Lives of Promise: What Becomes of High School Valedictorians: A Fourteen-year Study of Achievement and Life Choices (Jossey Bass Social and Behavioral Science Series) [Hardcover]

Karen Arnold (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 15, 1995

By following the lives of 81 high school valedictorians for 14 years after graduation, this comprehensive study asks what doing well in school
actually means. Written in accessible, jargon-free language, it explores the obstacles?including those of gAnder and race?that hinder our presumed future leaders.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This expertly conducted longitudinal study is a valuable, almost unique contribution to the understanding of top-ranking academic achievers as they go beyond high school into adulthood." —Julian C. Stanley, professor os psychology and director of the Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth (SMPY), Johns Hopkins University

"An important corrective to the notion that success in high school inevitably prefigures success in college, in life, or in careers." —Sheila Tobias, feminist educator, policy analyst, and author of Overcoming Math Anxiety and Succeed with Math

From the Inside Flap

This important book is based on the findings of the Illinois Valedictorian Project, the first systematic research study of high school valedictorians. Lives of Promise examines the question of what doing well in school actually means. The study follows the academic and nonacademic lives of eighty-one high school valedictorians for fourteen years after graduation. The author, Karen D. Arnold, documents not only a generation who began their adult lives in America during the 1980s and 1990s, but also the viability of some of our fundamental assumptions about what our schools measure and reward. Written in accessible, jargon-free language, the book explores the obstaclesincluding those of gAnder and racethat hinder our presumed future leaders.Using illustrative examples, the author provides lessons about the nature of success, the consequences of academic achievement, and the conditions that foster attainment in early adulthood. The book addresses head-on the urgent national debates on the failure of American education to develop future leaders from our pool of increasingly diverse youth. Some of the study's findings include the following:** at all levels of education, hard work, perseverance, and focus, as opposed to natural ability, are the most important factors for academic success** committment and involvement of faculty are key to the academic and career success of women, minorities, and first-generation college students** minority valedictorians struggle with obstacles such as financial problems, lack of support by faculty, and isolation in predominantly white universities.Social scientists, psychologists, high school and college administrators, educators of the talented and gifted, school counselors, student development scholars, college admissions professionals, and parents will find this book an invaluable resource if they are to chart the course for valedictorians of the future.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 330 pages
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass; 1 edition (August 15, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0787901466
• ISBN-13: 978-0787901462
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,421,896 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A very thorough analysis with statistics., April 19, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Lives of Promise: What Becomes of High School Valedictorians: A Fourteen-year Study of Achievement and Life Choices (Jossey Bass Social and Behavioral Science Series) (Hardcover)

The analysis that Dr. Arnold did along with Terry Denny over the 14 years of this study are vital and informative. Academic resources and the ability of some students to have access to information can play such an important role in the formation of high school student to successful adult citizen.