A. Inflation

     Researchers at the College Board Higher Education Research Institution at UCLA find a disconnect between high school grades and SAT and ACT. A decade ago, the Board reported that between 1987 and 1994, students reporting "A" grade averages rose from 28 to 32 percent. but SAT scores fell 6 to 15 points. Recently, the Institution reported that 48 percent of 276,000 incoming freshmen at more than 400 colleges and universities arrive with an A average, up from 30 percent in 1968. The grades are higher, but the SAT scores are about the same, it reports.
     Linda J. Sax, director of the study by the Institution gives these reasons for the higher grades: Parents are pressing teachers for high grades so their children can enter prestigious colleges, and teachers "feel a pressure not to shatter students' self-esteem."
     Interview campus sources to localize these findings.

B. Librarian

     Among the 850,000 high school students who took the Scholastic Aptitude Test, fewer than 300 indicated that they intended to study library science in college. That's a tiny fraction of 1 percent and by far the smallest intended college major. Why? Interview librarians on campus and in town.

C. Camera

     Interview the head of a local photography club or organization. Discuss recent developments in photography such as the digital camera. What seems to interest photographers who, in the past, seemed to prefer the grab shot, candid pictures taken with the 35-mm camera? Is there any tendency to salon or scenic photography, toward larger cameras? What do they think of photo enhancement?

D. Architecture

     Have a local architect or a member of the art or architecture department accompany you on a walking tour of the city center for an assessment of the architectural value of the buildings there.

E. Jailed

     Visit a city jail and ask the person in charge for an inventory of crime. That is, for what offenses are the men and women behind bars? Does this vary with the day of the week, time of month, part of year? Are totals from the past week or the past month significantly different from previous periods?

F. Deposits

     Obtain from local banks, or other reliable sources, total amounts in savings and checking (time and demand) accounts for the last period for which new figures are available—quarter, half-year or annual. Is there a marked change from previous periods? What is the significance of these figures? What do they usually reflect? Note the Christmas Club totals.

G. Grades

     Is there a correlation between the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) or American College Test (ACT) scores of entering students and their success in your school? The subject is frequently studied on campuses. Compare with national data and other schools, if your source has such information. (At the University of New Mexico, of 2,147 students entering with ACT scores of 15 and under, 388 graduated; of 1,649 students entering with ACT scores of 26 and above, 1,237graduated.)

H. Health Stats

     Interview local health authorities and examine statistics to identify some of the major health problems in the city.