That students' social and economic characteristics shape their cognitive and behavioral outcomes is well established, yet policymakers typically resist accepting that non-school disadvantages necessarily depress outcomes. Rather, they look to better schools and teachers to close achievement gaps, and consistently come up short. This report…

Vygotsky speculated that parents play an important role in the intellectual development of their children, and that this role includes the transfer of expectations related to their children's academic achievement. Consequently, different parents can produce different contexts of academic achievement for their children. The participants were 215…

Contemporary education theory (and official South African policy) underwrites learner-centredness. I analyse learner-centredness as a possible piece of the puzzle about why it is proving so difficult to improve academic achievement. Learner-centred ideas are grounded in the belief that cognitive abilities develop spontaneously in accordance with a…

Examines consequences of family poverty for child development, noting evidence that deep or persistent poverty early in childhood adversely affects children's ability and achievement. Argues that although the 1996 welfare reforms spurred many welfare-to-work transitions, their time limits and sanctions are likely to deepen poverty among some…

Presents a developmental theory of mentoring proposing that mentoring enhances creative and intellectual growth as it facilitates task accomplishment uniquely characteristic of early life stages. How different levels of mentoring facilitate this developmental process is described. The synergism of creativity, intellectual accomplishment, and…

THE INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT, ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT, AND SOCIAL AND PERSONAL ADJUSTMENT OF EDUCABLE MENTALLY RETARDED CHILDREN ENROLLED IN SPECIAL CLASSES WERE COMPARED TO THOSE OF PEERS IN REGULAR GRADES. ABOUT 125 CHILDREN, BEGINNING FIRST GRADE AND HAVING A MEAN IQ OF 75 (STANFORD-BINET SCALE), WERE DIVIDED RANDOMLY INTO AN EXPERIMENTAL GROUP…

THE RELATIONSHIP OF MOVEMENT RESPONSES TO LEARNING ACHIEVEMENT WERE INVESTIGATED (1) TO IDENTIFY FACTORS CLAIMED TO MEASURE MOTOR APTITUDE AND INTELLECTUAL ACHIEVEMENT IN PRE-ADOLESCENTS, (2) TO DEVELOP MOTOR APTITUDE TEST BATTERIES FOR PREDICTING INTELLECTUAL ACHIEVEMENT, (3) TO STUDY RELATIONSHIPS OF COORDINATION AND BALANCE TEST ITEMS IN…

AN EVALUATION AND OBJECTIVE COMPARISON WAS MADE BETWEEN THE PROGRESS OF YOUNG MENTAL RETARDATES IN REGULAR CLASSROOMS WITH THE PROGRESS OF PEERS IN SPECIAL CLASSES. THE BASIS OF COMPARISON OF THE TWO TEACHING METHODS INCLUDED MENTAL DEVELOPMENT, PROGRESS IN REGULAR SCHOOL SUBJECTS, ACHIEVEMENT TOWARD OTHER EDUCATIONAL GOALS, SOCIAL ADJUSTMENT…

THE EXTENT TO WHICH SCORES REPRESENTING PUPILS' STATUS ON CERTAIN DEVELOPMENTAL FACTORS PREDICTED THEIR ACHIEVEMENT IN READING, ARITHMETIC, AND THE MEDIAN OF A BATTERY OF ACHIEVEMENT TESTS WAS PRESENTED. THE STUDY COVERED A PERIOD OF 4 YEARS DURING WHICH THE SAME PUPILS WERE STUDIED IN THE THIRD, FOURTH, FIFTH, AND SIXTH GRADES. STUDIES OF THESE…

Reviews the social-psychological research pertaining to female-headed families published between 1970-1980. Literature indicates that theoretically children do not need the presence of the same-sex/opposite-sex parents in the family to develop sex-role behavior. Suggests children in female-headed families are likely to have good emotional…

A selective review of literature on the effects of nutrition and malnutrition on educational achievement is presented. Interpretive critiques of studies focus on three areas: (1) the effects of early undernutrition and subsequent intellectual function and school progress; (2) the relationship between the nutritional status of the student and…

This book for parents reports new research on the growth of children's intelligence during the first 6 years of life and translates this research from scientific journals, professional symposiums, and experimental laboratories into a form useful to those who live and work with small children daily. The book provides information and simple…

The increase in one child families in the 1980's is analogous to the one child family rate during the Depression years. Although family size was limited for economic reasons during the Depression, current increases in the number of one child families are attributed to advances in contraceptive technology, increased employment of women, inhibiting…

The 1968-69 evaluation of Kentucky's Rural Child Care Project had 5 major objectives: to assess the relationship between a child's attendance in a Child Development Center and his subsequent intellectual performance and academic achievement in elementary school; to evaluate the impact of changes in the Child Development Program itself on…

The second year of a state supported early childhood education program was evaluated, using a pre-post evaluation design involving experimental and control groups. An Early Childhood Assessment Battery was administered to 720 five-year-olds enrolled in the kindergarten program by their teachers. The control group (178) were tested locally. Results…