A study of the 10% most able students in Sweden (n=744) found entrance into higher education was influenced by the choice of program in upper secondary school, the marks received, the students' attitudes to school, and satisfaction with their performance. Parental and teacher support had an influence on males. (CR)

A study of 335 undergraduates enrolled in introductory psychology courses at two universities found that learner initial attitudes were predictors of academic achievement and that prior academic achievement was the single predictor variable in a logistic regression analysis of whether students earned satisfactory grades. These results support the…

Two studies of adolescents in England and Russia examined the effects of prolonged instruction on students' development of abstract deductive reasoning and understanding of logical necessity in algebraic and verbal reasoning. Results indicated that prolonged instruction emphasizing the metalevel of algebraic deduction contributed to enhanced…

Collected time-use diaries of television viewing from two cohorts of children (ages 2-5 and 4-7) from low-income families and gave annual tests of reading, math, receptive vocabulary, and school readiness. Found that viewing of child-audience informative programs between ages 2 and 3 predicted higher academic performance. Frequent viewers of…

Tested the applicability of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) in predicting elementary teachers' intentions to teach health education, describing teachers' attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors regarding the teaching of health to students. Teacher surveys indicated that variables of the TPB explained 52.3 percent of the variance in teachers'…

Focuses on the problem of predicting college success given traditional cognitive measures. The first four chapters describe a study conducted in the United States and Estonia to determine variables associated with college success. The next four chapters contain commentary and critiques of the study, with reaction in the final chapter by the study…

Study seeks to examine, for South African adolescents, the reliability of the Communities that Care Youth Survey of risk and protective factors for drug use and anti-social behavior, and the extent to which drug use can be predicted from community, family, school, and peer factors. Findings support use of the survey with slight revisions for South…

The association between help-seeking and nearly lethal suicide attempts was evaluated using data from a population-based, case-control study. Measures of help-seeking included type of consultant contacted, and whether suicide was discussed. Findings suggest efforts to better understand the role of help-seeking in suicide prevention deserves…

A study of two classes of agriculture freshmen (1997: n=245, 1998: 195) showed that the best predictor of performance for the 1997 cohort was high school grade point average (GPA) and ACT score; for the 1998 cohort, GPA alone. High school GPA was the only successful predictor of freshman GPA. Traditional admission criteria had limited predictive…

This study obtained construct (factorial) validity, internal consistency reliability, and 1-year criterion coefficients for scores from the College Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Response Evaluation (CARE), an evaluation tool examining ADHD behaviors as reported by college students and their parents. Among the CARE variables,…

The purpose of this study was: (1) to determine whether attitudes are a better predictor of adolescents' intentions to use dietary supplements than are subjective norms, and (2) to assess the influence of significant others on attitudes, subjective norms, and intentions among adolescent athletes. Results indicated that attitudes were a better…

Discussion of student engagement in Web instruction focuses on which facets of online learning, as measured by the Western Governors University Distance Education Self-Test, predict levels and types of student engagement in Web coursework. Highlights include learning styles; time management skills; and the lack of a need for face-to-face…

Examined the prevalence of eligibility for educational services for serious emotional disturbance (SED) among incarcerated youths, as well as how this designation relates to offender type. Logistic regression was used to understand whether youths with SED designations were likely to be incarcerated for violent offenses. SED status was not…

Using variables measuring organizational characteristics and environmental influences, this study analyzed job satisfaction in community-based HIV/AIDS organizations. Organizational characteristics were found to predict job satisfaction among employees with varying intensity based on position within the organization. Environmental influences had…

A comparison was made between a range of clinical and biochemical variables and zinc levels in 120 individuals with Down syndrome. No significant differences were found between the normal-zinc and low-zinc groups, except for IgG4 which was, unexpectedly, significantly decreased in the group with normal zinc levels. (Contains references.)…