An analysis of sex differences in promotion and non-promotion rates in an inner city public high school in Chicago (Illinois) supports the findings of national studies on the promotion trends of black students. A review of the literature reveals the following major trends among black males: (1) black males tend to avoid intellectual engagement and…

A study examined reading performance, metacognitive knowledge about reading, awareness of the conventions about print, perceptions of reading ability, and causal attributions for success and failure in reading of children with reading difficulties in Year 2 in Australia. One hundred children from the Brisbane region were involved in the…

This document comprises a report on retention patterns in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) showing the number and percentage of students retained in grade at the conclusion of the 1986-87 school year. Retention and enrollment data were collected from annual reports filed by all schools. Differences in sex, ethnicity, and grade level…

This report addresses the conditions of at-risk children and builds a case for changing the odds so that they favor such children. The introduction summarizes nearly a decade of education reform efforts related to disadvantaged youth. It underscores the need to intervene early. Four subsequent sections: (1) describe the developmental…

There are two conditions that result in the academic suspension of students from Miami-Dade Community College (MDCC). In the first case, students are suspended if they have attempted more than 30 credits and earned less than a 1.5 cumulative grade point average (GPA). In the second case, students who have registered for more than 45 credits, but…

A study was conducted at the University of Minnesota's General College to examine the relationship between probationary status and students' gender, ethnicity, and placement test scores. The study involved 186 students on Level 1 probation (i.e., students whose work had fallen below the academic standard for two quarters, including those whose…

This paper suggests that the current wave of educational reform carries with it a conception of "excellence" derived from concern for the productivity of the nation's human potential. First, differing concepts of excellence are addressed, followed by a discussion of recent educational reforms that are perceived as threats to students who…

When people experience failures they search for an explanation of why the failure occurred. The process of seeking an explanatory cause is the basis of attribution theory. Causal attributions include the dimensions of locus of causality (internal or external), stability of the cause over time, and the degree of personal control over the outcome.…

Initial findings regarding the educational programs and other secondary special education services surveyed during the congressionally mandated National Longitudinal Transition Study (NLTS) of Special Education Students are presented. The study, started in 1987 under a Department of Education contract with SRI International, addresses issues…

Pearce Academic Center for Excellence, Project PACE, involved one English/language arts teacher providing individualized instruction in the mechanics of basic English (e.g., parts of speech, rules on capitalization and punctuation, spelling, sentence writing, and library and dictionary skills) to grade seven and eight retainees in language arts…

Discipline records and reading test scores revealed that students in the Redding Middle School (Middletown, Delaware) were achieving low reading scores while the number of discipline referrals remained high. This report of a practicum project shows how the school's teachers and administrators succeeded in changing the direction of this trend,…

Self talk (thoughts about one's self and own performance while learning or working) can affect cognitive and learning strategies that in turn affect specific learning techniques. Negative self talk can interfere with learning since it reinforces feelings of failure, thereby increasing the probability of continued failure, and maintains an…

The articles in this journal focus on the teaching of composition at the secondary and college levels. Separate articles deal with the causes of poor proofreading by students and methods for teaching proofreading skills; the use of folklore as an aid to teaching composition; techniques for overcoming students' fear of failure in the writing…

This text is designed to provide adults who are planning to return to school with an understanding of themselves through insight into their personal problems and clarification of their goals. Factors involved in self-assessment and their relationship to school success are described. Needs, motives, and goals are defined and applied to success in…

Research has found that, in many performance situations, attributions of success and failure may reflect numerous experiences occurring over time. To expand this research, achievement attributions in an extended ego-involving situation, i.e., performance in an academic course, were examined. In addition to the traditional causes of effort,…