We examined perceived emotional support and expectations from parents, teachers, and classmates in relation to Mexican American adolescents' (n = 398) social behavior and academic functioning. Results of regression analyses indicated that direct associations between emotional support and expectations differ as a function of source and domain;…

Math proficiency is a strong predictor of postsecondary attainment, yet cross-national comparative assessments show that U.S. students consistently score below many of their peers, especially those in East Asia. Similar math achievement disparities exist across ethnic/racial groups within the U.S., where Asian American students routinely…

Early academic achievement has been shown to predict high school completion, but there have been few studies of the predictors of early academic success focused on Latino students. Using longitudinal data from 750 Mexican and Dominican American families, this study examined a cultural model of parenting and early academic achievement. While Latino…

Children's imitation of a model's sentence structure, word content and use of present, imperfect or future tense verbs was studied in third and fourth graders. (Authors)

The relationship of family constellation and sociocultural variables to intellectual performance was examined. A language/schooling factor consisting of language of child and parents, parents' schooling attainment, and country of parents' education was the best predictor of intellectual performance. (Author/GK)

Measures of student adjustment constituted the strongest predictor of language achievement. (Authors)

The effect of three model variables on student performance of syntactic and semantic language behaviors in the absence of direct or vicarious reinforcement was examined. Subjects were sixth-grade students of both sexes attending New Mexico Schools. Half of the subjects and models were Chicanos and half were Anglos. (BJG)

Content bias of the McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities (MSCA) was investigated with dominant English- and dominant Spanish-speaking Mexican American preschoolers. The identified item bias (mostly against the Spanish language group) is discussed in terms of information overload on memory as influenced by language differences in word length and…

This study examines teachers' interactions with fourth- and fifth-grade Mexican American (n=40) and Anglo American (n=59) students who were similar in terms of socioeconomic background, level of academic achievement, and English proficiency. The relationship of these interactions to students' achievement is also examined. (PN)

Effects of desegregation on interethnic attitudes, interethnic contact, and self-esteem of fifth and sixth grade Blacks, Whites and Mexican Americans were investigated. All groups were found to be highly ethnocentric. White and Black students from segregated backgrounds had more negative attitudes toward out-group and in-group members after…

Effects of verbal and pictorial elaboration on long-term memory were assessed. Second-graders learned a list of nouns by the paired-associate method, and long-term retention was assessed after seven days. Results indicated that although elaboration facilitates initial acquisition, it neither helps nor hinders long-term retention. (Author/RD)

Mexican-American and Anglo-American children from a semirural low-income elementary school were tested for competition, individualism, field independence, and school achievement. The Mexican-American children were found to be more prosocial and less competitive, but these factors were not necessarily related to lower school achievement. (GDC)

The nature of cultural differences in field dependence, the nature of the cultural achievement gaps in reading and math, and the extent to which dependence explains the cultural achievement gaps is investigated in an attempt to examine these differences between Anglo American and Mexican American children. (Author/DEP)