Students' reported reasons for academic success or failure (categorized as ability, effort, task difficulty, or luck) were studied simultaneously in over 1,000 students in grades 4, 8, and 11. Differences between 16 attributional groups (4 success x 4 failure) were reported by discriminant analysis, according to grade, sex, and ethnic…

Community participation has become an important aspect of almost any change efforts in public schools in recent years. The movement has waxed and waned through the decades since the Common School, but is enjoying renewed interest with the emphasis placed on involving stakeholders in systemic change efforts. Typically, community participation has…

Examines the types of literacy support parents gave their children at home with 15 students from a diverse class of 23 third graders during an eight-week integrated unit on writing autobiographies. Finds pattern differences between genders with respect to the nature of support given at home. Suggests that particularly African-American males…

Investigates the relationship between age and sex and the ability to differentiate social regulatory transactions among 15 boys and girls and 15 adult males and females. Significant differences in social regulatory understanding were due to age and sex. (Author/BB)

Teachers/parents of third- and fourth-grade students at four randomly selected Gary, Indiana, schools participated in a study of effects of age, occupation, race, and education on parent-school communication. Parents who were housewives, high school graduates, and/or 20- to 30-years-old were particularly satisfied with teacher-parent interaction.…

Investigated factors associated with school adjustment and engagement. Surveys of 1,267 6th graders at the beginning and end of the school year indicated that parental involvement and social competence were protective against declines in school adjustment and student engagement during middle school. School adjustment was lower for boys than girls…

Surveyed parents of preschoolers about their future plans for sex education. Found most middle-class mothers and fathers expected to discuss a wide range of sexual topics and in the same general sequence. Suggests delaying discussion of value-laden topics may limit parents' effectiveness. Discusses recommendations for family practitioners.…

Examines the longitudinal effects of parent involvement on tenth-grade students' learning and whether the same pattern of influences exists for boys and girls and for students from different ethnic groups. Results suggest that parent involvement has an effect on students' grade point average and that the same influences hold across gender but were…

Two cohorts of 3694 second-grade children were screened for emotional/behavioral disorders (EBD). Children were identified by using the current federally mandated definition and by also using an alternative definition that requires school and parent involvement in determining symptom presence. Most participants were identified by schools as…

For over 25 years, the Manhattan Country School, a private school for kindergarten through grade 8, has made intense and successful efforts to maintain a racially and ethnically diverse student population and staff, partly through building an awareness of human diversity into its curriculum and instruction. Recent interest in multicultural…

Examines gender differences in how nonresident parents spend time with their absent children. Results suggest that nonresident mothers and fathers exhibit a similar pattern of participation in activities with their absent children. Most nonresident parents either engage in only leisure activities with their children or have no contact. (Author/MKA)

Tested the basic hypothesis that failure experiences at school increase the likelihood of aversive parent-child interaction after school. Subjects were 254 elementary school students. Found that children who rated more academic failure events at school described parents as more disapproving after school, but this effect was only partially mediated…

Discusses the linguistic and cultural challenges faced by Japanese students who are receiving their education in U.S. schools. Provides a historical perspective on education in Japan and discusses parent involvement, the culture of Japanese schools, differences in the teacher/student relationship, group identity, gender distinctions, personal…

Describes how parental involvement is considered a remedy for many educational problems by educators. Conducts meta-analysis to synthesize the quantitative literature on the relationship between parental involvement and gifted development. Concludes that internal effects for gifted development have a stronger relationship than parents'…

Examined sociocultural influences on mathematics achievement. First generation Chinese American and Caucasian American mother-father-daughter triads were audiotaped as the fifth- and sixth-grade girls solved a spatial puzzle. Chinese American triads were quieter, more respectful, more serious, and more orderly, whereas Caucasian American triads…