In a response to a review of Volume VI of the Youth in Transition series, the authors discuss how competency testing can be used to improve basic education. (MLF)

Blacks are more likely than whites to use the extreme response categories in Likert-type questionnaire items. This general tendency has important implications for Black-white comparisons along self-esteem dimensions. (Author)

This first volume of a planned series summarizes the first 2 years of a 6 year longitudinal study of about 2,200 tenth grade boys in public schools. The broad purposes were to study the student and his changes, plans, and behavior. “Conceptual Framework and Purposes” presents a conceptual framework that views the major criterion areas… Continue reading Youth in Transition. Volume I, Blueprint for a Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Boys

Marijuana use among high school seniors has been declining since 1979. This paper explores two alternative explanations of this trend: that young people have become more conservative in general, or that specific changes in views about marijuana have led to the decline in its use. We report bivariate and multivariate analyses of questionnaire data from… Continue reading Explaining the Recent Decline in Marijuana Use: Differentiating the Effects of Perceived Risks, Disapproval, and General Lifestyle Factors