Search

The article looks at the process used by undergraduate medical schools in Australia to select students. A discussion on the main components used in the process of selecting medical students in the University of Western Australia (UWA) is given, the Tertiary Entrance Rank, the Undergraduate Medicine and Health Sciences Admissions Test (UMAT) and the selection interview. The process used at UWA to choose and rank the student applicants for medical course is discussed. A brief look at the selection process of medical schools in universities outside Australia is given.

The article examines several factors that affect the outcomes of the selection process for medical students in Western Australia. The pre-existing factors are gender balance in the medical course and equity issues related to the representation of the medical student cohorts. A discussion of trends in the first preference selection for medical students is provided. The results of a study of the gender balance in the undergraduate medical course in 2005 are discussed as well as possible reasons for the change in gender balance.

The article discusses a study that explored changing the process of choosing undergraduate medical students in Australia. The original selection process was based on high academic achievement at the secondary school level which was replaced with a system in which the required level of academic achievement was marginally reduced. The study examined the reasons for the changes in the selection process, the nature of the procedures and consequences of the changes. Some significant changes to the medical recruitment process in various countries are discussed including the increased in the proportion of any age-level cohort entering tertiary institutions.

The author discusses his involvement in The University of Western Australia's (UWA) Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry's development of a process for selecting its students. His tasks include the development of a method of combining the component entry scores, academic, aptitude test and interview and construction of the interview questions and rating scales. The author describes the highlights of his career in education. He explains the issues that motivated the medical faculty at UWA to change the selection of its students from a process that rely entirely on tertiary entrance scores.

This paper investigates how students at the State University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ), one of the first Brazilian universities to adopt race-based quotas for admissions, interpret racial categories used as eligibility criteria. Considering the perspectives of students is important to understand the workings of affirmative action policies because UERJ's quotas require applicants to classify themselves. Students' interpretations of those categories often diverge from the interpretations intended by people who shaped the policy. Students' perspectives are formed by everyday experiences with categorisation and by their self-assessment as legitimate beneficiaries of quotas. In contrast, the policies were designed according to a new racial project, where black consciousness-raising and statistics played an important role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article uses qualitative case study methodology to examine why the racial composition of magnet schools in Nashville, Tennessee, has shifted to predominantly African American in the aftermath of unitary status. The article compares the policy contexts and parents' reasons for choosing magnet schools at two points in time—under court order and under unitary status. Social networks, choice sets, and “closer to home” student assignment policies are identified as key influences on the changing demographics of magnet schools in a postunitary status environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on several myths related to the effectiveness of higher education which are examined by the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (NCHEMS) in the U.S. These include the relationship between outcomes and money, the association between the institution's admissions selectivity and quality of learning, as well as the connection between family income and access to college. It explores how public institutions are funded to determine how much funding is really needed to meet the level of performance that a state expects from their institutions. A detailed discussion which clears other underlying issues is presented.

The article provides information on the legality of single-sex schooling in primary and secondary education in U.S. It notes the issue of whether single-sex education advances gender equity in an educational system that has a history of segregation in terms of race, economic lines, and gender. It cites the opposition of civil rights group including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to the separation of the sexes in education. It discusses the constitutional and statutory framework of single-sex schooling that includes Title IX of the Education Amendments and the Equal Educational Opportunity Act (EEOA) of 1974. It also features the occasions in which the Supreme Court considered the constitutionality of single-sex schooling along with the arguments against single-sex schools.

Copyright of Cadernos de Pesquisa is the property of Fundacao Carlos Chagas and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In this article the author reflects on the measurement of an academic institution's success based on graduation rates. He argues that using graduation rates to measure an institution's success is problematic due to the schools' differences in terms of mission and student body. Graduation rates of open admission schools and open admission institutions are presented. The author suggests building a definition of "success," that considers the complexities, challenges and material conditions of students.

The article analyzes the implications on the usage of social science evidence as an important component of the U.S. Supreme Court's school desegregation jurisprudence. It examines the evidence used, misused, and ignored by the justices. It reveals that by outlining what social science studies indicate may be consequences of the Court's ruling of schools. It mentions that social science research has led to accepted conclusions in the benefits of racially diverse schools.

Background/Context: Unlike the situation nationally where desegregation progress is faltering, the school district in Rock Hill, South Carolina, has recently undertaken measures to increase balance in pupil assignment despite considerable local opposition to these measures and the absence of a court order requiring the district to do so. Moreover, while other districts that are also pursuing desegregation increasingly rely on voluntary strategies such as mag- nets, the Rock Hill school district has relied more on adjusting the boundaries of mandatory attendance zones. This article investigates the conditions and developments that facilitated the school district's voluntarily increasing its desegregation efforts through the use of mandatory strategies. In so doing, the article expands upon our previous work that raises the possibility of a new politics of school desegregation. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study: The purpose of this essay is to clarify the meaning of voluntary desegregation; to understand the political, demographic, and other conditions that affected desegregation efforts in Rock Hill; and to relate these conditions to broader issues such as the changed (since the civil rights era) relationship between the federal government and local school districts on issues involving desegregation, the relative merits of race-versus class-based public policy, citizen participation in desegregation planning, and the Supreme Court's consideration of voluntary desegregation. Setting: Rock Hill, South Carolina Research Design: Case study Conclusions/Recommendations: We find that Rock Hill's school desegregation efforts were facilitated by a change in school board elections, the current relatively loose coupling of policy venues on issues involving desegregation, the overlap between the interests of Blacks and working-class Whites in the development of a high school reassignment plan, citizen participation in desegregation planning, and effective leadership from the district's administration. The findings from this case study suggest that in some situations class-based public policy is more effective than race-based public policy, but they also caution equally strongly against making any sweeping claims for the generic effectiveness of class-based public policy. The findings also suggest why and how, contrary to the situation in the civil rights era, the workings of local politics in southern school districts may currently be consistent with the pursuit of school desegregation, not antithetical to it. Because of this consistency, a Supreme Court ruling against voluntary desegregation may be viewed as undermining not only the pursuit of equality of opportunity, but also the democratic ideal of popular sovereignty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Depending on state statutory language, charter schools may be able to exercise more control over their student body composition. Unlike traditional public schools, charter schools may have the opportunity to increase student body diversity by drawing students from across traditional school district boundary lines. Specifically, depending on the state statutory language, charter schools may be permitted some flexibility in recruiting and admitting students. This study investigates the admissions and recruitment practices of eight high-achieving charter schools and considers whether charter school leaders negotiate state statutes to create a diverse student body. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a review and assessment of existing theoretical accounts to explain differentials in access to education and training in advanced economies. These theories tend to focus on the analysis of the influence of a set of economic, sociological and political variables on access to education. Existing theories are criticized on two grounds. Firstly, they seldom take into consideration the crucial role of political-institutional factors, and in particular, welfare states' actions through direct investment and regulation in shaping access levels. Secondly, they focus narrowly on the analysis of different stages of education and training, and this does not reflect the current policy emphasis on lifelong learning. The paper concludes with an outline of a future research agenda to address these gaps, and also calls for a more rigorous analysis of the weight of the different factors affecting access. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This historical analysis, built on topics illuminated through framing analysis, examines how the Arkansas Gazette and Arkansas Democrat portrayed a key period during the Little Rock Central High School desegregation crisis of 1957. Readers were offered two distinctly different constructions of social reality. The Gazette came across as the regretful realist, reinforcing its support for guided social change by framing federal power as superior to state power and the Central situation as part of a broader civil rights struggle. The Democrat came across as a manual for segregationists, strengthening its support for the status quo by framing the state as sovereign and Central as a case in which local conditions justified segregation. The study's results raise questions about how the newspapers' framing might have contributed to thinking during the crisis and ultimately become part of society's collective memory of an important civil rights battle. Such questions are particularly relevant as we mark the 50th anniversary of the crisis and consider the lessons learned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to the big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE), attending academically selective high schools negatively affects academic self-concept. Does the BFLPE persist after graduation from high school? In two large, representative samples of German high school students (Study 1: 2,306 students, 147 schools; Study 2: 1,758 students, 94 schools), the predictive effects of individual achievement test scores and school grades on math self-concept are very positive, whereas the predictive effects of school-average achievement are negative (the BFLPE). Both studies showed that the BFLPE was substantial at the end of high school and was still substantial 2 years (Study 1) or 4 years (Study 2) later. In addition, because of the highly salient system of school tracks within the German education system, the authors are able to show that negative effects associated with school type (highly academically selective schools, the Gymnasium) were similar—but smaller—than the BFLPE based on school-average achievement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the interplay between parents' interpretations of the laws surrounding primary school enrolment and their formation of strategies to ensure enrolment at their desired schools in an inner-city district in Berlin, Germany. It is based primarily on data collected through semi-structured in-depth interviews. The paper argues that parents interpret the laws surrounding the role of catchment areas in different ways and are able to justify their actions based on these interpretations. Finally, it examines the institutional side of school allocation, arguing first that although headteachers officially do not have the power to decide whether applications are accepted or not, they often cast the deciding vote and, secondly, that the system is kept intentionally non-transparent, to maintain flexibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The issue of social segregation in schools has seen a recent resurgence of interest, in the light of policies that have sought to expand parental choice. Most research has focused on segregation along lines of ethnicity or social background. Yet, the real consideration in the back of people's minds seems to be stratification along lines of pupil ability. This paper looks explicitly at this issue using the population of pupils entering secondary schools in England from 1996 to 2002. The study highlights wide disparities between peer-group ability in different schools. However, contrary to popular opinion, almost nothing has changed over these years in terms of the way pupils of different age-11 abilities are sorted into different secondary schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although small, New Zealand is a useful comparative case for studying changing school admissions policies and their impact in urban areas. This article reviews New Zealand's admissions policies and their impact over three periods: the post-war social-democratic period, the 1990s when quasi-market policies were embraced in New Zealand; and the period since 2000 when the present Labour government reintroduced school admissions by residential zoning. The available evidence from all of these periods shows that New Zealand's urban middle classes have always sought and been successful in finding ways to educate their children in socially advantaged schools, but have done this in different ways depending on the policy of the day. The evidence from all periods also shows socially advantaged urban schools participating enthusiastically in this project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on affirmative action programs in the elementary, secondary and higher education in the U.S. It will survey the history and development of affirmative action in public schools in the nation and the move from mandatory to voluntary integration policies. It also analyzes the impact of that development on race-conscious admissions policies for higher education institutions. Further, it investigates the significance of affirmative action programs in public school districts and cites several Supreme Court rulings related to the issue.

The article discusses a good way for medical schools to reach their quotas of under-represented minorities (URM) while still maintaining their academic achievement goals. URMs typically come from families and neighborhoods that provide fewer opportunities than people of other groups. This often prevents them from acquiring a competitive education, which keeps them from being accepted at medical schools. A good compromise for medical school administrators is to accept URMs who show they can meet the school's minimum academic requirements even if they do not meet the level of other students.

Two experiments examined the effect of framing on attitudes toward an affirmative-action program of preferential treatment. Participants' attitudes were consistently more favorable toward the affirmative-action program presented in a positive frame—preferring a target group's applicant over a majority group's applicant—than when the very same program was presented in a negative frame—rejecting the majority group's applicant in favor of the target group's applicant. Similar effects were evident for 3 target groups in the context of higher education selection and personnel selection. Two theoretical explanations for the effect of framing on attitudes toward affirmative-action programs are suggested. The implications of this effect are discussed, and the challenges facing future research of this phenomenon are outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the right of private universities in the U.S. to discriminate against students who do not conform to their codes of conduct, and measures that could be taken against a private university for maintaining discriminatory policies and procedures. The U.S. Constitution's provision on rights to religious freedom and free expression authorize private universities to discriminate in expulsion and admission procedures. The constitutionality of the decision of the University of the Cumberland to expel a gay student is explored in light of its questionable status as a private university.

In the debates over the 2003 U.S. Supreme Court decisions regarding race-based university admissions, speculation has focused on how affirmative action affects minority undergraduate enrollments. This paper uses a rational choice framework to test the conventional wisdom about the effect of race-based admissions, focusing on the landmark Hopwood judicial decision and California’s Proposition 209. This study offers more generalizable findings by incorporating all public universities bound under Hopwood and Proposition 209 using data spanning 1990–2000. Findings indicate that the effect of race-based admissions standards is not what might have been predicted: Shifts in minority enrollments that are attributable to affirmative action hinge on university-specific characteristics—namely, the level of selectivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

University administrators have made difficult choices in response to the changing policy context for the use of affirmative action in admissions. This paper synthesizes the empirical literature on affirmative action and evaluates the efficacy of alternative strategies, including top-percent programs, class-based affirmative action, and targeted recruiting. The analyses offer several findings of interest to officials who direct such programs: (1) Affirmative action preferences given by top-tier universities have been large; (2) affirmative action leads minorities to enroll in higher-quality institutions; and (3) affirmative action has mostly positive effects on minority students later in life. The evidence shows a decline in minorities’ relative share of enrollment at flagship public universities after affirmative action was eliminated in several states, and the alternative strategies used by these universities have not offset these declines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Affirmative action in college admissions is based on the premise that a diverse student body contributes to interactions among students from different backgrounds, which are in turn positively related to desirable outcomes of college. This study evaluates the merits of this rationale for affirmative action by examining the direct and indirect relationships between student-body diversity and students' gains in understanding people of other racial/ethnic backgrounds. Data from a nationally representative sample of 428 colleges and universities participating in the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) indicated that student-body diversity was indirectly, but not directly, related to gains in understanding people from diverse backgrounds. Results supported the use of affirmative action in college admissions, indicating that student body diversity is directly related to greater interaction among diverse groups, but not the quality of interpersonal relations on campus. Diversity of the student body was indirectly related to gains in understanding diverse groups, acting through informal interactional diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the study which examines the effectiveness of class-based approaches in achieving educational diversity in the U.S. Race-based policy approach to higher education admissions refers to the use of race as one of the indicators in the selection of a qualified applicant. On the other hand, race-neutral policy approach refers to the alternative means of establishing diversity in place of race/ethnicity such as economic disadvantage, class, test scores, and class rank. The study concludes that race-based policy in higher education may serve as a viable tool in constructing racially diverse academic communities. In addition, it increases students' critical thinking skills, intellectual engagement, and superior academic skills.

The article focuses on the analysis whether the selection process in Serbia favors students from higher socio-economic groups or either boys and girls. It mentions that the 2003 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) data was used to link longitudinal data from the Serbian Ministry of Education on students' Grade 6,7 and 8 marks. It notes that a big number of students did not make the transition from learning-to-read to reading-to-learn, and that the majority of them are boys.

The article examines the historical background and present status of the movement toward school integration in Northern Ireland, evaluating the potential impact of this development for easing sectarian tensions in that divided nation. The book "Interpreting Northern Ireland," by John Whyte sees the Protestant and Catholic communities with distinctive identities locked in a contest for supremacy within a confined territory. It defines school integration for contemporary American educationalists and for older Americans. It provides an overview of public discourse regarding integrated education in Northern Ireland.

The purpose of this study was to survey African American College students' perceptions of racial preferences and Affirmative Action in making admission decisions at a predominantly White university. 422 questionnaires were sent out to African American College students at a large, urban, public, comprehensive research university in the southern region of the United States. 400 questionnaires were completed for a response rate of 95%. The data revealed that a majority of the respondents felt race preferences should be used in making admission decisions at predominantly White colleges and universities. More significantly, all the respondents agreed that Affirmative Action and not a lower grade point should be used as part of university admissions decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research that has traditionally supported program accreditation has tended to be primarily descriptive in nature, focusing on outcomes such as the satisfaction of graduates and passing rates on licensure exams. The study reported here illustrates how research employing multivariate methodologies can go beyond such descriptive reporting to address needs central to effective program management, such as designing selective admission processes to admit students who are most likely to succeed. Using a sample of nursing graduates at a large suburban community college, canonical correlation was used to determine how student intake variables employed in the selective admission process could best predict success in the program. The results showed that the current selective admission process was not making the best use of the student intake variables and also illuminated difficulties that can arise in designing a selective admission process to predict success when multiple measures of success are used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents an article that talks about Justice Clarence Thomas' dissent in Barbara Grutter v. Lee Bollinger, the University of Michigan Law School case, as published in the Chronicle of Higher Education. Argument on the contradiction of the school being both public and selective institution; Quest to achieve a racially diverse student with an elite institution; Impact of selective institutions' affirmative action programs.

Reports that the University of Michigan Law School was hailed as the savior of Affirmative Action when they found that race could be a criterion for admission to the university. Review of the Barbara Grutter v. Lee Bollinger case; Citation of an uncomplimentary image of the university among federal and state civil rights organization; Impact of the action taken by Michigan in matters of race to the present.

Supporters of controlled choice argue that it is a superior desegregation tool and a superior educational reform. This author addresses the first of these claims in a sample of 20 school districts above 30% minority and finds that controlled-choice plans are almost as unpopular as mandatory-reassignment plans. In addition, they produce more white flight than magnet-voluntary plans but less than mandatory-reassignment plans. Finally, controlled-choice plans produce less interracial exposure than do voluntary desegregation plans with magnets. Thus there is no evidence for the superiority of controlled choice as a desegregation tool for urban school districts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study regarding antisemitism in admissions at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire in the early 1900's. The study illustrates the racial prejudice and social discrimination founded in upper-class values and elitist notions. Admission at the college followed a quota system which excluded qualified Jewish applicants and limited Jewish enrollment. The Selective Process was initiated by the college president in 1921. However, following the college president's resignation and the end of World War II, the quota system at the college was eliminated in the 1950s. Yet, the college remains the principle of proportionate selection in striving for a broadly representative student body.

The article discusses the role of standardized testing in selection, evaluation, and tracking of students pursuing post-secondary education. Selective institutions are still continuing traditional meritocratic selection. Selective schools want the best students, the ones predicted to get the best grades. Post-secondary institutions usually express their goals in their admissions policies. The admission utility model can be used for admissions decisions. It allows policy makers, admissions officers, recruiters, faculty, and affirmative action advocates to have a separate, well-defined role in developing admission procedures. Value specification is the technique by which the institution operationalizes its commitment to maintaining an ethnically varied student body, to increasing numbers of college-trained minority group members in areas of specialization, and to preparing students for graduate-level training. In the utility admissions model, the valuation of an outcome depends on class characteristics of an applicant.

The article identifies important factors and techniques that will make school desegregation work effectively. Desegregation is a complex process and must be studied accordingly. Ethnographic methodology has helped strengthen the analyses of the desegregation process. Ethnography is considered as a research tool which results in conclusions that can appear vague in assessing school outcomes and their significance. One of the recent research identifies conditions which stability has been achieved and ways in desegregation.

The article presents a model to assess the impact of different colleges on student achievements. Selection of college by students and of student by college doubly complicates attempts to assess the influences that various colleges have on their students, because the effect of process is confounded with that of input. To lessen this initial "volunteering" bias in studies comparing the effects of selective colleges on their students, it seems helpful to identify those students who have applied to the same two or three colleges and to equate them on certain measures secured prior to the beginning of the freshman year. The author emphasizes both the difficulty and the possibility of making causal inferences from data yielded by such a design.

The article is the fourth in a series of significant studies in teacher education published in the "Journal of Teacher Education" since March 1950, under the general title, "Commission Studies in Teacher Education." It is assumed here that there should be selection of those who are being prepared to do the educating such as in the selection of those persons whose intelligence, personality, and attitudes best fit them to teach effectively. By studying current belief and practice with regard to selective admissions and retention for teacher education, and by relating these to institutional characteristics and to the actual production of teachers, the study here reported has sought to test the significance of such policies and practices and to explore their implications for further research and action. Its initial purpose was to determine current practice in selection and retention in undergraduate teacher education programs of institutions throughout the U.S.

The shortage of teachers has led to demands that institutions eliminate all except the most rudimentary requirements for admission to teacher education programs. Many educators maintain, however, that only by creating a genuinely professional corps of teachers, by raising standards rather than lowering them, can the teacher shortage be finally alleviated without serious damage to the nation's schools. In this article the authors describe one university's program of selective admission to teacher education. They report that selectivity has improved the morale of both students and faculty, and that enrollments have continued at a high level in spite of the rejection of more than one-fourth of the students who have applied for admission to teacher education. Improvement in the academic ability of the student body is illustrated with test scores. Robert O. Stripling is associate professor of education and Thomas R. Horton is a graduate student in mathematics at the University of Florida. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]