Investigated how changes in perceptions of the social environment of the classroom related to changes in motivation and engagement as 233 students moved from seventh to eighth grade. Findings show that classroom social environment is an overarching construct that comprises different, but related, dimensions. Discusses implications of the findings…

Studied the effects of four instructional methods on the mathematical reasoning and metacognitive knowledge of 384 eighth graders. Results show that cooperative learning plus metacognitive training outperformed other combinations of individual and cooperative learning and metacognitive instruction or learning without metacognitive instruction.…

This defense of the authors' previous report states that there is a large sex difference in mathematical reasoning ability among intellectually talented preadolescents. The authors concluded differential course taking could not account for observed sex differences among intellectually gifted students, although this may affect average ability…

The authors contend their study and criticism of the Benbow and Stanley results were valid. Benbow and Stanley's clarification that their conclusions pertain only to intellectually talented students and competency in mathematical reasoning ability resolves this disagreement. (DWH)

The effectiveness of a conflict resolution program was examined in a rural public elementary school in Ontario (Canada). Results with 111 seventh and eighth graders support the effectiveness of the conflict resolution training and indicate that the training generally had more effect in a cooperative learning condition. (SLD)

Studied the effects of group ability composition (homogeneous versus heterogeneous) on group processes and outcomes for high-ability students completing science assessments. Results for 83 high ability students show the quality of group functioning serves as the strongest predictor of high-ability students' performance and explained much of the…

Used longitudinal data from large cohorts of East and West German students, 2,778 seventh graders in 161 classrooms, to evaluate how the reunification of Germany affects self-concept formation. Results show how system-wide educational policy differences, the initiation of a selective school system and the institutionalization of different…

Used hierarchical linear modeling and longitudinal data from the first three waves of the National Education Longitudinal Study to examine achievement and growth rates in precollege science by racial, ethnic, and gender subgroups. Findings show socioeconomic status and previous grades to be strongly related to eighth-grade achievement across all…

IMPROVE, a method for teaching mathematics in heterogeneous classrooms based on social cognition theories, was developed and tested in studies involving 247 and 265 seventh graders. IMPROVE uses metacognitive activities, peer interaction, and feedback-corrective enrichment. Results of both studies showed that IMPROVE students significantly…

Studied patterns of coping behavior and changes in coping for 169 Australian adolescents at grade levels 7, 9, and 11 using the Adolescent Coping Scale (E. Frydenberg and R. Lewis, 1993). Findings highlight differences in development of coping patterns between boys and girls. Discusses implications for the teaching of coping skills. (SLD)

To assess teachers' and students' perceptions of children of divorced parents, questionnaires were administered to 104 teachers and 120 seventh and eighth graders who viewed a film of a child doing different activities. Subjects' responses were significantly more negative if they were told the child lived with a divorced mother. (TJH)

Critical incident methodology was used to study the attributional beliefs of 211 junior high school students in 4 subject areas. Results highlight the context-specific nature of causal beliefs and their linkages to reported classroom achievement. External attributions were more likely to generalize across subject areas. (SLD)

The verbal behaviors classification system was used to examine teacher-student interaction. Observations were made during classroom instruction. Verbal interaction was found to be asymmetrically contingent, while substance level interaction appeared to be reciprocally contingent. Results are extended and related to the theory of instruction and…

The work of J. Eccles and others (1983) in proposing an integrative theoretical model of achievement behaviors was extended using data from the Second International Mathematics Study. Strong support was found for the constructs identified by the model as determinants of the intention to take more mathematics courses. (SLD)