Objective. This article looks at the effect of school infrastructure on student attendance and drop-out rates. Methods. Using the school as the unit of analysis, Tobit analysis is performed to analyze 226 Houston Independent School District schools. Results. The quality of school infrastructure has a significant effect on school attendance and drop-out rates. Students are less likely to attend schools in need of structural repair, schools that use temporary structures, and schools that have understaffed janitorial services. Conclusions. School districts who wish to maximize attendance and minimize drop-out rates should avoid temporary solutions to school building inadequacies and provide students, teachers, and administrators with quality permanent structure schools, and quality janitorial staffs to maintain those schools. Wilson and Kelling (1982) proposed that if a building had a broken window and the window was not replaced, all of the other windows would soon be broken. One broken window indicates that no one cares, so continuing the breakage will come at no cost. Such neglect would then bring about a new culture of disorder, fear, and isolation throughout the locale. Things that appeared to be in chaos would bring the perception of illegal action regardless of whether such action really took place. Participation in neighborhood activities would cease, regardless of how luxurious the community, because one had to risk entering the bedlam that infested the neighborhood.This article hypothesizes that Wilson and Kelling's theory holds especially true in academic communities and that the condition of school infrastructure has crucial consequences for school performance, specifically attendance and drop-out rates. Children are especially vulnerable to the whims of social disorder. It is rare to find the elders of a community arbitrarily vandalizing property. If walls are being painted with graffiti, if mailboxes are being used TX 77204-5021 hdbranham@uh.edui. All data and coding information in this analysis will be shared with those wishing to replicate this study.

Research on the public approval of American governors has focused almost exclusively on the impact of economic conditions on fluctuations in such approval. This article adds events variables to a model of gubernatorial public approval including the more commonly used economic variables, and tests this model in a time-series analysis in three states. The results suggest that the effect of political events is minimal and mixed. Furthermore, the analysis does not clearly support any general theory of gubernatorial approval. Instead, the factors that influence public support for governors seem to vary across time and state.

<em>The importance of understanding the elements of success in the education of minority high school students is immense. Recognizing the causes of academic success for these students allows educators to employ better educational and motivational strategies. It has been shown that academic efficacy and academic commitment have a positive impact on academic performance. However, the interaction and relationship between these two variables in having a positive effect on education outcomes among minority high school students is not clear. This paper looks at the relationship between academic efficacy and academic commitment on academic performance among minority high school students. The findings reveal that academic commitment is positively associated with academic performance. However, while academic efficacy has a positive impact on academic commitment the results show that academic efficacy has no direct impact on academic performance among the respondents.</em>

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