The popular image of foreign language study as primarily for academically talented college-bound students is explored, and related historical documentation examined. It is suggested that contemporary versions of the theory on which this myth is based can support open-door rather than elitist policy toward foreign language study and reinforce…

The Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth found large and consistent sex differences in mathematical reasoning ability favoring boys, as reported by Benbow and Stanley (1980, 1981). This investigation studied the development and consequences during junior and senior high school of the sex differences found in seventh grade. (Author/PN)

Compared self-concepts of 49 Mexican-American students (MAS) and 80 non-Mexican-American students (non-MAS). Findings indicated that given equal ability levels, late adolescent MAS and non-MAS do not report differential self-concepts in academic success terms, nor in the self-related dimensions of esteem, ideal, congruence, or accuracy. (RC)

Various testing-the-limits procedures were employed in administering the Raven Coloured Progressive Matrices Test to second- and fourth-grade children. Tests of impulsivity, neuroticism, extroversion, intelligence, and achievement were given. Procedures which involved verbalization and feedback were efficacious in maximizing performance on the…

Sex differences in spatial visualization ability accounted for sex differences in mathematical ability for a group of college students. With spatial visualization statistically controlled, no significant sex differences in Quantitative Scholastic Aptitude Test scores were found. Males were more predictable than females due to higher spatial…

A comparison of the relative ordering power of separate and grouped-items true-false tests indicated that neither type of test was uniformly superior to the other across all levels of knowledge of examinees. Grouped-item tests were found superior for examinees with low levels of knowledge. (Author/CTM)

The Rasch model was used to equate reading comprehension tests of widely different difficulty for three groups of fifth grade students of widely different ability. Under these extreme circumstances, the Rasch model equating was unsatisfactory. (Author/CTM)

The basic rationale for using objective tests is that they are relevant and reliable measures of the most important kind of learning that schools and colleges seek to foster. Measurement of student achievement in learning is necessary, if educational excellence is to be achieved. (Author/SJL)

The determinants of achievement were compared under conventional and self-paced mastery examination schedules in an anatomy/physiology course. General scholastic ability did not interact with method, but prior preparation in science did. Students with less science preparation showed greater achievement under self-paced mastery testing than their…

To be admitted to college is to be admitted to the House of Intellect--to borrow Jacques Barzun's phrase--and a card of entry must be clearly stamped: this student is articulate, is capable of dealing with abstraction, and is seriously interested in pursuing ideas in books. (Author)

This study tried to identify attitudes of 860 randomly-selected freshman class members toward five concepts: my reading ability; my mathematics ability; my ability to write compositions; myself; and Morehead State University. Subjects completed anonymous semantic differential ratings. Scaled feelings of value, power, and activity toward each…

Teachers' perceptions of personal classroom control with high- and low-ability students were examined, using five hypothetical classroom contexts. Results indicated that high ability students were perceived as more controllable than low-ability students, and teacher-initiated interactions as providing more control than student-initiated…

Reviews research on half-day full-day kindergarten programs. (DB)

The effects of affective and cognitive variables, and of socioeconomic status, on academic ability were studied using 171 Israeli seventh-grade boys. Some effects were noted for affective variables, reading comprehension, and socioeconomic status. (GDC)