Using a large sample of longitudinal assessment data from children in publicly funded infant/toddler care, preschool, and kindergarten (analytic N = 453,468), this study modeled language and literacy trajectories from early infancy through kindergarten for dual language learners (DLLs) from homes representing many different languages and their…

Relational reasoning, the ability to discern meaningful patterns within a stream of information, is considered a critical capacity for students. However, little is known about how this ability is demonstrated by children of different ages in the context of discourse with a more knowledgeable other. Thus, this study sought to investigate the ways…

This study explored the developmental trajectories of academic achievement and the contributions of early social behaviors and problems to these trajectories in Chinese children. Data were collected each year in 5 consecutive years from a sample of elementary schoolchildren in China (initially N = 1,146, 609 boys, initial M [subscript age] = 8.33…

The contributions of domain-general abilities and domain-specific knowledge to subsequent mathematics achievement were longitudinally assessed (n = 167) through 8th grade. First grade intelligence and working memory and prior grade reading achievement indexed domain-general effects, and domain-specific effects were indexed by prior grade…

This investigation's aims were to map prevalence, normative trends, and patterns of continuity or change in school-based peer victimization throughout formal schooling (i.e., Grades K-12), and determine whether specific victimization patterns (i.e., differential trajectories) were associated with children's academic performance. A sample of 383…

Consistently with a priori predictions, school retention (repeating a year in school) had largely positive effects for a diverse range of 10 outcomes (e.g., math self-concept, self-efficacy, anxiety, relations with teachers, parents and peers, school grades, and standardized achievement test scores). The design, based on a large, representative…

Among 262 Chinese children, syllable awareness and rapid automatized naming (RAN) at age 5 years and invented spelling of Pinyin at age 6 years independently predicted subsequent Chinese character recognition and English word reading at ages 8 years and 10 years, even with initial Chinese character reading ability statistically controlled. In…

The nested Marsh/Shavelson (NMS) model integrates structural characteristics of academic self-concepts that have proved empirically incompatible in previous studies. Specifically, it conceives of academic self-concepts to be subject specific, strongly separated across domains, and hierarchically organized, with general academic self-concept at the…

This study investigated changes in student motivation to participate in physical education and some determinants of these changes over a period of 3 years. Measures were taken twice a year, from age 13 until age 15, from a sample of Greek junior high school students. Multilevel modeling analyses showed significant decreases in task-involving…

A multilevel modeling approach was used to investigate the influence of age composition in 70 urban preschool classrooms. A series of hierarchical linear models demonstrated that greater variance in classroom age composition was negatively related to development on the Child Observation Record (COR) Cognitive, Motor, and Social subscales. This was…

It is suggested that the classical conservation justifications (reversibility, compensation, identity, identity action) are both formally and empirically inadequate justifications for the conservation deduction, particularly from a pedagogical perspective. A test for the distinction between true and empirical reversibility, that subjects know of…

Studies the development of phonological processing abilities in dyslexic, weak, and normal readers. Among other abilities, phonological awareness and rapid automatized naming were assessed in kindergarten, in 1st grade, and in 6th grade. Concludes that various manifestations of a phonological deficit follow distinct developmental pathways.…

A promising line of inquiry concerning the development and use of formal operations strategies is presented and a number of conceptual and empirical questions are raised. (Author/PN)

Secondary-level history teachers participated in a study examining differences among experts, experienced teachers, and novices in classroom use of higher order thinking skills (HOTS) and content knowledge. The results support the theory that development of teaching expertise is associated with a change from HOTS-lean and content-rich…

Investigates differential effects of goal specificity on maze learning among 40 young and 40 old adults. Results confirmed hypotheses that the presence or absence of a specific goal would disproportionately compromise or enhance, respectively, elderly people's performance. Suggests that instruction based on cognitive load theory can compensate for…