Equal status within the contact situation, shared goals, cooperate dependence in reaching these goals, and the support of authorities, law or custom are the criteria which Allport (1954) argued were vital for promoting positive interracial attitudes and behavior. The study reported here investigates the development of interracial interaction…

Metalinguistic knowledge, or linguistic awareness, involves the ability to focus attention upon the form of language in and of itself, rather than merely as the vehicle by which meaning is conveyed. This ability to analyze language structures lags behind spontaneous speaking and listening performance because of the additional cognitive skills…

The System of Multicultural Pluralistic Assessment (SOMPA) is designed for use in a culturally diverse society. The system was developed on 700 English-speaking caucasian children (hereafter called Anglos) from the anglo core culture, 700 black children, and 700 Latino Children (90 percent were of Mexican-American heritage) five through eleven…

Presented is a report on a cross-sectional and longitudinal study concerned with the course of intellectual development in 210 children (6-12 years old) educationally designated as brain damaged (learning disabled and/or behavior problems) and assigned to special school placement. The report is divided into four sections which focus on…

A physician discusses the work of the Communications Enhancement Clinic at Children's Hospital-Boston in providing assistance to children with severe speech problems. He describes the process of evaluating and matching a child's strengths and weaknesses to available technology, including educational software, speech or print output devices, and…

The experiences of children are affected by both their ethnicity and socioeconomic status. Black children's performance in school reflects the group's marginality. The following issues affect the child's educability: (1) double stratification; (2) psychological risk; (3) adaptational processes; and (4) the relationship between psychological health…

This meta-analysis of 49 comparative studies shows that mastery testing has positive effects on student learning, but the size of effect depends on the stringency of the criterion used and the degree of experimental control. The effects of instructional time, student attitudes, and differences in ability levels are also addressed. (Author/LRW)

This study investigated the effect of reward structure and group ability composition on small group computer-assisted instruction. Junior high school students practiced algebra in mixed-ability or uniform-ability groups, and rewards were based on individual performance, group performance, or a combination of both. (29 references) (Author/LRW)

Surveys recent literature on computer programing focusing on psychological studies of the programing task and selected instructional issues related to precollege programing. The cognitive demands and outcomes of programing, the influence of instruction on learning, and individual differences in outcomes of programing are specifically addressed.…

The self serving effect (SSE), the tendency to accept responsibility for one's own successes but not failures, was examined in three studies with adolescents. Results showed individual differences in SSE size were logically related to differences in: (1) academic self-concepts; (2) academic self-concepts inferred by significant others; and (3)…

The MESA Program, a collaborative effort between the University of California-Berkeley College of Engineering and Oakland Technical High School, is described. The program provides evidence of what can be done with early intervention for students' motivation and performance levels and minority recruitment efforts. (Author/MLW)

Results of seventh-grade students taking Scholastic Aptitude Test indicate that, by age 13, a large sex difference in mathematical reasoning ability exists; among students scoring greater than 700, boys outnumbered girls 13 to 1. Hypothesized factors thought to influence the difference (such as course taking, attitudes) were not supported by data…

"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) House Prevails in Cutting Education Below Senate Bill and the President's Request: Final FY2005 Education Budget…

Middle school subjects of 13-21 years (from 4 nationalities) were used for studying the relationship between progressive cognition and personality characteristics by Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices and Eysenk's Personality Questionnaire. The results showed: (1) the correlation and stepwise regression were completely identical: P score was…

One of the major goals in deaf education is to teach deaf and hard of hearing students the tools and strategies to solve mathematical word problems. A mathematical word problem curriculum was designed and implemented based on telling, reading and writing number tales in American Sign Language (ASL) and English. The learning experiences helped…