Discusses successful strategies for preventing Black students from leaving school before graduation. Argues that the best solution to this complex problem is to ensure that Black children learn the necessary academic and cognitive skills in school before proceeding to the next grade level. (FMW)

Advocates encouraging parents who are illiterate or semiliterate to make use of practices that do not require literacy skills, but that will support their children in becoming successful readers. Suggests many activities that will help both children and parents develop literacy skills, such as tutoring and discussing television shows. (SKC)

Assessed Indian children's perception of control in the cognitive, social, and physical domains of school functioning by using the multidimensional measure of children's perception of control. Data analyses indicated a significant developmental difference in children's perception of the source of control, and this varied with their success or…

This study examines dispositional and situational approaches to attribution research, individual differences in self-attribution, and the relationship between self-attributions and dimensions of self-concept. Results of a study of 248 fifth graders in Sydney, Australia, are discussed. (BS)

This article identifies as problems both social promotion and minimum competency decisions. The author analyzes the need for attention to individual differences and proposes that educational excellence within a compulsory system can be achieved only when standards are adjusted in accordance with individual differences. (MM)

Discusses problems associated with reform of secondary school curricula in Kenya in the period immediately after independence. Follows the course of two innovations--School Mathematics of East Africa (SMEA) and the Africanization of the literature curriculum--and discusses various reasons for their failure and for Kenya's continued dependence on…

This comparative academic performance study of direct entry secondary school students and college transfer students admitted to Simon Fraser University (SFU) was conducted to determine whether differences in university course grades between the two groups still exists when controlling for secondary school performance. (Contains 2 figures, 1 table,…

This paper reports the findings of a 2-year project based in the UK, which examined the perceptions and beliefs of disenfranchised pupils, their parents, school practitioners, and educational professionals about the causes and dynamics of disaffection from school. The study employed mainly qualitative methods (interviews and focus groups) to look…

Examines two policy interventions meant to improve educational opportunity to less privileged Kenyans: the so-called abolition of school fees in primary schools and institution of primary boarding schools in arid and semiarid areas. Finds that these and related government policies were in fact both cause and effect of educational failure. (BRR)

A described intervention evaluates the effect of both a psychology course and the active service component of tutoring upon alienated underachieving adolescents and the elementary school pupils who receive their services. Results indicate that both the class and tutoring effectively improved the academic self-concept of the students. (Author/PN)

Maintains that teachers and parents must realize that minority children are capable of learning and becoming successful adults and that it is time to stop offering excuses and demand excellence of all students, including minorities. (Author/JM)

The Kubler-Ross Model of the Stages of Dying is used to understand the emotional adjustment parents must make when dealing with their academically nonperforming children. Understanding parents' feelings enables educators to better work with the child having problems. (JAC)

Nigerian anthropologist John Ogbu examines the academic failure of minority groups within the context of American society and draws comparisons to minority group education in five other cultures. (MKM)

This study identified risk factors associated with unsuccessful discharge status of 134 students with serious emotional/behavioral disorders enrolled in a secondary-level, therapeutic day-treatment program. Major risk factors found were student substance abuse, involvement with juvenile services, and family living status. Application of…

Tested the basic hypothesis that failure experiences at school increase the likelihood of aversive parent-child interaction after school. Subjects were 254 elementary school students. Found that children who rated more academic failure events at school described parents as more disapproving after school, but this effect was only partially mediated…