The present study investigated the relationship among middle school students' self-perceived locus of control, their school achievement, and their school attendance. A cohort of 265 seventh-grade students was administered the children's version of the Multidimensional Health Locus of Control (MHLC-C) scales, which measure health locus of control…

Surveys the reading attitudes of 85 seventh graders in a predominantly Hispanic East Los Angeles school, and relates them to reading achievement. Finds that students doing well in reading have a higher positive correlation between attitude and achievement, but that many students reading far below grade level manifest very positive attitudes toward…

This study investigated whether Chapter 1 middle school students showed more achievement gain when delivery of the pull-out supplementary reading or mathematics instruction was "massed" in time blocks or "distributed" weekly across the school year. All students in one Middle School Chapter 1 Learning Center program participated…

How students perceive standardized tests and routine classroom tests on subject matter units was studied by surveying 61 fifth-grade and 65 eighth-grade students in public schools in Michigan. It was hypothesized that older students would more often distinguish between the types of test and would be more cynical and less motivated than would…

An examination of the predictive validity of the Stanford Mathematics Test included 426 Black and White eighth- and ninth-grade students. No significant differences were found in mean residuals by race. Differences of small magnitude occurred by sex in one cohort which indicated underprediction for females and overprediction for males. (Author/PN)

This study examines the sex-role perceptions that adolescents hold of fathers, mothers, ideal males, ideal females, and selves. Differences exist between male and female adolescents, and significant linkages exist between sex-role identification and academic achievement. (Author/BW)

To determine the effect of parental influence on students' reading achievement, a study surveyed parents of two eighth grade classes from two different middle schools in an urban area. The 18-item survey consisted of general information regarding parents and their children, and dealt with the parents' outlook on reading and their interpretation of…

North Carolina students taking statewide achievement tests in grades 6 and 9 were ased two questions about the amount of time they spend doing homework: how much time do you spend doing assigned homework, and how much time do you spend doing work which is not assigned or required by the teacher? The results were compared with their scores on the…

Comparison of 502 former and 148 active participants in a prevocational intervention for at-risk students and 157 at-risk nonparticipants found (1) comparable dropout rates, self-concept scores, and reading and math achievement; (2) decline in participants' grades and attendance after the program; and (3) higher degrees of internality in cognitive…

Combines item response theory (IRT) and statistical methods to analyze California Achievement Test-Mathematics (CAT-M) results for 4,135 seventh graders in northeast Ohio. Provides information to educational analysts about which IRT model fits CAT-M data for the target population, test accuracy in estimating students' abilities at different…

The six California Achievement Tests (CAT) subtests were factor analyzed separately for Black males, Black females, Hispanic males, Hispanic females, White males, and White females, in the fifth and seventh grades. the CAT was found to be essentially invariant with regard to race and sex. (Author/BS)

Classroom behaviors from the Texas Junior High School Study were related to achievement using both class means and student scores within classes as the units of analysis. Behaviors significantly related to achievement at the class level of analysis were not related to achievement within the class and vice versa. There was no clear pattern of…

This report evaluates the Promotional Gates Program for kindergarten through ninth qrade implemented in thirty-two community school districts in New York City. The report is designed to provide policy makers with: (1) an assessment of student achievement on the California Achievement Test (CAT) and the Criterion Referenced English Syntax Test…

SCORES FROM 16 VARIABLES WERE USED TO ASSESS DIFFERENCES AMONG 194 JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL BOYS AND GIRLS OF 4 TEXAS COMMUNITIES WHO WERE AMONG MORE THAN 1,500 PUPILS INCLUDED IN THE "TEXAS HUMAN TALENT PROJECT." SUBJECTS WERE CLASSIFIED INTO "UP,""DOWN," OR "STABLE" SAMPLES. CLASSIFICATION INTO THE…

This study attempts to detect the presence of either of 2 different categories of large-scale bias in 4 widely used mathematics achievement tests: induced bias and norming bias. Subjects were 407 eighth graders. (IAH)