Study goals were to assess: (a) the development of academic interests from middle childhood through late adolescence; (b) the degree to which junior high and high school transitions, parents' educational expectations, interests, and education were related to changes in academic interests; and (c) the longitudinal links between youths' academic…

A random sample of language arts, social studies, and science high school teachers (N = 361; 53% women) from the United States were surveyed about what their students wrote, their use of evidence-based writing practices, the adaptations they made for weaker writers, how they assessed writing, their preparation to teach writing, beliefs about the…

To determine whether larger high schools have more student victimization than smaller schools, this study examined a statewide sample of approximately 7,431 ninth-grade students and 2,353 teachers in 290 Virginia high schools participating in the Virginia High School Safety Study. School size was distinguished from the proportion of students…

Many models assume that habitual human behavior is guided by spontaneous, automatic, or implicit processes rather than by deliberate, rule-based, or explicit processes. Thus, math-ability self-concepts and math performance could be related to implicit math-gender stereotypes in addition to explicit stereotypes. Two studies assessed at what age…

Covariance structure modeling tested four alternative models of determinants of student effort changes. Four alternative models were investigated using 167 junior and 155 senior high school students. Effort ratings by teachers were obtained for 282 of the students. The importance of changes in students' perceptions of ability is discussed. (SLD)

Results from 4,679 subjects tested in seventh grade and as young adults suggest a negative effect of not graduating from high school on psychological functioning for male and female students in the full sample and in the sample (1,871) who did not go on to college. (SLD)

Data from the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 were examined to study the disidentification of African American and other minority students with academics. African American boys in general remained disidentified through grade 12, but no other group demonstrated significant disidentification, and identification did not appear to vary…

Four studies involving a total of 150 college students, a junior high school student, and a high school student are presented that evaluate the validity of the Computer-based Academic Assessment system (CAAS) as a diagnostic technique for identifying specific reading disabilities in college students. Results show that the CAAS meets the criteria…

In this study we examined authoritative discipline theory, which posits that 2 complementary aspects of school climate--structure and support--are important for adolescents' safety in school. Using a statewide sample of over 7,300 ninth-grade students and 2,900 teachers randomly selected from 290 high schools, we showed, using hierarchical linear…

The relationship between cognitive restructuring and perception of the upright (tests of which may be used to measure field dependence-independence [FDI]) was investigated. Data analysis of 34 tests administered to high school seniors, including 12 measures of FDI, resulted in five dimensions, including two associated with FDI. (Author/AEF)

In two experiments involving 195 high school students, independent measures of detection and correction of grammar, spelling, and meaning errors in text were examined. With the exception of spelling errors, knowledge of how to correct an error was necessary but not sufficient for detection. (SLD)

Studied the effects of goal setting and self-monitoring during self-regulated practice on the acquisition of a complex motor skill with 90 high school girls. Results indicate that girls who shifted goals developmentally from process to outcome goals surpassed those who had only process goals. (SLD)

Ninth graders (n=30 and n=39) who learned to use a prior knowledge activation (PKA) strategy consistently outperformed students in a main-idea strategy treatment group (n=25 and n=43) and those in a no-instruction control group (n=24 and n=44) on application-level questions but not on literal-level questions. (SLD)

The present study examined the developmental course of perceived efficacy for self-regulated learning and its contribution to academic achievement and likelihood of remaining in school in a sample of 412 Italian students (48% males and 52% females ranging in age from 12 to 22 years). Latent growth curve analysis revealed a progressive decline in…

The relationship between epistemological beliefs and learned helplessness and between conceptual understanding and application reasoning in conceptual change learning were investigated for 212 high school science students. Results support the importance of epistemological beliefs in predicting conceptual change learning. Implications for science…