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The literature is reviewed that addresses the association between background factors and educational outcomes. After completing the review, Westat, Inc. issued this report which synthesizes the literature into correlates of academic performance and outcomes other than academic achievement. The former considers such background variables as socioeconomic status, personal characteristics of students, school variables, attitudes, motivations, self-perception, aspirations, intentions, and expectations. The latter discusses the relation of background factors to education, occupation, and income; considers socioeconomic status, ability, and attendance at college; looks at job experience as an outcome of education; and studies attitudes and motivations. Summaries of both sections appear, and a section detailing the report's conclusions and an epilogue describing the methodology used in relating background variables to outcomes are included. (SE) Primary type of information provided by report: Procedures (Background Variables).

This prototype of a guide for educational change agents focuses on the roles and tactics of personnel employed in nonprofit educational research and development organizations and in state and intermediate education agencies. Included is a compilation of reports from recent users of three classes of tactics: information, demonstration, and field agent. These tactics are conceptualized as following an adoption/diffusion continuum whose stages can be labeled, step by step, from awareness through interest and evaluation to actual utilization. Change agent behavior is viewed as ranging from impersonal through personal to interpersonal. The organization of this paper reflects these underlying patterns. At the same time, behavioral sciences and marketing research are brought to bear in an effort to help explain the need for planning and evaluation strategies based on market segmentation, product differentiation, and communication skills. Case studies are briefly discussed, and a table of indicators is provided as a tentative guideline. In conclusion, some policy implications are briefly outlined with a view to initiating greater interaction among practitioners, diffusion personnel, behavioral scientists, and funding sources. A list of references is also provided. (Author/PD)

The socioeconomic characteristics of the Rural Delmarva Counties, defined as those non-SMSA (Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area) counties located on the Delmarva Peninsula, are presented. These counties include: Sussex and Kent in Delaware: Accomack and Northampton in Virginia; and Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Annes, Somerset, Talbot, Wicomico, and Worcester in Maryland. The remaining 2 peninsula SMSA counties are New Castle County, Delaware and Cecil County, Maryland. This publication reports comparative tables and descriptive information to further the understanding of the general public, agencies, elected officials, and administrators of similarities and differences among these rural counties. Data were gatnered from statistics in the "County and City Data Book, 1972" (U. S. Government Printing Office) which contains summary information from several censuses. Each table and narrative heading includes the year the census was reported. Throughout the publication "rural" refers to non-SMSA counties except in Table 2 where urban is defined as towns of 2,500 or more population and rural as all those under that size. Table 31, which ranks the counties on 23 social and economic characteristics to determine their quality of life, is the only attempt at analysis rather than general comparisons and grouping of similar counties. Several demographic highlights are also listed. (NQ)

A study was made to derive an equation for predicting the "subjective" textual information contained in a text of material written in the English language. Specifically, this investigation describes, by a mathematical equation, the relationship between the "subjective" information content of written textual material and the relative number of errors committed by a learner when asked to predict, letter by letter, the content of given textual material. The relationship shows that the subjective information of a given text for a specific learner is directly proportional to the number of wrongly-guessed signs made by that learner. This is expressed mathematically by: I=3.1E; Where: I=Information in Bits; E=Number of wrongly guessed signs. The application of Shannon's guessing procedure (1951) in this study permits the measurement of the "subjective" information of a given text for a specific learner. The derived equation permits the measurement of information in terms of a value that is dependent not only on the inherent qualities of the subject matter, but also on the internal state of the learner. (Author/WCM)

This memorandum reports on the preliminary research using a 24-item inventory designed to measure teacher's positions in relation to education issues and teaching decisions. The instrument, whose development is reported, is intended to identify representatives of two dichotomous styles of teaching: traditional, teacher-centered teaching and experimental, pupil-centered teaching. Each item in the inventory consists of a pair of extreme positions on an issue, to which the subject gives one of five responses ranging from strong agreement with the first statement to strong agreement with the second statement. The items were assigned to four subscales: Controlling, Rigidity, Individualism, and Professionalism. Scales, scores on two combined scales (R+C, P+I), and total scores were computed. In addition, Teacher Attitude Inventory (TAI) scores were compared with observations of teacher behavior obtained on an observation instrument developed as part of a larger project that the TAI also served. The TAI was administered twice to primary and intermediate teachers in two school districts attended by students of different socioeconomic strata. Differences in teaching styles between the two groups of teachers, as informally observed by the experimenter, were shown by self-reports on the TAI to exist, except in relation to Professionalism. Data on reliability and validity are included, and conditions suitable for obtaining accurate self-reports are described. (Author)

This paper states that the real issue in multicultural education is to gain a clear sense of cultural dynamics as they affect education and to develop effective strategies for guaranteeing real equity in educational opportunity for all. The author discusses some essentials of multicultural education. First, the following nine essential considerations should be contained in multicultural education programs: (a) the teaching process is always a cross cultural encounter; (b) all teaching tools are culture bound; (c) the classroom is a potent matrix; and (d) the teacher must understand that all minds are equally complex. Second, teachers must develop the following skills to teach students from other cultures: (a) the ability to communicate; (b) the ability to diagnose knowledge and capabilities; (c) the ability to evaluate the professional literature bearing upon multicultural education problems; (d) the ability to diagnose oneself; and (e) the ability to recognize cultural equivalencies. Third, three basic attitudes that should emerge as teachers work cross-culturally are described. Fourth, the clinical context for multicultural teacher education is described in seven essentials. The author concludes that there is hope for success in improving the ability of teachers to work with children from different cultures if training programs give the highest priority to this problem and if the successful cross-cultural experiences of teachers of all races and socio-economic background are used as a guide. (A 17-item bibliography is included.) (PD)

One of twelve case studies growing out of the Educational Governance Project, this report contains a description and an analysis of the process through which Minnesota State government establishes policy for its public elementary and secondary schools. This process is affected by many factors, such as the availability of fiscal and human resources, demands arising from population changes, and the power of individuals and groups who represent private interests. Lack of time and money prevented an indepth study of all these factors and necessitated the focus on the role and impact of the various actors -- official and unofficial -- who became involved at the State level in setting public school policy. Some data resulted from an investigation of the way in which three recent education decisions were determined. Additional data were derived from studies of the perceptions held by a cross section of participants of the influence relationships characterizing the operation of the State education policy system. (Author/JF)

In the introduction to this annual report of the Council for Cultural Cooperation and the Cultural Fund of the Council of Europe, it is stated that while th e year's end did not see the council's efforts result in a full-scale European Office of Education, intensified cooperation and corresponding strengthening of the resources of the Cultural Fund were accomplished. The document is divided into the following sections, each of which discusses the council's activities in the topic area: (a) organization of education (including pilot experiments in permanent education, diversified development of tertiary education, and education of the 16-19 age group); (b) curricula, content, subjects (ranging from interdisciplinarity in the teaching of secondary school subjects to the reform of the study of pharmacy at university level); (c) training of teachers; (d) educational technology; (e) research cooperation; (f) exchange agreements; (g) mobility and equivalence; (h) documentations and publications; (i) cultural development; and (j) youth activities. Appendixes include a listing of display material, programs financed by the Cultural Fund in 1973 and a balance sheet for funds as of the end of 1973. (JA)

A computer-based system, called the FLOW system, was used in experimental studies of human learning. The student learns a simple computer language from printed instructions and can run his programs interactively on the FLOW system. An automated tutor simulates a human tutor who watches over the student and gives help when the student has difficulties. The system also records detailed protocols of the interactions among the student, the computer, the automated tutor, and the human tutor for later analysis. (Author)

The problem of the role of ability and education in career achievement is investigated in this cross-cultural study using a model developed in the United States by Duncan and modified by Blau and Jencks. The replication links variables of a respondent's income, schooling, achievement, ability, and occupation to similar variables for the respondent's father and a variable for family size. The study is is based on data gathered in Sweden from 1938 to the present from 1,544 third graders. Eleven hypotheses tested by applying the model to the data confirm the United States model with the following variations: father's occupation is in indirect rather than direct relation to the son's occupational status; background effects are mediated by schooling and ability, especially with respect to occupational status, and are more powerful determinants of education; and educational effects are more powerful determinants of ability at maturity. Some incongruences between the Swedish data and current analytical techniques and theoretical questions related to use of background variables, caution against basing educational policy on the models. Tables and figures illustrate the data and models; a bibliography concludes the report. (JH)

This report is concerned with the relationship between income and schooling. A theoretical model explores the role of schooling as an informational or screening device with an expected profit maximization framework. The issue revolves around the extent to which formal schooling serves to augment worker productivity and, thus, social product, as opposed to conveying information to employers about the probable productive capabilities of prospective workers without, in itself, affecting those capabilities. Empirical tests are formulated to disentangle schooling's productivity augmenting and identification functions. The conclusion drawn is that the apparent use of schooling as a screening device does not appear to stem from a mere identification of productivity types. In fact, the pure productivity augmenting view of the income-schooling relationship appears greatly more tenable. (Author/KSM)

The sex-role attitudes of 910 once-married females, aged 40-44, were examined to ascertain their support for traditional as opposed to modern sex-role orientations. In addition, 5 variables (education, employment status, residence, age at marriage, and number of children) hypothesized to influence these attitudes were tested by analysis of variance for the statistical significance of the observed relationships. The subjects had participated in a 25 year longitudinal study of a cohort of people from nonmetropolitan areas in Pennsylvania. Data for the present study were obtained in 1971 by personal interviews and self-administered questionnaires. The 2 categories of items were: 1) attitudes toward work and employment; and 2) aspects of sex-role stereotyping. Findings show little support for either traditional sex-role attitudes or for the modern, equalitarian model. Instead, there was considerable ambivalence and ambiguity in these women's sex-role attitudes. Education was clearly the most important correlate of modern sex-role attitudes. Similarly, employed women and urban women had more modern attitudes than unemployed and rural women, although the effects of these variables were somewhat less than that of education. The 2 indicators of role-traditional living, age at marriage, and number of children, were largely unrelated to attitudinal dimensions. Findings are in tabular form. (Author/NQ)

The educational system of Iran is examined in this document. The basic structural pattern of Iranian education provides for six years of elementary and six years of secondary divided into two 3-year stages. Higher education, including teacher education, is offered at a variety of universities, colleges, and institutes. Vocational programs are available. Schools at all levels may be public, semipublic, or private. Iran's educational system is currently undergoing reform as part of the government plans for the country's modernization and development. Under these plans, the government is not only revising the school system's structure and curriculum, but is also striving to meet the mass educational needs and correct the educational deficiencies of both children and adults, particularly in rural areas where literacy training programs are emphasized. Of major note is the authorized revision of the elementary-secondary school system structure, which the government plans to introduce into the schools on a grade-by-grade schedule. A selected reading list concludes the document. (Author/JR)

This document examines the current educational system of Yugoslavia, including vocational, higher, and teacher educational programs. Elementary, secondary, and higher education in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia is free and public. The system begins with a compulsory 8 years at the elementary level, and usually continues with 4 years at the secondary level. Secondary education programs are comprised of general academic education and various vocational schools. The programs can continue for 2-5 years at the undergraduate level, until the student has received his first degree, and end with a varying number of years at the graduate level. A selected reading list concludes the document. (Author/JR)

Part of a larger effort in creating a computer-based European Documentation and Information System for Education (EUDISED), the present document contains four papers proposing specifications for procedures and formats to be incorporated in the documentation standards of EUSIDED. The first is a "Preliminary Study for the Design of a Coding System to Identify the Physical Forms of Both Book and Nonbook Educational Materials.""EUDISED Format Limited Coding Version" contains proposed changes in the existing coding structure and punctuation conventions for automated bibliographic data bases. "EUDISED Film Format" includes coding procedures for films and is intended to demonstrate the adaptability of the more general EUDISED format. The last paper, "A European Information System for Nonbook Materials Suitable for Educational Use," examines the feasibility of developing information retrieval systems that will enable individuals in different countries to locate nonbook materials produced and cataloged in other EUDISED countries. (DGC)

This questionnaire study surveyed the attitudes of public school administrators regarding several topics associated with teacher preparation programs. These foci included: (1) the content of the letter of reference written for student teachers and interns by cooperating teachers (in this study, cooperating teachers are those practicing teachers who work with student teachers and interns in their own classrooms), (2) suggestions by administrators for improving the opportunity for employing inexperienced teacher candidates, (3) interview questions often asked by administrators, and (4) the employability of elementary interns as opposed to student teachers. These topics were analyzed with data collected by means of a survey of a sample of Wisconsin public school administrators. (Author)