Educational psychologists find that prior knowledge influences new learning. We examined whether course achievement for introductory psychology students is facilitated or impaired by their prior knowledge of psychology. We administered a pretest exam to 422 students early in the semester and gathered subsequent exam scores and other measures of…

Urban African American first-year high school students' absenteeism was found to be negatively related to grade point average (GPA) and avoidance as a means of coping (use of substances as a way to escape--food, alcohol, smoking, caffeine, etc.) and positively related to use of social support as a means of coping (efforts to stay emotionally…

Institutions of higher learning employ compulsory attendance policies with the expectation that these mandates enhance students' academic performance and perceptions of course quality. However, numerous empirical investigations demonstrate equivocal and often contradictory findings regarding the relationship between attendance and various markers…

The aim of the research was to assess the economic, educational and cultural predictors of the TIMSS 2003 science test results in Lithuania and Estonia. The data for the research were received from the TIMSS 2003 User Guide for the International Database. The Spearman rank correlation coefficients, calculated on the students' level and the schools…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of divorce on student's academic achievement. Whitehead (1997) states, at the beginning of the twentieth century, there were only three divorces for every 1,000 marriages. Through the years, the divorce rate in America has rapidly increased which has affected adults and children. The…

Interest in the relationship between health behaviours and academic achievement has recently intensified in the face of an epidemic of childhood and adolescent obesity and converging school reforms in the United States and other nations with advanced economies. Epidemiologic research has demonstrated that poor diet and lack of adequate physical…

Since New York City represents the largest single school district in the state, large changes in its pupil count can significantly affect not only the state aid it receives but also have profound effects on the amount of money the state distributes in aid. This research study was designed to measure the probable impact of the removal of…

The literature on school absences has focused predominantly on the reasons for student truancy, or it has assessed only aggregate student absences in their effect on achievement. However, this study brings forth a new issue: the relationship between types of absences--excused versus unexcused--and school performance. With a quantitative model of…

This paper discusses the individual, family, household and area level characteristics associated with preschool attendance for Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians (aged three to five years who are not at school). Controlling for these factors explains all of the difference between Indigenous and non-Indigenous attendance rates for…

This article addresses the relationship between academic achievement and the student characteristics of absence and mobility. Mobility is a measure of how often a student changes schools. Absence is how often a student misses class. Standardized test scores are used as proxies for academic achievement. A model for the full joint distribution of…

Universal measures of school functioning/impairment (i.e., grade point average, subject failures, absenteeism, disciplinary referrals/suspensions) were examined over the course of 1 school year for a cohort of 89 special education students classified as having emotional disturbance (ED) who were taught in a unique public school program. On average…

This study was designed to answer the question "Does excessive absenteeism affect student academic achievement?" During the 2002-2003 academic year, 188 students attending grades 3 through 5 at an urban Tennessee elementary school with a high poverty level participated in the study. Demographic data were gathered to provide descriptive…

Despite increasing recognition that a high school diploma is a minimum requirement for success in the workplace, nearly half of Chicago Public Schools (CPS) students fail to graduate, and in some CPS high schools, more students drop out than graduate. Research on dropping out has shown that the decision to persist in or leave school is affected by…

Using data from the National Education Longitudinal Study, this report examines eighth grade school variables that might predict college attendance for students whose parents have no college education (n = 2,521). The selected school variables are amenable to public policy and/or skilled leadership, and they include "school structure" (e.g.,…

School psychologists are generally not provided with the knowledge and skills to address both educational and psychosocial issues of Asian American and Pacific Islander students. The present study is the first of its kind in examining 36 independent (i.e., demographic, social, cultural, psychological) variables in association with four school…