Recent publications emphasize the need to take greater account of differences in teaching quality between subjects. The empirical analysis of this topic requires a comparison of teaching quality in different subjects to distinguish generic aspects of teaching quality from subject-specific ones. In this paper, we compare teaching quality in…

The construct validity of three spatial ability tests was assessed by determining the correlation between the test results and student class grades in various subjects for 58 eighth graders enrolled at the Burris Laboratory School, Ball State University (Muncie, Indiana). Results do not strongly support any of the tests evaluated. (SLD)

The construct validity of 290 preadolescent children's responses to 3 instruments claiming to measure dimensions of self-concept was studied. Instruments administered to the fifth graders include the Self-Description Questionnaire; the Perceived Competence Scale; and the Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scales. (SLD)

In this study, 590 third graders from 12 Dutch schools took 32 tests indicating 16 semantic Structure-of-Intellect (SI) abilities and 1 of 4 reading comprehension tests, involving either multiple-choice or open-ended items. Results indicate that item type for reading comprehension is congeneric with respect to SI abilities measured. (TJH)

School achievement attributions for success and failure were examined for American and Polish preadolescents between the ages of 12 and 13 years. The American sample included 115 preadolescents (53 males and 62 females), and the Polish sample included 64 children (34 males and 30 females). The American subjects came from a suburban racially…