This paper employed a theoretical model to explain the long-ter persistence of students who began their post-secondary education in two-year institutions. The model waa estimated on a national sample of 825 students who initially enrolled in 85 two-year institutions in the fall of 1971, and were followed over a nine-year period.Although there were differences in the factors associated with persistence for men and women, the results tend to confirm the importance of person-environment tit as a salient influence on degree persistence and completion in post-secondary education. Measures of academic and social integration had the most consistent pattern o: positive direct effects, while much of the influence of student pre-college traits was indirect.

Adults and children learning a second language show difficulty accessing expressive vocabulary that appears accessible receptively in their first language (L1). We call this discrepancy the receptive-expressive gap. Kindergarten Spanish (L1) -English (L2) sequential bilinguals were given standardized tests of receptive and expressive vocabulary in both Spanish and English. We found a small receptive-expressive gap in English but a large receptive-expressive gap in Spanish. We categorized children as having had high or low levels of English exposure based on demographic variables and found that the receptive-expressive gap persisted across both levels of English exposure. Regression analyses revealed that variables predicting both receptive and expressive vocabulary scores failed to predict the receptive-expressive gap. The results suggest that the onset of the receptive-expressive gap in L1 must have been abrupt. We discuss possible mechanisms underlying the phenomenon.Research to be reviewed here shows that learners immersed in a second language (L2) score higher on tests of receptive vocabulary than expressive vocabulary in their first language (L1). Even after controlling for the difference in difficulty between receptive and expressive vocabulary testing tasks, children appeared to have problems accessing their L1 expressive vocabulary. We term this systematically uneven relationship between receptive and expressive vocabulary the receptive-expressive gap.The receptive-expressive gap in bilinguals' L1 is thus counterintuitive and warrants further investigation to assess factors that may influence its occurrence. A first step is a characterization of the phenomenon's robustness, the strong tendency for the receptiveexpressive gap to persist across most children even after having been immersed in L2 for a relatively short period. The current work also considers speculations about causes of the receptive-expressive gap. Few researchers have focused on the receptive-expressive gap explicitly, but embedded in a variety of studies is evidence that this phenomenon is present across languages. Within this literature the evidence of a receptive-expressive gap pertains to children who start school or preschool with L1 skills only, and begin L2 learning in kindergarten (K) or preschool. We will begin with a review of relevant literature.

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The authors tested whether self-efficacy for orthopedic rehabilitation tasks accounted for significant variance in rehabilitation outcome, over the variance accounted for by dispositional optimism, health competence, and health value. Whether health value moderated expectancy-outcome relationships also was examined. One hundred five older clients at 2 orthopedic rehabilitation facilities completed a battery of instruments; physical functioning also was assessed. After controlling for physical functioning at admission and for other variables, self-efficacy predicted significant variance in rehabilitation outcome. Health value did not moderate expectancy-outcome relationships. Results suggest that psychologists can improve patients' recovery from serious orthopedic problems by augmenting their self-efficacy beliefs.Orthopedic injury is a major health care concern in the United States for persons 65 years old and older. For example, approximately 250,000 persons are hospitalized each year for treatment of a fractured hip. Risk factors include age, gender, race, medication use, and mental distress (Allegrante, MacKenzie, Robbins, & Cornell, 1991;Forsen et al., 1999). In addition to fall-related orthopedic injuries, elderly persons also require orthopedic surgery for degenerative joint disease of the hip or knee (Orbell, Espley, Johnston, & Rowley, 1998). National health care costs from orthopedic injuries exceed $7 billion per year (Allegrante et al., 1991), and up to 60% of orthopedic patients face postsurgery complications including loss of functional capacity and independence, with many patients requiring long-term institutional care.In an attempt to ameliorate the negative effects of orthopedic surgery and aid rehabilitation, psychologists have begun to focus on psychological factors that affect the disabled patient's condition, including thoughts, beliefs, and attitudes (Bloom, 1988). Broad beliefs such as dispositional optimism (Scheier & Carver, 1985), moderately broad beliefs such as perceived health competence (Wallston, 1991), and more specific beliefs such as selfefficacy expectancies (SE; Bandura, 1997) all have predicted important outcomes among disabled persons or other populations. However, no study has examined these beliefs as predictors of rehabilitation following orthopedic surgery. Studying positive beliefs and their relationship to health-related outcomes is consistent with counseling psychology's emphasis on psychological assets and positive facets of growth (Fretz, 1982;Gelso & Fretz, 1992).

Calls for accountability in higher education are prompted in part by questions concerning whether colleges and universities use their resources effectively to promote student learning. Unfortunately, too little is known about whether money matters to desired outcomes of college. Using students' responses to the 2004 administration of the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) in concert with institutional data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and the College Board, this study examined the relationships between educational expenditures, student engagement and selected student self-reported learning outcomes, controlling for student and institutional characteristics. Results indicated that expenditures were modestly related to student engagement and learning outcomes. However, the nature of these relationships differed, depending on the engagement/outcome measure and student year in school.

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