Demonstrates the wide variability among children learning to read and explores the consequences of this variability for reading instruction. Shares some examples to demonstrate that variability. Demonstrates what happens when very different children read identical text. Describes a way to organize classrooms that will better accommodate the…

Eighteen second-grade boys and girls identified as being high or low role-takers were videotaped teaching two same-sex kindergartners to make construction-paper caterpillars. High and low role-takers differed on eight dimensions of the 16 categories of prosocial behavior coded during videotaped observations. (Author/MP)

This research investigates how individual differences in strategic abilities affect problem solving and, more particularly, the extent to which hypothesis-generating skills predict effective hypothesis testing. Additional questions concerned the effects of content and timing of instructional advice on children's problem-solving strategies, and…

An investigation explored whether preadolescent children have developed self-schemata which serve in making judgments about trait behavior for both self and others. Seventeen males and 23 females between the ages of 10 and 11 who attended a public elementary school on Long Island were interviewed. Children rated themselves relative to classmates…

Examined effects of short-term memory, age, and reading ability on the instructional effectiveness of imagery during reading of sentences among fourth and sixth graders, half of whom were instructed to construct images representing sentence meanings. Half were uninstructed. Imagery instructions had a positive effect on learning efficiency among…

A study examined the effects of two factors--learner ability and modifications of instruction through increased feedback and reduced size of instructional units--on the time required for learning and the retention of fourth-grade male students. While instructional modifications best predicted the time needed for learning, learner ability best…

Investigated behavioral differences between high- and low-achieveing inner-city children (N=136) using the academic engaged time model. Findings suggested that high- and low-achieving inner-city children spend a large proportion of time engaged in academic tasks, with high achievers spending somewhat more time than low achievers. (WAS)

The predictive ability of five characteristics of elementary school teachers on curriculum implementation was studied. The variables were dogmatism, knowledge, seniority, attitudes, and locus of control. Dogmatism was the best predictor; attitude was the poorest. Locus of control, as hypothesized, was related to the attribution of success or…

The effects of age at entrance into school on subsequent elementary school performance were studied in a cohort of children who started grade 1 in the Dallas school system (Texas) in fall 1981. Most of the subjects were born on or after September 1, 1974 and before September 1, 1975; the spread of ages was 1 year. A total of 3,028 male and 3,019…

Genetic and environmental etiologies of individual differences in tests of intelligence and school achievement were investigated in a study from the Colorado Adoption Project. A multivariate conditional path model was fitted to general cognitive ability and reading performance data from 119 adoptive and 120 nonadoptive families. (SLD)

Reports on a study examining how well several personal variables predict elementary school teachers' use of computers for teaching. Variables examined included innovativeness, teacher locus of control, perceived relevance of computers, and self-competence in using computers. Data on age, gender, and years of computer experience were also…

This study was part of a series of studies examining the relationship of teacher variables to teachers' adoption of computer use. Previous studies have considered computer use as a process of the adoption of innovation and as a result of the influence of the internal variables of the person. This study adds the variable of subjective norms because…

Relationships between cognitive and affective learner characteristics or "aptitudes" and mathematics achievement for sixth-graders in three instructional treatments in one school district were examined. Aptitude-treatment interaction (ATI) analyses were performed to test for differential prediction of achievement outcomes among treatments, using…

The New York State Education Department conducts a Pupil Evaluation Program (PEP) in which each year all third, sixth, and ninth grade students in the state are given a series of achievement tests in reading and mathematics. The data accumulated by the department includes achievement test scores, teacher characteristics, building and curriculum…