Color-blindness, the ideology that "race should not matter" in how individuals are treated, is often confused with "race does not matter" (Neville, 2000). The historical, social, and political origins of color-blind racial attitudes are outlined here. Developmental and constructivist theories are used to illustrate how…

Reviews 27 studies relating age (or grade) and developmental level to science learning among students in grades 6-12. Includes results that measures of student ability are better predictors of cognitive achievement than developmental measures, and that age and grade level are weakly related to developmental level and cognitive achievement. (CS)

This study examined the relationships between spatial ability, mathematics achievement, and sex for students in grades 2-7. Four spatial tests (embedded figures, serial integration, coordination of viewpoints, and rotation and development of surfaces) were used to measure spatial ability; sex and mathematics achievement, as measured by the Iowa…

The development of suicidal thoughts in children was studied, using life history data from 364 undergraduates. Results suggest that: many children and adolescents contemplate suicide, and those at increased risk of suicidal thought are also at increased risk of suicide. Examining suicidal ideation in non-clinical samples is discussed. (SLD)

A study employed mixed effects regression growth curve analysis to assess the developmental course of discrepant (n=51) and nondiscrepant (n=89) poor readers identified in third grade and retested in fifth, eight, and twelfth grades. Discrepancy status did not differentiate the developmental course of basic reading skills or reading comprehension.…

Data from a 20-year longitudinal study of 125 males and 126 females born to Black teenage mothers in a Baltimore hospital between 1966 and 1968 were analyzed to identify early childhood, middle childhood, and early adolescence determinants of functional literacy. All 251 subjects were interviewed in 1987, and 202 of them completed a document…

A meta-analysis was conducted of 137 studies investigating the effects of father absence due to employment, military service, death, divorce, separation, or desertion on children's cognitive performance as assessed by scores on standardized intelligence, scholastic aptitude, and academic achievement tests and school grades. Aggregation of the…

A number of studies are reviewed in an attempt to identify those schooling inputs that affect schooling outcomes, specifically cognitive achievement of students, in developing countries. Part 1 of the paper outlines the nature of the major tool of analysis, the educational production function (EPF), and the problems associated with its use as a…