This article reports findings from a study that investigated math achievement differences between English language learners (ELLs) and fully English proficient (FEP) students on a literacy-based performance assessment (LBPA). It has been assumed that LBPAs are superior to standardized multiple-choice assessments, but it has not been determined if…

This collection of essays, in honor of child psychiatry pioneers Stella Chess and Alexander Thomas, focuses on their idea that important life outcomes are the product of ongoing interactions between a child's behavioral style and the complimentarity or lack of fit of the parenting environment. Following an introduction, the remaining chapters are:…

Student ability, involvement in the class, and classroom climate created by the instructor activities were examined as multiple and interactive predictors of course performance for 915 students in 74 sections of an undergraduate mathematics course. Climate was defined in two ways: (1) as individual perceptions and (2) as shared perceptions. Two…

Applied a person-centered approach to childhood personality development in 28 diverse samples of 3- to 6-year-olds studied over 6 years. Identified resilient, overcontrolled, and undercontrolled personality types. Found that the undercontrolled personality type related to intellectual decline over 6 years. The number of family risks predicted…

Describes a study that examined relationships between computer attitude, computer experience, gender, cognitive abilities, and the acquisition of word processing by older adults. Highlights include results from computer attitude questionnaires, spatial scanning, inductive and deductive reasoning as predictors of word processing knowledge, and the…

Share's "self-teaching" model proposes that readers acquire most knowledge about the orthographic structure of words incidentally while reading independently. In the current study, the self-teaching hypothesis was tested by simulating everyday reading through the use of real words, analyzing the effects of context, and considering the independent…

This study investigated whether alcohol use by public school students differs in its relationship to other variables when analyzed on the individual level versus the aggregated group level. The study presents a model and a set of analytic techniques for studying the ways that school and individual variables relate to adolescent alcohol abuse.…

A study investigated 35 third grade students' requests and responses in their reading groups to determine (1) whether peer instructional groups designed to differ according to reading ability do, in fact, differ on measures of reading achievement; (2) how the processes of interaction, particularly requests and responses, differ in these groups;…

This book reports on a 40-year longitudinal study of factors that foster or inhibit creativity over time. Students in elementary grades were originally evaluated from 1958 to 1964. Follow-up in 1980 led to development of a Manifesto for Children which summarized conclusions in the form of guidance for aphorisms such as "Don't be afraid to fall in…

Reports on a study examining how well several personal variables predict elementary school teachers' use of computers for teaching. Variables examined included innovativeness, teacher locus of control, perceived relevance of computers, and self-competence in using computers. Data on age, gender, and years of computer experience were also…

Studied reading comprehension, vocabulary, general knowledge, and print exposure of 11th graders who completed reading battery 10 years earlier. Found that first-grade reading ability predicted all 11th-grade outcomes--even when cognitive ability was partialed out--and was linked to print exposure, even after 11th-grade reading comprehension…

This study identified specific access barriers to seven commonly used in-home and community-based services (CBS) and examined factors that were related to barriers to these services. The data used in this study were extracted from the 1999 National Long Term Care Survey and included 283 dyads of rural older adults and their caregivers. The CBS to…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine whether memory support and elicited production differentially benefited fast mapping of new vocabulary (comprehension, production accuracy, and speed) in adolescents with Down syndrome (DS) compared with typically developing (TD) children matched for syntax comprehension. The study also examined…

Implementation of the first U.S. television program rating system based on identifying content that could be viewed by specific age groups began in January, 1997. This exploratory survey examined the context of how young people responded to the ratings system. Participating in the May 1997 survey were 462 students in fourth, eighth, and tenth…

Relationships among student motivational orientation, self-regulated learning, and classroom academic performance were examined for 173 seventh graders. Results provide empirical evidence for considering motivational and self-regulated learning components in models of academic performance. Involvement in self-regulated learning is tied closely to…