The results show that women administrators in higher education are not necessarily less feminine than other women, rather, they seem to have incorporated additional masculine traits, such as self-reliance, achievement motivation, and assertiveness in order to succeed in their nontraditional roles. Female higher education administrators differ drastically from female teachers and students in that they scored higher on masculinity, self-concept, socially desirable traits, and some dimensions of achievement motivation (i.e., work and mastery), but not on other dimensions (i.e., competitiveness and personal unconcern). There was little or no discrepancy between female and male administrators regarding their perceptions of their work roles, the qualifications needed, difficulties and satisfactions encountered, and how they became involved in higher education administration. Female administrators tended to be younger, less educated, single and less likely to have children than male administrators. Descriptors: Achievement Need, Administrator Attitudes, Administrator Characteristics, Administrator Role
(1980). The Effect of Eliminating Time Restraints on a Standardized Test with American Indian Adults. To investigate the effect of time restraints on the diagnostic test scores of Native American students entering Bureau of Indian Affairs schools, two groups of students at Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute (SIPI) in Albuquerque, New Mexico, were given the Stanford Diagnostic Reading Test, (Blue Level), 1977 edition. The test scores indicated that the experimental group, with no time restraints, scored higher than the control group, which was required to finish the test under the time restrictions imposed by the test's authors. Also, a smaller percentage of students in the experimental group was assigned to the remedial reading laboratory. Therefore, it was recommended that the Stanford Diagnostic Reading Test be given to SIPI students without the time limits suggested by the test's authors for the following reasons: (1) it would allow the SIPI students the additional time necessary for a second language speaker to interpret the question both in the specific Indian language and English; (2) it would minimize group testing which creates an aura of competition and is not encouraged in many Indian cultures; (3) it would allow an individual to be tested without constant monitoring by an instructor; (4) it would not emphasize "time stress" which is avoided in many Indian cultures; (5) it would remove the additional test anxiety created by time limits. Descriptors: American Indian Culture, American Indian Education, American Indians, Comparative Analysis