Effects of aspirations, homework, and scores on standardized tests (endogenous variables) on teachers' grades and effects of exogenous variables of socioeconomic status and gender on endogenous variables were studied for 753 Israeli elementary school students. Complex effects are discussed. Teachers tended to grade students properly, according to…

Data collected at three schools in California with programs for students of limited English proficiency (LEP) suggests that exit rates should not be the focus of evaluations of LEP programs and that schools cannot adequately answer questions about students' academic achievement and English language acquisition by program type. (SLD)

An ethnically diverse elementary school committed to coteaching, narrative assessments, and a bias-free ambience performed poorly on 1996 statewide standardized assessments. Initially stymied by a new depersonalized district report card, teachers developed strategic compromises that accommodated the superintendent's bureaucratic directives and…

Regressing adjusted grade point averages (GPAs) on freshman Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores and high school GPAs increases the SAT's predictive validity. However, these adjusted SATs change only a small proportion of admissions decisions, do not increase freshman grades, but do change freshman class composition in some majors and limit…

In an attempt to devise a methodology for characterizing children's intuitive theories of drug action, 217 children in Grades 1 to 6 were interviewed about how two substances, alcohol and cocaine, cause behavioral changes in their users. Measures tapped both structure (Piagetian complexity of causal reasoning, coherence, and construction of a…

This study explored preservice teachers' (n = 25) knowledge structures and their mastery of content knowledge in relation to their ability to diagnose the strengths and weaknesses of a fourth grader's videotaped explanations of a scientific phenomenon, i.e., molecular kinetic properties of air. Participants' knowledge structures were analyzed…

Science education standards established by American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the National Research Council (NRC) urge less emphasis on memorizing scientific facts and more emphasis on students investigating the everyday world and developing deep understanding from their inquiries. These approaches to instruction…

It is by now a familiar story, often told as a lament: teachers in United States continue to be paid according to the single salary schedule. They accrue better pay on the basis of years of experience and college units earned. Units may or may not be related to teaching assignment. Some districts have modestly tweaked this arrangement by paying a…

This study examined the engagement of students with learning disabilities and emotional disturbance and the relation of this engagement to school completion. Participants were parent-identified students with learning disabilities (LD) and emotional or behavioral disorders (EBD) and comparison groups of average-achieving peers and students without…

This study was conducted to obtain empirical data to inform policy decisions about exempting incoming students from a first-year composition (FYC) course on the basis of Advanced Placement (AP) English exam scores. It examined the effect of avoiding first-year writing on the writing abilities of sophomore undergraduates. Two three-page writing…

In 1997, Lindamood-Bell Learning Processes partnered with Pueblo School District 60 (PSD60), a heavily minority urban district with many Title I schools, to implement a theoretically based initiative designed to improve Colorado Student Assessment Program reading scores. In this study, the authors examined achievement in Grades 3-5 during the…

A case study of a child who was a part of a larger reading-practice research study is presented. Data analysis from the larger study yielded a strong effect size for children in the experimental group who used decodable text for reading practice. The pre- and posttest scores of one child included in the treatment were not used in the statistical…

Objective: To compare the predictive validity of the clinical-diagnostic and the empirical-quantitative approach to assessment of childhood psychopathology, and to investigate the usefulness of combining both approaches. Method: A referred sample (N = 96), aged 6 to 12 years at initial assessment, was followed up across--on average--a period of…

After providing a brief review of three other approaches to assessment of preschool children (DSM-IV diagnoses, "Zero to Three" diagnoses, and temperament scales), this paper focuses on the Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment (ASEBA). The empirically based assessment paradigm provides user-friendly, cost-effective, reliable,…

Anyone who works with new teachers must let them know that they should not have to make a choice between bringing up test scores or promoting lifelong learning. Mentor teachers must show beginning teachers how to be "passionate teachers," which the author defines as living a life as a reflective educator, making it a priority to build positive…