Examined the relationship between phonological sensitivity and letter knowledge in 4- and 5-year-olds in a one-year longitudinal study. Found that phonological sensitivity predicted letter knowledge growth, and letter knowledge predicted phonological sensitivity growth, when controlling for age and oral language abilities. Also found that the…

This study compared 38 low-income mothers with intellectual limitations and 32 low-income mothers without intellectual limitations and found developmental delay was identified by the age of 2 years in 42% of children born to mothers with intellectual limitations and 12% of children born to the other mothers. (Author/CR)

A study of 82 Canadian college freshmen investigated working memory, verbal ability, and prior knowledge as predictors of quality of students' lecture notes, lecture summaries, and content recall. Students with higher working memory benefitted more from listening to the lecture than from listening and taking notes. Quality of summaries predicted…

A study involving 166 infants with disabilities found that mothers' employment plans and child-care decisions were affected by their children's special needs. Children with Down syndrome compared with those with other developmental delays entered child care earlier, were more likely to be in centers, and received lower quality care. (CR)

A study investigated the extent to which 104 community college students' experiences with key college processes during the first few weeks of school predicted their persistence or withdrawal from the college in the second semester. Results identified a small set of processes, both administrative and instructional, that differentiated between…

A study compared the phonological abilities of 22 preschool children whose stuttering persisted and 62 who recovered. Those whose stuttering persisted had poorer mean scores on a number of phonological characteristics, including mean percentage of error, relative levels of severity of phonological impairments, and error on specific phonological…

A study had 912 undergraduate and graduate students rate previous instructors using high-inference items shown to be strong correlates of teaching effectiveness. Resulting data were analyzed to see if multiple definitions of teacher effectiveness emerged. Analysis produced a model of teacher effectiveness with a high degree of predictive power…

A study that investigated the relationships between exposure to lead and memory and attention in 313 boys (ages 9-12) in special-education schools in the Netherlands found blood-lead levels were higher in children with lower socioeconomic status and those with more hand-to-mouth behavior but did not influence cognitive factors. (Author/CR)

A year-long qualitative study examined seven formerly-addicted alcoholic youth committed to recovery to determine how addicted youth become and remain sober. Bending to social stress, including racism and ethnic prejudice, three participants relapsed. However, personal commitment augmented by familial, community, spiritual, and educational support…

Follow-up, using logistic regression analysis, of 371 underrepresented minority students who completed an intensive, nine-week pre-admission program prior to acceptance into medical school found performance in the program predicted whether participants would: (1) apply to medical school, (2) get accepted, and (3) graduate. Implications for…

Investigated the relationship between developmentally appropriate practices in the classroom and preschoolers' perception of self-confidence. Found that developmentally appropriate practice influenced social development, and that teaching strategies, curriculum goals, motivation, and guidance of social-emotional development predicted peer…

This study tested the predictive validity of the Communication Composite of the Communication and Symbolic Behavior Scales with 58 children (ages 17 to 34 months) functioning at the prelinguistic stage of language development. Evaluation of expressive vocabulary 1 year later found that the Communication Composite and all tested clusters were…

Discussion of student achievement and persistence rates in science, engineering, and mathematics disciplines focuses on a study of college students that evaluated the joint contributions of academic background measures and other factors, including self-beliefs, toward the explanation of overall grade performance. Describes correlations between…

Used the Parents as Teachers Inventory to examine the relation between socioeconomic status and attitudes of 80 mothers of 3- to 5-year-olds who had attended Head Start or a university nursery school regarding play and creativity. Found that mothers of children attending the university school had higher play and creativity scores than mothers of…

Tested competing causal models concerning the relationship between children's social behaviors and theory of mind in 3- and 4-year-olds tested 3 times over 7 months. Found that false belief performance predicted joint planning and role assignment during pretend play, after taking into account initial performance on joint planning and role…