This collection of four papers addresses the choices that students, teachers, and school administrators make in regard to their education and career paths. They include: (1) "Understanding Entry into the Teaching Profession" (Eric A. Hanushek and Richard R. Pace), which analyzes the characteristics of teachers in public elementary and secondary schools in an effort to determine how the flow of individuals into the teaching profession can be increased; (2) "Multilevel Teacher Resource Effects on Pupil Performance in Secondary Mathematics and Science: The Case of Teacher Subject-Matter Preparation" (David H. Monk and Jennifer A. King), which examines the effects different sequences of teachers have on pupil performance, suggesting that teachers' subject matter preparation does affect student achievement; (3) "What To Do after High School: The Two-Year versus Four-Year College Enrollment Decision" (Cecilia Elena Rouse), which looks at the impact of changes in tuition levels and campus proximity on decisions to attend 2-year institutions; and (4) "Do Historically Black Institutions of Higher Education Confer Unique Advantages on Black Students? An Initial Analysis" (Ronald G. Ehrenberg and Donna S. Rothstein), which explores what the appropriate public policy should be toward historically black colleges. (Contains 105 references.) (MDM)