bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
CHILDREN'S WRITING AT 7 YEARS: ASSOCIATIONS WITH HANDWRITING ON SCHOOL ENTRY AND PRE‐SCHOOL FACTORS
Authors: BLATCHFORD PETER 
Published: May 2011

Summary. This paper reports associations between children's (N=331) handwriting skills on entry to school, at 5 years, and writing at the end of infant school, at 7 years. The 7‐year test had four components —‐ transcription/punctuation, quality of writing, range of vocabulary and sentences to describe pictures. Pre‐school handwriting was significantly correlated with both 7‐year transcription/punctuation and total writing scores. It is argued that these results suggest the value of early assessment as an aid in helping children's progress as writers.Antecedents of writing at 7 years were studied further by exploring associations with four preschool factors: parental teaching of writing, children's WPPSI Vocabulary scores, knowledge of literacy, and experience of books. Multiple regression analyses showed that only pre‐school parental teaching and WPPSI scores were independently related to writing progress. It is argued that, despite reservations of teachers, parents' help with writing should be recognised and encouraged.
The relationship between students' behaviour at home and attention and achievement in elementary school
Authors: de Jong Peter F. 
Published: May 2011

In this study a model is proposed in which attention in the classroom is supposed to mediate the relationship between home background factors and achievement in school. Home background factors in the study were the socioeconomic status of the parents (SES) and the amount of problem behaviour of the child at home. The latter was supposed to be an indicator of the adequacy of parental discipline practices. For attention a distinction is made between a behavioural component termed attentional behaviour, and a cognitive component termed attention regulation. The effects of attention were studied for two domains of achievement, namely reading comprehension and arithmetic.The model was tested by means of structural equations modelling in a sample (N = 376) of 9‐year‐old children attending grade 6 of regular elementary schools in the Netherlands.The results showed that attention can be considered as an important mediator between home problem behaviour and achievement in school. The absence of problem behaviour at home had a substantial positive relationship with attention, the latter having moderate effects on arithmetic achievement and reading comprehension. No effects of SES on attention were found. Distinguishing between attentional behaviour and attention regulation, it appeared that the latter is equally related to both types of achievement. Interestingly, however, classroom attentional behaviour was more closely related to arithmetic achievement than to reading comprehension. Finally, SES appeared not to be related to arithmetic achievement but exerted a small direct effect on reading comprehension.
Comprehension and interest in home reading
Authors: Elliott Judy A. , Hewison Jenny 
Published: May 2011

This study was designed to provide information on how families from different sociocultural backgrounds help with reading at home, and shed light on the types of helping strategy which tend to be most successful. A further aim was to investigate possible mechanisms through which a home reading project might lead to significant reading gains.Parents from four main target groups were visited at home and interviewed about the help which family members gave with educational activities. The groups involved were middle class families (N=30), working class families (N=40), families from largely low SES areas who had participated in a Paired Reading project a year before (N=30) and families of Asian origin (N=50). About 100 recordings were taken of home reading sessions and these were analysed in terms of parental correction strategies and interaction.Analysis of data revealed significant differences in the helping styles adopted by the various groups and indicated that success in reading was associated with a parental helping style which emphasised comprehension and interest. The results are discussed in terms of implications for home reading projects.
Three ways to improve the clarity of journal abstracts
Authors: Hartley James 
Published: May 2011

Fourteen abstracts, taken from a recent issue of the British Journal of Educational Psychology, were printed in four different versions. Version 1 was the original format. Version 2 matched Version 1, but its type‐size was increased to that of the corresponding article. Version 3 matched Version 2, but paragraphs were introduced to clarify the underlying structure. Version 4 matched Version 3, but the text of the abstract was rewritten in an attempt to clarify the text even further.The effects of these changes were assessed in four ways. Firstly, undergraduates each ranked for clarity Versions 1–4 of individual abstracts. The results showed that each change in design lead to a significantly greater preference ‐ thus Version 1 was the least preferred and Version 4 the most preferred. Secondly, Flesch readability scores were computed for the original and the revised abstracts. It was shown using this measure that the revised abstracts were significantly easier to read than the originals. Thirdly, academic staff and postgraduates completed cloze (comprehension) tests on original and revised versions of two of the original abstracts. The results showed (i) significantly higher cloze test scores for the revised versions, and (ii) that experienced staff and postgraduates performed significantly better on both versions than did beginning postgraduate students. Finally British and overseas postgraduate students of librarianship completed a cloze version of an original and its revised abstract. The results showed that the British students did significantly better than overseas ones, and that both groups scored significantly higher on the revised abstract.These four sets of data thus indicate that it is possible to improve the clarity of journal abstracts, and that this can be achieved for many different kinds of reader.
Can discrepancies between IQ and basic skills be explained by learning strategies?
Authors: Søvik Nils , Frostad Per , Lie Alfred 
Published: May 2011

Information on discrepancies between children's IQ and their attainments in various school subjects is important as such discrepancies may help to account for specific learning difficulties. The purpose of the reported study was to outline the frequencies and characteristics of discrepancies between children's IQ and their basic skill performance at two different grade levels (Problem 1). Assuming that the concept of learning strategy can be operationally defined and measured, data achieved in conjunction with Problem 1 may further inform whether a relationship exists between students' learning strategies and their discrepancies in basic skills (Problem 2).First, 110 third‐graders and 148 eight‐graders were randomly selected for observations (group tests in reading and spelling). Second, 32 students from each grade level were chosen and subjected to assessments of individual achievement in reading, writing, arithmetic, and intelligence. They were also assessed on six personality traits: attention, reflection, working speed, accuracy, feedback, and persistence.The concept of learning strategy was studied in two related fields: across‐domain and task‐specific strategies, and data analyses were carried out in accordance with this view. The results indicated that 18.7 per cent (grade 3) and 25.0 per cent (grade 8) discrepancies occurred. Clear indications were found regarding a general relationship between students' scoring on the six personality traits and the discrepancies. A similar relationship also seems to exist between task‐specific strategies and underachievement. Training programmes related to learning strategies should be developed and implemented, in particular for students with discrepancies between IQ and basic skill performances.
Prediction and qualitative assessment of five‐and six‐year‐old children's reading: a longitudinal study
Authors: Stuart Morag 
Published: May 2011

This paper describes a longitudinal study comparing the power of two screening batteries (that of Clay, 1979, and that of a set of tests of phonological awareness and sound‐to‐letter correspondence knowledge) to identify, in the first term at school, children at risk of failing to learn to read successfully. A single test from one of the batteries is shown to provide an adequate screening procedure. There is no significant gain in predictive power if screening is delayed until the end of the first year at school.Reading processes of the screened children are investigated at the end of their first year in school, and again seven months later. Almost all the best readers can use some phonological recoding processes by the end of their first year at school. Seven months later, this is true of all the best readers, with children who had now learned to use phonological recoding processes showing greater gains in reading age than those who had not.
The effect of prior knowledge activation on text recall: an investigation of two conflicting hypotheses
Authors: Machiels‐Bongaerts Maureen , Schmidt Henk G. , Boshuizen Henny P. A. 
Published: May 2011

Two hypotheses, the cognitive set‐point and the selective‐attention hypothesis, try to account for the facilitation effects of prior knowledge activation. These hypotheses appear to be mutually exclusive since they predict different recall patterns as a result of prior knowledge activation on text recall. However, in experiments supporting these hypotheses different knowledge structures were activated, resulting in different ways of text processing. In this study the assumption was tested that differences in the nature of the prior knowledge activated can result in these different ways of text processing, which, in turn, can explain the divergent recall patterns; thus, that the cognitive set‐point and the selective‐attention hypothesis could co‐exist.One group activated prior knowledge that was represented in a schema, which would result in processing and recall patterns as predicted by the selective‐attention hypothesis. The second group activated prior knowledge that had not evolved into such a fixed cognitive structure, which would lead to the patterns predicted by the cognitive set‐point hypothesis. The results of these experimental groups, opposed to a control group, largely confirmed the postulation that differences in the nature of the prior knowledge activated can result in different information processes and recall patterns.
Overachievement and coping strategies in adolescent males
Authors: Parsons Alexandra , Frydenberg Erica , Poole Charles 
Published: May 2011

How to assist young people to achieve to their potential is a universal concern of educators. The relationship between achievement above that expected on the basis of IQ alone (often referred to as overachievement) in school assessment and preferred coping style, as assessed by the Adolescent Coping Scale (ACS, Frydenberg & Lewis, 1993a), was investigated in a group of 374 boys in Grades 9, 10 and 11 at an independent boys’ school in metropolitan Melbourne. Separate partial correlation analyses for each of the three year levels showed that three of the coping strategies, Work and Achieve, Solve the Problem, and Social Support positively correlated with overachievement at all three levels. Other subscales also correlated significantly at one or other of the grade levels.It was concluded that overachievement may be better regarded as approaching one's full potential by the use of optimal coping strategies and avoidance of alternative responses to stress which appear to be non‐productive.
Primary teachers' knowledge and acquisition of stress relieving strategies
Authors: Cockburn Anne D. 
Published: May 2011

Over the last 20 years there have been numerous studies of teacher stress but little is known of how teachers acquire coping strategies; their knowledge of those available to them and their opinion of these techniques.A total of 335 Norfolk primary teachers responded to a postal questionnaire providing biographical details; levels of job satisfaction and work related stress; responses to a range of commonly advocated techniques to reduce teacher stress and their opinion on who—if anyone—should take more responsibility for reducing teacher stress. On average the respondents were aware of 35 stress reduction strategies. The most effective strategies were ensuring that one understood what one was about to teach and thorough lesson preparation. A significant proportion of practitioners said that they would not consider seeking expert sources of advice. A total of 89 per cent of practitioners reported that they acquired at least some strategies through their own experience.It was concluded that the issue of teacher stress needs to be considered at governmental, school and individual levels. In the light of some resistance to traditional methods of stress reduction, the implications for initial and in‐service training were explored.
Peer relations, loneliness, and self‐perceptions in school‐aged children
Authors: Sletta Olav , Valås Harald , Skaalvik Einar , Søbstad Frode 
Published: May 2011

Recent studies have suggested that certain behavioural characteristics in children are closely associated with peer acceptance, and that children who are not accepted by peers are more lonely than other children. The present research examines a more comprehensive pattern of relationships. In addition to behavioural characteristics, peer acceptance, and feelings of loneliness and social dissatisfaction, the study includes self‐perceptions of social competence, self‐esteem, and goal orientation (defensive ego‐involvement). A theoretical model is presented to analyse predictive relations. The model was tested on a sample of 8th grade children (N=96). Teacher and peer assessments of behavioural characteristics (humour, externalising, internalising and prosocial behaviour) were applied.In general, results were consistent with the proposed model. Loneliness was predicted by behavioural characteristics and low peer acceptance, and strong negative paths were found from loneliness to self‐esteem and perceived social competence. Self‐perceptions were not predicted by peer acceptance, and few direct paths were found from behavioural characteristics to self‐perceptions. Thus loneliness has a mediating position between behaviour and peer acceptance on the one hand and self‐perceptions on the other hand. This indicates that children's self‐perceptions are affected by their socio‐emotional reactions to peer difficulties and not directly by low peer acceptance. Strong negative paths were found from self‐esteem and perceived social competence to defensive ego‐involvement, which suggests that negative self‐perceptions may have adverse consequences for children's goal orientations. Practical implications of the findings are discussed.
Effects of menstrual cycle moods and symptoms on academic performance: a study of senior secondary school students
Authors: Boyle Gregory J. 
Published: May 2011

Background. Menstrual cycle moods and symptoms may well play a discernible role in the academic performance of some post‐pubescent adolescent female students.Aims. It was expected that menstrually related moods and symptoms would have both negative and positive influences on academic learning outcomes, and that the magnitude of these effects would be directly proportional to the salience of such moods and symptoms across the monthly cycle.Samples. The sample comprised 427 post‐pubescent female students (Years 10, 11, and 12) attending a number of senior secondary schools within the Melbourne metropolitan area, Australia.Methods. Given the sensitivity of conducting such a study, combined with the logistical difficulties of obtaining prospective data within school settings, retrospective Menstrual Distress Questionnaire (MDQ) scores were related to the previous end‐of‐year academic grades across a wide range of 18 senior school subjects. Despite the conservative design constraints and associated data analyses (correlations were not corrected for attenuation), some systematic effects were observed.Results. At the premenstrual, menstrual, and intermenstrual phases, moods and symptoms significantly predicted grades in 14 per cent, 7 per cent, and 13 per cent of instances, respectively. Although most significant relationships were negative, scores on the MDQ Arousal scale for the intermenstrual phase positively predicted grades in English Literature, (general) Mathematics, Art and Craft, History, Mathematics 1, and Study of Society.Conclusions. Evidently, menstrual cycle variables play a small, but discernible role on academic learning outcomes, contributing both positively and negatively to performance. Future, prospective studies are now needed to provide a more definitive account of menstrual cycle influences on academic performance.
The identification of children with developmental coordination disorder by class and physical education teachers
Authors: Piek Jan P. , Edwards Karen 
Published: May 2011

Background. Children diagnosed with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) have difficulty performing coordinated movements. In addition, these children have been found to have long‐term social, emotional, behavioural and academic problems. Early identification is therefore important, and teachers may be very useful in this identification process.Aims. In the present study, the ability of physical education and class teachers to identify children with coordination problems using the Movement Assessment Battery for Children checklist was assessed.Samples. A total of 171 children was initially assessed. From this sample, 32 children found to have coordination problems were compared with 32 control children, matched on age, sex and Verbal IQ.Methods. Motor coordination difficulty was identified in children aged between 9 and 11 years using the performance test of the Movement Assessment Battery for Children (MABC; Henderson & Sugden, 1992). These scores were then compared with the scores on the MABC checklist which was given to the child's class and physical education teachers.Results. Class teachers were only able to identify 25 per cent of the children with DCD, whereas physical education teachers were able to identify 49 per cent of the DCD children.Conclusion. These differences were discussed in relation to the contextual settings in which the children were tested, based on the theory described by Sugden & Sugden (1991) in the development of their Motor Competence Checklist (MCC).
The performance effects of headings within multiple‐choice tests
Authors: Marcinkiewicz Henryk R. , Clariana Roy B. 
Published: May 2011

Background. It has been suggested that headings within multiple‐choice tests positively affect test performance; however, there is little research to date to either support or reject this hypothesis.Aims. Do headings within multiple‐choice tests facilitate test performance?Sample. The available sample for this study included employees of a large manufacturing plant in the western part of the United States (N=143). Participants ranged in age from 26 to 64 years old; the median age was 44 years old.Method. The experimental group received a multiple‐choice recertification test with headings included; the control group received the same test without headings. The data were analysed by analysis of covariance.Results. A significant difference was obtained for the treatment main effect, F (1,140) =4.33 (p<.04), with a calculated effect size for headings over no headings of es=0.33. Post hoc analysis of item difficulty data suggests that headings may have the greatest effect on less difficult test items and have little effect on difficult test items.Conclusions. The findings of the present study indicate that headings within multiple‐choice tests positively affect test performance. Perhaps more importantly, the findings indicate that headings may differentially impact test items of differing difficulty. Further research is recommended.
Pupils' self assessments of academic attainment at 7, 11 and 16 years: effects of sex and ethnic group
Authors: Blatchford Peter 
Published: May 2011

Background. There is much concern with group differences in educational attainment in school. Better understanding of pupils' academic ability perceptions promises to help understanding of differences in attainment.Aims. The aim of this paper is to examine ethnic and sex differences in academic self assessments at 7,11 and 16 years, and ethnic and sex differences in the degree of under and overestimation of self assessment.Samples. Results come from a longitudinal study of white and black UK pupils in inner London schools. Samples sizes at7, 11 and 16 years were 133, 175, 108 respectively.Methods. Self assessments, other self report data and attainments were collected at each age.Results. White pupils by the end of junior and secondary school were less positive about their own attainments, and about themselves at school. While black girls showed confidence in their attainments, and had the highest attainments in reading/English, white girls tended to underestimate and have little confidence in their school attainments.
Teachers' views on bullying: definitions, attitudes and ability to cope
Authors: Boulton Michael J. 
Published: May 2011

Background. Teachers play a crucial role in preventing and managing the widespread problem of bullying. Despite this, scant attention has been paid to their views on this type of problem.Aims. To determine (i) what behaviours teachers regard as bullying; (ii) teachers' attitudes towards bullying, bullies and victims; (iii) teachers' self‐beliefs about their ability to deal with bullying and their need for training; (iv) teachers' views of their responsibility for bullying in various locations; (v) the impact of length of service on attitudes and perceived ability to cope with bullying.Sample. Pre‐, infant, junior, and secondary school teachers (N=138) from schools selected on a convenience basis. Age range 19 to 57 years (mean = 35.8), length of teaching experience range one to 38 years (mean = 12.2 years).Methods. Standardised questionnaire completed and returned within a one‐week period.Results. Teachers viewed a wide range of behaviours as bullying, but significantly more agreed that some items (e.g., ‘Threatening people verbally’) were bullying than agreed others were (e.g., ‘Leaving people out’). Teachers expressed generally negative attitudes towards bullying and bullies, and were generally sympathetic towards victims, although sympathy diminished with increasing length of service. Teachers, regardless of length of service, were not confident in their ability to deal with bullying and 87 per cent wanted more training. Significantly more teachers felt responsible for preventing bullying in the classroom and playground than outside of school.Conclusion. School psychologists must consider teachers' views about many aspects of the problem of bullying if they are to devise optimum strategies for tackling it.