Examined children's developmental trajectories in five domains. Children were assigned to same- or mixed-age child care groups and assessed at 6-month intervals between approximately 32 and 49 months. Children in the two groups differed in their trajectories for communication, cognitive, and motor development but showed similar trajectories for…

The study found that high-risk college freshmen (N=74) who successfully completed a freshman orientation course were less likely to drop out and achieved higher grade point averages over a three-year period than students not in an orientation course. (Author/MLW)

Examines responses of fourth, sixth, and eighth grade students to realistic and fantasy novels. Finds that students responded to fantasy with more categoric evaluations and to realism with more analytic evaluation. Finds also that evaluative responses moved from mainly categoric in grade four to more analytic in the upper grades. (KEH)

Consequences of two university departments' dependence on fluctuating research funding and their responses to it are examined, focusing on juggling dependence-based problems with graduate student education, instrumentation needs, grant discontinuation, faculty recruitment, and planning. The combination of institutional decentralization and the…

Twenty-seven toddlers identified as showing specific expressive language delay (ELD) were studied and followed through the preschool period. Findings indicated that home-based intervention accelerated vocabulary skills, but did not decrease the likelihood of later phonological problems. ELD was also seen as a self-correcting condition. (PB)

Longitudinal and cross-sectional studies of young English-, French-, and Korean-speaking children showed that, across the three languages, children go through three similar developmental stages before they acquire the adult system of answering negative questions. Several language-specific phenomena were observed. (BC)

Examined how fifth-year teachers from an innovative preservice program resolved significant issues during their first teaching year. Interviews in their first and fifth years produced case studies that described teachers, contexts, interactions between teachers and contexts, and teacher beliefs and practices, providing important information for…

Explores the impact of cultural change on home patterns of communicative interaction between Inuit caregivers and their young children in two communities of northern Quebec, Canada. A longitudinal, ethnographic study of two children with young mothers and two adopted children with older mothers illustrates many changes in the Inuit culture and…

Explored the variables that affect enrollment in eighth-grade algebra for African-American students. Studied constructs that fell into three broad categories: individual characteristics, home/parent variables, and school-related variables. Assessed data from the base-year student and parent data files of the National Education Longitudinal Study…

Reports the results of five years of analysis examining the impact of the service of the Youth Support Project, a systems-based approach to improving the functioning of youths entering the juvenile justice system and their families (N=95). Results indicate that relationships exist between the various blocks of predictor variables and the different…

Examined relative roles of aggression and other dysregulated behaviors in predicting adolescent peer problems and antisocial behavior. Found that aggression and withdrawal were stable and linked to peer difficulties in elementary school and adolescence, but indicated significant risk for adolescent rejection, victimization, and antisocial activity…

The purpose of this longitudinal study is to examine students' needs in a private school as a basis for establishing curriculum goals and instructional objectives for a new curriculum. (Author/VWL)

Examined television viewing over three years among two cohorts of 2- and 4-year olds. Found that viewing declined with age. With age, time in reading and educational activities increased on weekdays but declined on weekends, and sex differences in time-use patterns increased. Increased time in educational activities, social interaction, and video…

Two studies explored bilingual language-development outcomes of low-income, Spanish-speaking, Mexican-American children who did or did not attend a bilingual preschool. Found that children who attended bilingual preschools, compared to those remaining at home, showed significant and parallel gains in Spanish-language development and in…

Analyzed individual developmental trajectories of disruptive behavior problems (DBP) between 3.5 and 6.0 years for children of adolescent mothers. Found that DBP decreased with age. Boys and children of more depressed/anxious mothers exhibited higher levels of DBP. Maternal negative control was associated with level of DBP and change rate, and…