The authors examined the big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE) on academic self-concept (ASC) using different indicators of academic ability (i.e., achievement test, cognitive ability test, grades corrected for grading-on-a-curve effects, uncorrected grades). They investigated under what circumstances grades are suitable indicators of academic…

Recent federal investments in early childhood assessment systems are the result of a national need for developmentally appropriate, psychometrically sound instruments to monitor young children and evaluate the effectiveness of their learning programs. In this paper, we examined the association between teachers' perceptions of their students at the…

The authors compared the performance of third-grade students testing on answer sheets with those testing on machine-scored test booklets. The 1,832 students in the nationally representative sample were assigned at the campus level to complete the Stanford Achievement Test Series, Tenth Edition in 1 of 4 conditions: (a) Form A answer sheet, (b)…

Writing assessments have attended to the mechanics of writing, reflecting a value on the teaching of writing conventions. One quality of writing rarely assessed is authorial voice, a personal style that communicates the author's stance toward events reported and the author's relationship to the audience. The authors explore associations among…

The authors examined the way that teachers perceive the academic abilities of young boys before the start of formal schooling. Using a 1998 nationally representative sample of 10,956 boys assessed at the start of kindergarten, the authors showed that teachers perceive young boys who are shorter than the perceived norm as less academically capable…

The authors examined how math track placement and gender affected 7th-grade students' self-esteem, self-concepts, and social comparisons. Participants were 170 students who completed surveys that assessed their self-esteem, academic self-concepts of ability, and the kinds of social comparisons they make. Results showed that higher track students…

Research findings suggest that cheating is situationally specific. Subjects cheat more under low risk than under high risk conditions. Cheating does not appear to be related to academic ability. (CJ)

This longitudinal panel study investigated the relationship between ability and achievement among elementary school children in Taiwan. Results are discussed in terms of theoretical and policy implications. (Author/MT)

A study of seventh-, ninth-, and eleventh-grade students' ability to apply letter-sound correspondence to synthetic words indicates that, although by seventh grade, students have largely mastered letter-sound correspondences, low ability students do not approach the same mastery as average and high ability students until the eleventh grade. (JMF)

An expectancy model for predicting academic achievement was found to be a potentially useful tool for understanding factors that influence effort and performance. (MM)

Assessments of self-concept are not merely a reflection of the pupil's objective appraisal of his own scholastic achievement, but represent another domain of useful information in explaining achievement differences. (MM)

Results indicated that a person's self-concept (personality), as measured by the Interpersonal Checklist, was only marginally related to both choice of study plan and performance. (Author)

Comparison of the fraternity and non-fraternity upperclassmen showed significant differences for the residence hall men in the areas of social conscience, satisfaction with major, and peer independence; and, for the fraternity sample, in the area of extracurricular involvement. (Author/MF)

In an analysis of the National Teacher Examination (NTE), the authors found that the weighted common examination scores are significant predictors of effective teaching (student achievement), if the variance shared with teacher race is included. (Author/MJB)

Investigated differences in motivation to learn high school science related to science class type (biological versus physical), gender, and academic ability. Student surveys indicated that there were several differences between higher and lower achieving students and between students in biological versus physical science classes. Sex stereotypes…