bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Development and Motivational Function of Expectations
Authors: Bardwell Rebecca
Published: March 2008

Researchers have assessed either the development of expectations or the motivational function of expectations, and often have attempted to relate their findings to the other half of the expectation—performance relationship. This study was designed to investigate simultaneously the development of and the motivational function of expectations. Fourth, sixth, and eighth grade students studied a word learning task and were tested on 3 consecutive days. Expectancy statements were made by half the subjects. Results concerning the development of expectations seemingly contradict previous research, but the contradiction was explained in terms of complexity of the task. Expectations were found to be motivational.
Private and Public School Students: Longitudinal Achievement Differences?
Authors: Sassenrath Julius , Croce Michelle , Penaloza Manuel
Published: March 2008

Two groups of 49 students were matched on age, ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, and IQ on data obtained 10 years earlier when they were in public elementary schools. One of the groups switched from public to private schools with an average amount of time in the private schools being about 5.5 years. The other group remained in public schools. Ten years later when they were seniors in high school, both groups were given the same reading and mathematics tests. The results of this longitudinal study do not show any mean differences in achievement test scores between the private and public sectors. The results are discussed largely in the context of two recent and well-known studies on the same topic by Coleman, Hoffer, and Kilgore (1981) and Page and Keith (1981) .
Learning Vocabulary Through Reading
Authors: Jenkins Joseph R , Stein Marcy L , Wysocki Katherine
Published: March 2008

This study examined the hypothesis that new vocabulary knowledge can be acquired through incidental learning of word meanings from context. Fifth graders of two reading abilities read passages containing unfamiliar words. Students were randomly assigned to different numbers of context presentations: 0, 2, 6, or 10 passages read over several days. Half of the unfamiliar words were informally taught before their appearance in the passages. Word meanings were learned from context, and more frequent presentation in context increased learning. Also, better readers profited more from context than did less skilled readers, and prior exposure (informal teaching) resulted in greater learning. Vocabulary effects were also observed on a measure of reading comprehension. Whether incidental learning accounts for vocabulary growth is discussed.
The Accuracy of Teachers’ Ratings of Ability: A Regression Model
Authors: Egan Owen , Archer Peter
Published: March 2008

Teachers’ rating of academic ability in mathematics and English were regressed on test scores in a sample of second grade students (n = 694 in mathematics, n = 736 in English). Fitted equations were interpreted as judgmental models of the rating process, and normative subjective probabilities were assigned to individual ratings, showing the extent to which they were defensible in light of the test scores. Within the terms of the model, teachers’ ratings were only marginally less defensible than ratings based on a previous administration of the same tests. Since systematic error in teacher ratings cannot be assumed, some new directions for research are suggested.
Relationships Among Learning and Attribution Theory Motivational Variables
Authors: Greene Jennifer C.
Published: March 2008

Among the factors contributing to our incomplete understanding of motivation in elementary school classrooms is that most motivational research is conducted within one of several independent or competing strands, each focused on different variables. This concern was addressed by investigating interrelationships among motivational variables drawn from locus of control (LOC) theory (locus of control, incentive value) and from attribution theory (self-concept of ability, expectancy of success, causal attributions), along with measures of school achievement. The research sample consisted of 423 students in 21 fourth through sixth grade classrooms. Motivational instruments were administered to groups of students in their own classrooms, and achievement data were extracted from existing school files. Correlational and multiple regression analyses yielded limited and partial support for predictions within the LOC and attribution theories, respectively. Analyses of relationships across theories provided some clarification of targeted conceptual issues, including the meaning of perceived control, the distinction between ability and effort motivational factors, and the role of incentive value in motivational processes.
The Association of Professors’ Style, Trait Anxiety, and Experience With Students’ Grades
Authors: Theodory George C. , Day Richard C.
Published: March 2008

This study used Fiedler’s contingency theory to investigate the relationship between the style, trait anxiety, and experience of university professors and grades assigned to their students. Fiedler postulates that the Least Preferred Co-worker (LPC) score, a measure of leadership style, significantly discriminates between the behavior and effectiveness of people-oriented persons (those with high LPC scores) and of task-oriented persons (those with low LPC scores). Based on a sample of 40 professors and their classes, this study concluded (a) trait anxiety of the professor significantly affects the grades assigned to students; (b) grades assigned by professors with high LPC scores were significantly and negatively correlated with the trait anxiety of the professor; (c) experience of the professor (as revealed in a trend analysis) has an effect on grades assigned.
Training Cognitive Strategy-Monitoring in Children
Authors: Ghatala Elizabeth S. , Levin Joel R. , Pressley Michael , Lodico Marguerite G.
Published: March 2008

Second-grade children were given general training in monitoring the utility of strategies, the affective consequences of strategy use, or no strategy-monitoring training. They then performed an associative learning task, first without strategy instructions and then with instructions to use either an effective or ineffective strategy. All training conditions produced short-term maintenance of the effective strategy, but only the strategy-utility training resulted in long-term maintenance. Subjects given strategy-utility training abandoned the ineffective strategy at a higher rate than children given strategy-affect or no training. Responses to metamemory questions indicated that only in the strategy-utility condition was strategy efficacy a prime consideration in strategy-use decisions. This experimental evidence bolsters the case for including monitoring instruction in multicomponent training packages aimed at producing durable strategy use.
Classroom Conflict: Controversy Versus Debate in Learning Groups
Authors: Johnson David W. , Johnson Roger
Published: March 2008

The effects of two types of structured academic conflict, controversy and debate, were compared with individual study on a number of dependent variables. Seventy-two sixth grade students were assigned to conditions on a stratified random basis controlling for sex, reading ability, and handicapping conditions. In all three conditions students studied a controversial issue with materials representing both pro and con views. In the controversy condition each learning group was divided into two pairs representing the pro and con sides. In the debate condition each member of a learning group was assigned a pro or con position to represent in a debate with the other three members. In the individualistic condition subjects were told to learn the material without interacting with other students, and each student was given all the pro and con materials. The results indicate that controversy promotes the most verbal rehearsal and exchange of the assigned material, the most concern that all students master the assigned material, the most active search for more information about the topic being studied, the most reevaluation of one’s position and the most attitude change, the most liking for the subject matter and the instructional experience, the highest self-esteem, and the most accepting and supportive relationships among handicapped and nonhandicapped students. The debate condition generated higher levels of these dependent variables than did individualistic study.
The Effect of the Locus of CAI Control Strategies on the Learning of Mathematics Rules
Authors: Goetzfried Leslie , Hannafin Michael J.
Published: March 2008

This study examined the effects of the locus of three computer-assisted instruction (CAI) strategies on the accuracy and efficiency of mathematics rule and application learning of low achieving seventh grade students. The three CAI treatments were an externally controlled adaptive strategy, an individually based learner control with advisement strategy, and a linear control design strategy. Effects were examined for CAI strategy, prior achievement, and sex of student. Significant differences were found for prior achievement and the prior achievement by scale interaction, with the below average group demonstrating better rule recall and proportionately greater application scores than low students. The linear control strategy, however, required less time to complete and resulted in more efficient learning.
Correlates of Departmental Quality in Regional Colleges and Universities
Authors: Conrad Clifton F. , Blackburn Robert T.
Published: March 2008

This article isolates correlates of departmental quality at the masters and doctoral level in regional colleges and universities. The 45 departments in the sample represent 14 public institutions in two states and include departments in biology, chemistry, education, history, and mathematics. In addition to simple correlation, the analysis is based on multivariate linear regression. Departmental quality is found to be correlated with individual and combined measures of faculty (scholarly productivity, grantsmanship, age and tenure status, geographical origin of highest degree, and teaching workload), students (number and ability), program (proportion of institutional degree programs at the advanced graduate level and curricular concentration), and facilities (library size). The findings suggest that the factors associated with graduate departmental quality are more multidimensional in regional colleges and universities than in highly ranked research universities.
Do Catholic High Schools Improve Minority Student Achievement?
Authors: Keith Timothy Z , Page Ellis B
Published: March 2008

There is much current debate concerning the role of private schooling in U. S. education. Recent research has purported to show that Catholic schools produce higher achievement in minority high school seniors than do public schools, yet this research has failed to control adequately for student ability, frequently a criterion for selection into such schools. Here, the High School and Beyond data set and path analytic techniques were used to compare black and Hispanic high school seniors’ achievement in public and in Catholic schools. When better measures of ability were added to the causal models, the apparent effect of Catholic schooling on minority achievement was greatly reduced from the former claims. Yet a small, meaningful path still remained. Further analyses suggest that any such Catholic school advantage may be due, in part, to their more stringent curriculum. In any case, the apparent advantage exists only for minority students, and the claimed overall achievement advantage remains unproved.
Effects of Whole Class, Ability Grouped, and Individualized Instruction on Mathematics Achievement
Authors: Slavin Robert E , Karweit Nancy L
Published: March 2008

Achievement and attitudinal effects of three mathematics instruction methods directed in varying degrees toward accommodating diversity in student performance levels were compared in two randomized field experiments. Treatments included an individualized model, Team Assisted Individualization (TAI); an ability grouped model, Ability Grouped Active Teaching (AGAT); a group-paced model, the Missouri Mathematics Program (MMP); and, in Experiment 2 only, untreated Control classes. Analysis of Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills (CTBS) Computations scores adjusted for pretests indicated that in both experiments, TAI and AGAT exceeded MMP. TAI, AGAT, and MMP also exceeded Control. No effects on CTBS Concepts and Applications were found, and there were no treatment by prior achievement interactions on either scale. Effects on Liking of Math Class and Self-Concept in Math generally favored TAI.
Ability Grouping and Student Friendships
Authors: Hallinan Maureen T. , Sørensen Aage B.
Published: March 2008

This study examines the effects of membership in the same ability group on student friendships. We argue that assignment to the same instructional group increases opportunities for student interaction, underscores student similarities, and produces new similarities, and that these factors foster friendship. The relationship between grouping and friendship is examined in a longitudinal data set containing information on students in 110 reading groups in 32 classrooms of fourth, fifth, and sixth grades. The results show that the density of best friend choices within ability groups increases over time, the overlap between ability groups and cliques increases over time, and membership in the same ability group has a positive effect on the probability that a student will choose a peer as best friend.
Affective Versus Cognitive Goal Orientations in Elementary Teachers
Authors: Prawat Richard S.
Published: March 2008

Teachers’ goal orientations were assessed by means of tape-recorded, 3-hour interviews. Content analysis of interview transcription replicated earlier findings indicating that elementary teachers place an inordinately high priority on affective concerns. A cluster analysis revealed three distinct goal orientations on the part of teachers. The largest group was identified as those expressing a predominantly affective orientation. A second group was predominantly cognitive in orientation, and the third group expressed a mixed, affective and cognitive orientation. The discussion focuses on teachers’ responses to individual interview items and the consistency of their responses, particularly as it relates to teachers’ professed goals and educational practices.
A Qualitative Analysis of Sources of Teacher Stress: Consequences for Performance
Authors: Blase Joseph J.
Published: March 2008

The amount of qualitative research in which teachers subjectively describe the meaning of work stress is limited. This article presents data drawn from a qualitative study of teachers’ perceptions of work stress. Linkages between teacher stress and teacher performance are firmly established. The study data are discussed in terms of the Performance Adaptation Syndrome (PAS), a term developed from the data to describe the deleterious effects of prolonged work stress on the instructional ability of teachers.
Reading Instruction in Special Education Resource Rooms
Authors: Haynes Mariana C. , Jenkins Joseph R.
Published: March 2008

Using the observation procedures developed by Leinhardt, Zigmond, and Cooley (1981) , we conducted a large-scale field study of reading instruction in special education resource room programs for fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-grade mildly handicapped students. Children in 23 resource rooms in one district and those from 5 resource rooms in another district were observed during reading instruction. Observations were also made in regular classrooms for a subset of handicapped students and their nonhandicapped peers. The research sought to answer questions regarding the standardization of resource room reading instruction, the nature and amount of reading instruction in these programs, factors associated with how students are scheduled for special reading instruction, reading instruction in resource rooms versus regular classrooms, and special education students’ reading instruction (resource room plus classroom) versus that of nonhandicapped peers. Process-product relations similar to those of the Leinhardt et al. research in learning disabilities classrooms were also tested. Results indicated considerable variability in reading instruction across programs and students that was not strongly linked to student characteristics. Overall, the amount of reading instruction was remarkably low, and instructional process variables in resource rooms were not predictive of achievement.
Facilitating Play in Children’s Peer Relationships: Are We Having Fun Yet?
Authors: Cole David A.
Published: March 2008

The teacher’s role as mediator of social play between severely or profoundly mentally retarded elementary school children and non-handicapped peers was investigated in the context of a structured peer-interaction program. Twenty-eight heterogeneous dyads from three integrated schools were given 2 weeks of either verbal instruction with modeling of cooperative play behavior (treatment) or noninstructional teacher attention (control), followed by 4 weeks of reduced teacher attention (maintenance). Results demonstrate the strong positive impact of the intervention upon the quality of relationships in the treatment group, as evidenced by both partners’ behaviors. Discovery of delayed or “sleeper” effects are discussed regarding the value of subsequent reduced teacher intrusion. Structured interaction programs are described as interim vehicles for normalizing heterogeneous relations, not as ends in themselves. The need for more ecologically valid research of naturally occurring relationships involving children with and without severe disabilities is highlighted.
Correlated Factors Modeling Via Weak Mathematics
Authors: Lohnes Paul R.
Published: March 2008

A new method called Correlated Factors Modeling (CFM) is proposed as an alternative to LISREL and LISREL-like methods of estimating structural equations. CFM employs weak mathematics. It may be appropriate when (a) available theory is weak; (b) available data resources are weak in either sample size or sampling procedure, or both; (c) researcher knowledge of structural modeling methodology is weak; or (d) a rapid, easy, preliminary look at a model, such as can be obtained from a microcomputer, is desired. The factors produced by CFM are exact linear components of their indicator variates. Path models for hypothesized causal relationships among the factors can be computed on the reported correlations among the factors by the ordinary least squares (OLS) method of conventional path analysis. Heuristic goodness-of-fit indices are available to support comparisons of models. Two examples are reported.
The Functions of Inner Speech in Elementary School Students’ Problem-Solving Behavior
Authors: Rohrkemper Mary
Published: March 2008

The purpose of this investigation was to determine the functions of students’ reported inner speech during problem solving. Elementary school students in grades three to six who differed in mathematics achievement were randomly assigned to a low-task difficulty or high-task difficulty problem-solving condition. Immediately after working on assigned problems, and while anticipating more of the same, students were questioned about their inner speech during problem solving. Neither age nor ability differences were reflected in the students’ reports. Rather, reports indicated that students in general maintained an adaptive problem solving stance in both problem solving conditions. Adaptive behavior was characterized by strategic instructional statements focused on the task and positive affect statements focused on the self.
Collegial Ratings Among School Personnel: An Empirical Examination of the Merit Pay Concept
Authors: Hoogeveen Kim , Gutkin Terry B.
Published: March 2008

Although not a new issue in American education, merit pay has seldom been subjected to empirical investigation. Several aspects of the issue were examined in this study conducted in three elementary schools. Teachers were asked to rate themselves and each of their peers with respect to “deservedness” for merit pay. The school principals also rated each staff member. Additional attitude measures were also gathered. In all three schools, teachers were able to discriminate between the most and least deserving teachers, but fine discriminations were not reliably made at the high end of the continuum. A high correlation (r = .73) was found between peer and principal ratings. Neither, however, significantly correlated with self ratings. Self ratings were also found to be significantly higher than both peer and principal ratings. Teaching experience was not found to be related to peer ratings, principal ratings, or attitude toward merit pay. Teachers rated highly were also found to feel no more favorably than low rated staff members toward the concept of merit pay.
Mathematically Talented Males and Females and Achievement in the High School Sciences
Authors: Benbow Camilla Persson , Minor Lola L.
Published: March 2008

Mathematically talented youth, whether male or female, tend to have favorable attitudes toward science and to participate in the sciences at a level much higher than average. There were no overall sex differences in course-taking or course-grades in the sciences. Indications of sex differences favoring males, however, were found in participation in high school physics, the taking of and performance on high school and college level science achievement tests, and intention to major in the more quantitatively oriented fields of physics and engineering. No substantial sex differences in attitudes toward the sciences, except possibly physics, were detected. Overall attitude toward science did relate somewhat to participation in science. Moreover, sex differences in mathematical reasoning ability may explain some of the sex difference in science participation and achievement. These results may bear on why women are underrepresented in the sciences.
Teachers’ Judgments About Their Students: The Effect of Cognitive Simplification Strategies on the Rating Process
Authors: Cadwell Joel , Jenkins Jeffrey
Published: March 2008

The common practice of asking teachers to provide ratings of their students is based on questionable assumptions about the ability of teachers to accurately integrate information from their numerous encounters with students. Borrowing from research in social cognition, an information-processing model of the rating process was proposed and tested by asking 18 teachers to rate 16 hypothetical student profiles formed by systematically varying information along six different dimensions. The results suggested that teacher rating is a schema-based process in which the covariation among rating items is a function of teachers’ implicit theories concerning the organization of student behaviors. The findings revealed possible biases in teachers’ ratings and indicated the importance of a theoretical model of the rating process.
Mnemonic Facilitation of Text-Embedded Science Facts
Authors: Levin Joel R. , Morrison Charles R. , Mcgivern Julia E. , Mastropieri Margo A. , Scruggs Thomas E.
Published: March 2008

Eighth-grade students read passages that described three dichotomized attributes of eight North American minerals. One-third of the students were given instruction in the use of mnemonic techniques, combined with experimenter-provided mnemonic illustrations of the passage content; another third were told about the value of organizing and summarizing to-be-remembered factual prose material, combined with experimenter-provided “fact map” summaries; and a final third were given motivational instructions and told to apply their normal method(s) of study while reading the passages. Mnemonic instruction generally produced greater memory for the minerals’ attributes in comparison to the other two conditions. This was true whether the passage was organized by mineral name (Experiment 1) or by attribute (Experiment 2) both on an immediate identification test and on identification and recall tests administered 3 days later. Implications of the findings are discussed with specific regard to remembering scientific taxonomies and their associated facts.
Special Education and Social Structure: The Commonality of “Exceptionality”
Authors: Gelb Steven A. , Mizokawa Donald T.
Published: March 2008

Although special education classifications have been frequently divided into “subjective” and “objective” categories of disability, the dominant paradigm sees the two types of classifications as occupying opposite ends of a continuum that ranges from mild learning impairment to severe physical and mental disability. The appropriateness of the objective disability paradigm for mild learning problems was tested by correlating the prevalence of subjective and objective disability with 13 social demographic variables using the 50 states and Washington, DC as cases. Multiple regression analyses using aggregates of social variables as predictors were conducted for classifications that were significantly related to social variables. None of the objective classifications could be related to social structure, but two subjective classifications, educable mental retardation and learning disabilities, were strongly and inversely associated with socioeconomic indicators. These classifications appear to be qualitatively distinct from objective disability classifications. Policy should be changed to direct attention away from presumed deficits of individuals and toward identification and treatment of the full range of factors that may cause mild learning problems.
Development of a Structured Interview for Assessing Student Use of Self-Regulated Learning Strategies
Authors: Zimmerman Barry J. , Pons Manuel Martinez
Published: March 2008

Forty male and female l0th-grade students from a high achievement track and 40 from other (lower) achievement tracks of a suburban high school were interviewed concerning their use of self-regulated learning strategies during class, homework, and study. Fourteen categories of self-regulation strategies were identified from student answers that dealt with six learning contexts. High achieving students displayed significantly greater use of 13 categories of self-regulated learning. The students’ membership in their respective achievement group was predicted with 93% accuracy using their reports of self-regulated learning. When compared to students’ gender and socioeconomic status indices in regression analyses, self-regulated learning measures proved to be the best predictor of standardized achievement test scores. The results were discussed in terms of a social learning view of self-regulated learning.
Continuing Motivation of Boys and Girls Under Differing Evaluation Conditions and Achievement Levels
Authors: Hughes Billie J. , Sullivan Howard J. , Beaird James
Published: March 2008

This study investigated the effect of task difficulty, evaluation condition, and sex of subject on continuing motivation of fifth-graders. Two levels of task difficulty (hard and easy) were crossed with two evaluation conditions (teacher and self). Subjects completed an initial activity and, as a measure of continuing motivation, chose to work on a similar or an alternative activity. An ANOVA of immediate choice revealed significantly higher return rates for teacher evaluation and for boys over girls. No significant treatment effects were noted one week later. Boys returned to a challenging task more than girls did, whereas girls preferred the easier task. Overall, the data contradict the argument that teacher evaluation reduces continuing motivation.
Linking Intentions and Behavior: Australian Students’ College Plans and College Attendance
Authors: Carpenter Peter G. , Fleishman John A.
Published: March 2008

Using data gathered as part of a study of young people’s early career attainments, this paper examines factors that influence Australian high school seniors’ plans to attend college and their actual entry into college. The paper applies the Fishbein-Ajzen (1975) model of attitude-behavior relations to the particular issue of the link between intentions to continue school and the realization of those intentions. Results show that the Fishbein-Ajzen model provides a useful, but incomplete, representation of the educational attainment process. In accord with the Fishbein-Ajzen model, favorable attitudes toward higher education, parental encouragement, and friends’ college plans all lead to the formation of intentions to enter college. Intentions, in turn, predict actual college attendance. Other results, however, suggest revisions in the Fishbein-Ajzen model. In particular, college entry was affected by attitudes toward college, academic achievement, and parental encouragement, over and above the effect of intentions. Moreover, behavioral intentions were shaped by academic achievement and by perceived academic ability, in addition to attitudes and perceived social norms. Finally, evidence was obtained that several variables in the model, such as gender and perceived parental encouragement, have interactive effects on college plans and college attendance. The results lend support to Liska’s (1984) argument that social-structural opportunities and resources must be considered when applying the Fishbein-Ajzen model to behaviors such as entry into higher education.
A Longitudinal Study of the Effects of Retention/Promotion on Academic Achievement
Authors: Peterson Sarah E. , DeGracie James S. , Ayabe Carol R.
Published: March 2008

This study examined the long-term impact of retention/promotion decisions on the academic achievement of primary grade students. First-, second-, and third-grade retainees were matched on several variables with same-age students who were not retained. Results of same-year comparisons indicated that retained students significantly improve their relative class standing by the end of the retained year, and in some cases they maintain this advantage over a 2-year period; however, after 3 years there are no differences between retained and promoted students. Comparisons of same-grade level performance provided some evidence that second- and third-grade retainees experience more sustained benefits from retention, although these benefits are delayed one year.
Classroom Management and Student Teachers’ Cognitive Abilities: A Relationship
Authors: Copeland Willis D.
Published: March 2008

A computer-administered test battery was created to collect measurements of teachers’ multiple-attention and vigilance skills that are hypothesized to be related to successful classroom management. Measurements from this battery were tested for correlations with observed teacher management behavior and student on-task behavior. Results are discussed in terms of models that explain teacher interactive decisionmaking and in terms of prospects for implementing recommendations for classroom management.
Learning Word Meanings From Context During Normal Reading
Authors: Nagy William E. , Anderson Richard C. , Herman Patricia A.
Published: March 2008

This study investigated incidental learning of word meanings from context during normal reading. A total of 352 students in third, fifth, and seventh grades read either expository or narrative passages selected from grade-level textbooks, and after six days were tested on their knowledge of difficult words from the passages. Small but reliable gains in knowledge of words from the passages read were found at all grade and ability levels. Effects of word and text properties on learning from context were examined in some detail. Word properties investigated included length, morphological complexity, and part of speech. Text properties included the strength of contextual support for each word, readability as measured by standard formulas, and several measures of density of difficult words. Among the word properties, only conceptual difficulty was significantly related to learning from context. Among the text properties, learning from context was most strongly influenced by the proportion of unfamiliar words that were conceptually difficult and by the average length of unfamiliar words.
Salary Equity: Similarities and Differences in Outcomes From Two Common Prediction Models
Authors: Schau Candace Garrett , Heyward Vivian H.
Published: March 2008

Stepwise multiple regression was used to develop salary prediction equations, one from each of the two faculty samples most frequently utilized in this type of research (males only, all faculty). These equations were developed using faculty information from an American Association of University Professors (AAUP) Category I institution showing typical sex-difference patterns in salary and other professional characteristics. Sex did not enter into the all-faculty equation. However, an analysis model using residuals showed that women, on the average, were paid significantly less than men. This sex difference was larger using the male, rather than the all-faculty, sample. Higher percentages of males than females were both overpaid and underpaid. Efficacy of the analysis model and differences in results from the two salary prediction equations are discussed.
Student Access to Guidance Counseling in High School
Authors: Lee Valerie E. , Ekstrom Ruth B.
Published: March 2008

The advice students receive on selecting a high school curriculum track or planning an appropriate course of study is likely to come from both home and school. The primary mechanism in America’s public high schools to assist students in making informed decisions about these important choices is guidance counseling. Using data from the first and second follow-ups of High School and Beyond, including student self-reports, test scores, and high school transcripts, we found that guidance counseling services appear to be unequally available to all public high school students. Students from families of lower socioeconomic status (SES), of minority status, and from small schools in rural areas are less likely to have access to guidance counseling for making these important decisions at the beginning of their high school careers. Moreover, students who lack access to guidance counseling are more likely to be placed in nonacademic curricular tracks and to take fewer academic math courses. It appears that students who may need such guidance the most, since they come from home environments where knowledge of the consequences of curricular choices is limited, are least likely to receive it in their schools.
Research Note: Dimensions of Program Quality in Regional Universities
Authors: Young Denise L. , Blackburn Robert T. , Conrad Clifton F.
Published: March 2008

This study replicated and extended research by Conrad and Blackburn on program quality in regional universities. The sample doubled the number of departments, increased the number of institutions and programs, and added an additional state, for a total of three states in this study. The same general variables emerged as the strongest predictors, but strengths were lower. When “state” did not load in the regression analysis, the inference was that generalizability is warranted.
Effects of Dynamic Assessment on Teachers’ Expectations of Handicapped Children
Authors: Delclos Victor R. , Burns M. Susan , Kulewicz Stanley J.
Published: March 2008

Dynamic assessment is a method of examining a child’s approach to learning and response to instruction on a novel task. The feature of dynamic assessment that distinguishes it from traditional approaches to the assessment of intelligence is an extensive teaching phase during which the examiner observes the child’s response to a variety of instructional techniques. This study examined the effects that viewing dynamic assessment situations would have on teachers’ expectations of handicapped children as learners. Results were discussed in terms of the overall goals and functions of dynamic assessment.
Kindergarten Experience: Cognitive Effects or Socialization?
Authors: Entwisle Doris R. , Alexander Karl L. , Cadigan Doris , Pallas Aaron M.
Published: March 2008

This paper employs a large representative sample of Baltimore first graders to examine effects of the amount of children’s kindergarten experience on their first-grade performance. More kindergarten leads to some early positive effects on cognitive status (fall California Achievement Test [CAT] scores, first marks in reading and math), more noticeably for black children than for white. There are some year-end effects of more kindergarten on boys’ reading marks, but no lasting effects on CAT scores. More kindergarten also leads to fewer days’ absence in first grade. More kindergarten experience does not affect children’s deportment, their personal maturity as estimated by their teachers, their expectations for their own performance, or their parents’ expectations for them. It therefore appears that effects of more kindergarten are attributable not to “socializing” children for first grade but to improving their cognitive status.
Adolescent Self-Concept: Testing the Assumption of Equivalent Structure Across Gender
Authors: Byrne Barbara M. , Shavelson Richard J.
Published: March 2008

This study tested the invariance of a multidimensional, hierarchical self-concept (SC) structure for adolescent males and females. In a covariance structure analysis of data from a sample of 832 (412 males, 420 females) grade 11 and 12 students, with multiple measures of general, academic, English, and mathematics SC facets, SC structure differed for males and females. Although the number of SC factors, pattern of factor loadings (except for one), and hierarchical structure were invariant across gender, relations among the factors differed. These structural differences derived largely from the differential way in which English and mathematics SC related to the other SC facets, and to grades, for each sex. In addition, significant gender differences were found in the reliability of certain measurement scales, and correlated errors of measurement were more prevalent for males than for females. The study has important implications for substantive research that focuses on the comparison of SCs across groups and, in particular, across gender.
Parent Involvement: Contributions of Teacher Efficacy, School Socioeconomic Status, and Other School Characteristics
Authors: Hoover-Dempsey Kathleen V. , Bassler Otto C. , Brissie Jane S.
Published: March 2008

The study tested the hypothesis that varying levels of parent involvement would be related to variations in qualities of school settings, specifically school socioeconomic status, teacher degree level, grade level, class size, teachers’ sense of efficacy, principal perceptions of teacher efficacy, organizational rigidity, and instructional coordination. Teacher (n = 1,003) and principal (n = 66) reports and perceptions of the variables of interest were assessed in a sample of 66 elementary schools distributed across a large mid-Southern state. Stepwise multiple regression analyses revealed that various combinations of the predictors accounted for significant portions of the variance in all parent involvement outcomes: parent conferences (52%), parent volunteers (27%), parent home tutoring (24%), parent involvement in home instruction programs (22%), and teacher perception of parent support (41%). Variables most consistently involved in outcomes were teacher efficacy and school socioeconomic status. Results are discussed with reference to parent-teacher role complementarity and implications for increasing productive interconnections between parents and schools.
Social-Cognitive Play Patterns in Same-Age and Mixed-Age Preschool Classrooms
Authors: Mounts Nina S. , Roopnarine Jaipaul L.
Published: March 2008

Recent theoretical propositions and some research findings suggest that children may acquire unique adaptational advantages through mixed-age socialization. To further examine these claims, children’s social-cognitive modes of play and peer responses to them were observed in two classrooms of 3-year-olds, in two classrooms of 4-year-olds, and in two mixed-age classrooms of 3- and 4-year-olds. Observations were conducted during 10 5-minute sessions during indoor free-play periods. Analyses revealed developmental differences in play patterns in same-age but not in mixed-age classrooms. Three-year-olds in mixed-age classrooms were more likely to engage in “complex” modes of play than 3-year-olds in same-age classrooms. There were no program or age differences in the number of different dramatic themes used by children. Within the mixed-age classrooms, interactive modes of play were dispersed somewhat evenly across age/sex groups. The data are discussed with respect to the implications of mixed-age preschool classrooms for attaining educational goals.
Learning-Disabled Students’ Memory for Expository Prose: Mnemonic Versus Nonmnemonic Pictures
Authors: Mastropieri Margo A. , Scruggs Thomas E. , Levin Joel R.
Published: March 2008

Sixty-seven learning-disabled (LD) students read passages that offered reasons for dinosaur extinction. The reasons were presented in decreasing order of their plausibility. Students were randomly assigned to one of three experimental conditions: In the nonmnemonic-picture condition, pictorial representations of each reason accompanied the text; in the mnemonic-picture condition, the same pictorial representations included direct mnemonic links to the reasons’ plausibility numbers; and in the no-picture control condition, no illustrations were provided. Consistent with recent theoretical analyses of the different prose-learning functions of pictures, in comparison to the no-picture control condition (a) both nonmnemonic and mnemonic pictures facilitated students’ free recall of the extinction reasons; (b) only mnemonic pictures facilitated students’ recall of the reasons in conjunction with their plausibility numbers; and (c) neither mnemonic nor nonmnemonic pictures facilitated students’ recall of additional, unpictured, factual information from the passage. No performance differences among conditions were found on a near-transfer task that required reason-plausibility judgments. The results are discussed in the general context of illustrations as applied to LD students’ learning from text.
The Effects of Participatory Expectations in Classroom Discussion on the Learning of Science Vocabulary
Authors: Stahl Steven A. , Clark Charles H.
Published: March 2008

To study why discussion appears to improve vocabulary learning, children in two intact classes were divided into three subgroups and taught science vocabulary on 3 successive days. For each lesson, one subgroup was told they would not be called on and were to learn by listening. Of the other two subgroups, only one was actually called on (Called-on) and the other merely anticipated being called on (Ignored). Two additional classes served as comparison groups. Students in the treatment group generally outperformed those in the two comparison groups on the posttests, regardless of condition. Within the treatment group, students in both anticipatory conditions (Called-on and Ignored) significantly outperformed students in the Listening condition on the delayed posttest, but not on the immediate posttest. These results are discussed within the context of a generative model of vocabulary learning.
Interaction of Dogmatism and Rhetorical Structure in Text Recall
Authors: Rickards John P. , Slife Brent D.
Published: March 2008

Recent theory suggests that skilled readers attempt to identify the rhetorical structure of a passage and then use it to encode and retrieve text information. While a comparison structure normally yields more recall than a collection structure, we reasoned that rote learning-oriented high dogmatics may recall better with a simple collection structure and conceptual learning-oriented low dogmatics may recall better with the more organized comparison structure. Using 44 high and 44 low dogmatic college-age learners, the results indicated an interaction between dogmatism and rhetorical structure that was generally supportive of our hypothesis.
Changing Teaching Practices in Mainstream Classrooms to Improve Bonding and Behavior of Low Achievers
Authors: Hawkins J. David , Doueck Howard J. , Lishner Denise M.
Published: March 2008

This paper reports the effects of a package of instructional methods on the academic achievement, behavior, and social bonding of seventh grade students who were low achievers in math. Proactive classroom management, interactive teaching, and cooperative learning methods were included. Low achievers in experimental classrooms showed more favorable attitudes toward math, more bonding to school, greater expectations for continuing schooling, and less serious misbehavior as measured by suspensions and expulsions from school than did their low-achieving control counterparts at the end of one academic year. Among low achievers, significant effects of the teaching practices were not found for California Achievement Test scores or for self-reported delinquency or drug use. The results suggest that interventions in mainstream classrooms can promote school attachment and deter misbehavior among low-achieving students. The absence of short-term effects on standardized achievement scores suggests possible alternatives to the authors’ hypotheses, whereas the absence of short-term effects on self-reported delinquency and drug use was consistent with the authors’ hypotheses of delayed effects for these variables.
The Effect of Instruction on Spatial Visualization Skills of Middle School Boys and Girls
Authors: Ben-Chaim David , Lappan Glenda , Houang Richard T.
Published: March 2008

This study was conducted to investigate differences in spatial visualization abilities and effects of instruction on spatial visualization skills of fifth through eighth grade students by grade, sex, and site. About 1,000 students from three sites, representing a wide range of socioeconomic status, participated in the study. The spatial visualization unit engaged students in concrete activities, building and drawing solids made of cubes. The instrument used was the MGMP Spatial Visualization Test, with a test-retest reliability of .79, and Cronbach’s reliability coefficients for various groups of students ranged from .72 to .86 on the pretest and from .82 to .88 on the posttest. Before instruction, there were significant differences in spatial visualization performance by grade (increasing with age), by sex (favoring boys), and by site (increasing with socioeconomic status). After instruction, fifth through eighth grade students profited considerably from instruction, and the gain was similar for boys and girls despite initial sex differences. Retention of effects persisted after a 4-week period and after 1 year.
Women’s Selection of Quantitative Undergraduate Fields of Study: Direct and Indirect Influences
Authors: Ethington Corinna A. , Woffle Lee M.
Published: March 2008

To increase women’s representation among quantitative degrees, Berryman (1985) suggested two strategies: Increase women’s share of the initial mathematical/scientific pool or reduce attrition from the pool. Current research indicates, however, that the decision to enter a quantitative field of study for women is the result of a complex interaction of many factors. This study examined the manner in which these factors influence women’s choice of undergraduate fields of study by proposing a structural equation model indicating hypothesized patterns of effects. Although no academic performance measure influenced field of study choice, the number of mathematics and science courses taken in high school was the predominant factor in the model. It had the greatest direct influence on field of study and served as the mediating variable for all indirect influences. Other significant effects were exerted by the initial choice of a quantitative field of study as a high school sophomore and student background characteristics and attitudes.