Examines the predictive validity of placement test scores with course grade and retention in English and mathematics courses. Suggests that student dispositional characteristics explain the high proportion of variance in the dependent variables, and that instructor grading practices also make a significant contribution. Underscores the importance…

Contends that high school psychology instruction has grown stronger by accounting for three important issues: (1) the content taught in high school psychology as opposed to the college-level content; (2) the training of high school psychology teachers; and (3) the role of the College Board's AP Examination in Psychology. (CMK)

Attending academically selective schools is intended to have positive effects, but a growing body of theoretical and empirical research demonstrates that the effects are negative for academic self-concept. The big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE), based on social comparison theory, posits that equally able students will have lower academic…

The purpose of the present study is to explore how academic self-concept and implicit theories of ability are related to four self-regulation strategies--motivation/diligence, concentration, information processing, and self-handicapping. The hypothesis is that academic self-concept and an incremental theory of ability are (1) positively related to…

Despite the existence of a considerable and current educational literature concerned with the effect of class size on student achievement, the results of attempts to empirically identify the relationship between the variables class size and student achievement are mixed at best. These attempts have typically been hindered, however, by the…

Growth in Test of Cognitive Skills (TCS) scores and Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills (CTBS) reading, math, and total achievement scores from 3rd to 10th grade was studied in 328 public school students in a middle-class suburban community. Surprisingly, groups differing in ability and achievement in 3rd grade made parallel progress over time,…

A number of methods for scoring tests with selected-response (SR) and constructed-response (CR) items are available. The selection of a method depends on the requirements of the program, the particular psychometric model and assumptions employed in the analysis of item and score data, and how scores are to be used. This article compares 3 methods:…

Countries devise policies to encourage higher ability children from low economic backgrounds to attain better education so that they contribute to the nation. A study of the trends in Britain reveal that not withstanding the educational policies, low ability children with high economic status tended to have largest achievements in education.

General education classrooms are increasingly diverse as students with and without disabilities learn alongside one another. At each level, all students are learning to read and reading to learn standards-based content. A worry among some general and special educators who otherwise support the principles of inclusive education is what to do about…

The purpose of the present study was to create and test a model that (a) illustrated variables influencing the development of perfectionism, and (b) demonstrated how different types of perfectionism may influence the achievement goals of high-ability students. Using a multiple groups path analysis, the researchers found that parenting style was…

The Young Children's Achievement Test (YCAT; Hresko, Peak, Herron, & Bridges, 2000) is an individually administered achievement test designed to evaluate preschool, kindergarten, and first-grade children for risk of school failure. The test is comprised of five subtests specifically intended to assess general information, reading, mathematics,…

In this article, the author criticizes the requirements of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) for students with learning disabilities and points out some faulty and misguided thinking and assumptions embodied in NCLB's approach to special education. The author fears that the law's unrealistic expectations for these students and their teachers give…

Medicine is a profession with a long history of research and high standards of methodological rigour and evidence-based decision making. These standards are being transferred into medical education. Universities are starting to collect high-quality data on their admissions systems. This has not been a short-term proposition. Medical courses are…

This study examines the relationships among third and fourth grade teacher practices in cognitive development: understanding, application, synthesis, and judgment; emotional/social development; their students' self-reported opportunities for emotional/social development; and academic self-concept. In addition, this study investigates the…

This study addressed two questions: (a) Do different forms of campus racial diversity contribute uniquely to students' learning and educational experiences when they are simultaneously tested utilizing multilevel modeling? (b) Does a campus where students take greater advantage of those diversity opportunities have independent positive effects on…