Rapid technological advances in the last decade have sparked educational practitioners' interest in utilizing laptops as an instructional tool to improve student learning. There is substantial evidence that using technology as an instructional tool enhances student learning and educational outcomes. Past research suggests that compared to their…

This article reports on attitude changes of 300 children, aged 10 or 11 years, from four schools, who visited the UK National Space Centre. Attitudes toward science and space were explored by examining responses to five different attitude scales. These were administered before, immediately after, and 2 months and 4-5 months after a visit to the…

The aim of the present study was to address how to effectively predict mathematics learning disability (MLD). Specifically, we addressed whether cognitive data obtained during kindergarten can effectively predict which children will have MLD in third grade, whether an abbreviated test battery could be as effective as a standard psychoeducational…

Data from the Children in the Community Study, a community-based longitudinal study were used to investigate associations between paternal psychiatric disorders and child-rearing behaviors. Paternal psychiatric symptoms and behavior in the home were assessed among 782 families during the childhood and adolescence of the offspring. Paternal…

This article reports on a longitudinal study that plots the development of a network of Teaching and Learning Observatory (TLO) sites in the United Kingdom. The TLO sites were used to enhance pre- and in-service teacher education. The research explores how classroom boundaries could be redefined through a technological innovation such as the TLO.…

The present longitudinal study investigated the relationship between pre-school semantic skills (vocabulary, comprehension and sentence construction), phonological awareness and later word decoding and reading comprehension skills. More than 200 Danish children were followed from a speech therapist screening at the age of three, through a…

Contributing to the family violence and conflict literature, we examine prospective and concurrent risk factors associated with verbal and physical aggression toward mothers by 15/16 year-old adolescent sons and daughters. Data from the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Kindergarten Children is used to examine the influence of socioeconomic factors,…

This article reports on teaching information and communication technology (ICT) as a subject. It arises out of research carried out with ICT trainee teachers during their initial training and their first years of teaching. The backgrounds of four cohorts of new ICT teachers are described along with levels of retention in teaching. The associations…

"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) Year of Math and Science?: Flurry of Congressional Hearings on Economic Competitiveness Focus on High Schools and…

"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) "Leaving Boys Behind": New Report Finds Higher High School Graduation Rates for Females Across Every Racial…

This paper examines the extent to which family wealth affects the race-child achievement association for young children based on data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics. We found little evidence that wealth mediates the black-white test scores gap. However, liquid assets, particularly holding in stocks and mutual funds, are positively…

The purpose of this article is to report on the system-level findings of a longitudinal study of four mental health consumer-run self-help organizations. Quantitative and qualitative data revealed that staff and members of the four Consumer/Survivor Initiatives (CSIs) participated actively in system-level activities, including community planning,…

Many Americans do not have access to adequate medical care. Previous research on this problem focuses primarily on individual-level determinants of access such as income and insurance coverage. The role of community-level factors in helping or hindering individuals in obtaining needed medical care, however, has not received much attention. We…

Claude Steeles' stereotype threat hypothesis posits that when there are negative stereotypes about the intellectual capacity of certain (stigmatised) groups, members of that group suffer aversive consequences; group members who are most strongly identified with the stigmatised domain in question (e.g., intellectual or academic ability) are those…

This study investigated the role of an early educational intervention and child-, family-, peer-, and school-level predictors on court-reported juvenile delinquency. Data were provided from the Chicago Longitudinal Study, an ongoing investigation of the scholastic and social development of more than 1,500 low-income youths (93% of whom were…