Dimensional comparisons, where students compare their achievements in different subjects, have a significant impact on the formation of students' subject-specific self-concepts. This research examines the influence of five moderators that have been shown in previous research to affect the strength of dimensional comparison effects: (1) the…

Brief, targeted self-affirmation writing exercises have recently been offered as a way to reduce racial achievement gaps, but evidence about their effects in educational settings is mixed, leaving ambiguity about the likely benefits of these strategies if implemented broadly. A key limitation in interpreting these mixed results is that they come…

Student ratings of teaching quality have been shown to be powerful predictors of important academic outcome variables. This is the case despite the fact that students from the same classroom can perceive teaching quality quite differently in their own idiosyncratic ways. These differences among students in the same classroom are typically…

Models of irregular word reading that take into account both child- and word-level predictors have not been evaluated in typically developing children and children with reading difficulty (RD). The purpose of the present study was to model individual differences in irregular word reading ability among 5th grade children (N = 170), oversampled for…

Across multiple schools and sites, the impact of grade-at-intervention was evaluated for children at risk or meeting criteria for reading disabilities. A multiple-component reading intervention with demonstrated efficacy was offered to small groups of children in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd grade. In a quasi-experimental design, 172 children received the…

Longitudinal structural equation modeling was used to evaluate longitudinal relationships across adjacent grade levels 1 to 7 for levels of language in writing (Model 1, subword letter writing, word spelling, and text composing) or writing and reading (Model 2, subword letter writing and word spelling and reading; Model 3, word spelling and…

Results from a 2-year longitudinal study of 181 children from 4th through 5th grade are reported. Levels of growth in children's computation, word problem, and estimation skills by means of common fractions were predicted by working memory, attentive classroom behavior, conceptual knowledge about fractions, and simple arithmetic fluency.…

Individual differences in strategy use (choice and accuracy) were analyzed. A sample of 362 Grade 6 students solved complex division problems under 2 different conditions. In the choice condition students were allowed to use either a mental or a written strategy. In the subsequent no-choice condition, they were required to use a written strategy.…

Using data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development, the authors investigated whether there was evidence of intraindividual stability in behavior problems over time as well as whether children with higher levels of behavior problems at 24 months and more rapid increases in…

Prosodic, or expressive, reading is considered to be one of the essential features of the achievement of reading fluency. The purpose of this study was to determine (a) the degree to which the prosody of syntactically complex sentences varied as a function of reading speed and accuracy and (b) the role that reading prosody might play in mediating…

The hypothesis that attentional demands of word recognition covary with other measures of reading efficiency was tested with 27 undergraduates performing naming and probe-detection tasks singly and in combination. Findings support the assumption that attentional demands of basic reading are a source of differences in reading skill. (SLD)

Three experiments in the framework of Activity Theory explored the relationship between the questions of 104 male and 88 female adult learners (college students) and subsequent comprehension in a tutorial learning session. Questions asked during knowledge implementation aid comprehension more than do those asked during acquisition. (SLD)

Spelling errors made by children on initial consonant clusters of words were studied in 5 experiments with 130 first graders and 20 kindergartners. Young spellers have frequent problems with initial consonant clusters. Results suggest that difficulties in phonemic awareness lead to corresponding spelling difficulties. (SLD)

Ten learning-disabled adolescents (LDs) performed a reading comprehension task below the level of same-age nondisabled students (NLDs) but at the same level as younger NLDs (YNDs). On a measure of incipient awareness of theme, LDs scored below YNDs. Why LDs have difficulty getting the point is discussed. (SLD)

The cognitive judgment process underlying the rating of a teacher's behavior was explored in three experiments. Ratings were hypothesized to compare the teacher's behavior against the students' frame of references and opinions toward the teacher. (Author/DEP)