Examines how much developing beliefs about the causes of academic outcomes, goal orientation for learning, and study strategy use affected changes in children's self-assessments of their ability to master academic material. Presents the results in terms of a developing academic self-image. (CMK)

Explores correlates of academic giftedness for eighth graders, using data from the 1988 National Education Longitudinal Study. Students who are self-reliant, spend more time on homework and leisure reading, and come from families with high parental educational aspirations and family socioeconomic status are much more likely to be academically…

Investigated Finnish parents' explanations of their young children's reading and mathematics achievement, noting whether child gender influenced parent assessment. Parent surveys indicated that parents of boys assessed their children's mathematical competence to be higher than did parents of girls. The opposite was true for reading. For boys, the…

Examines the role of achievement goals, ability, and high school performance in predicting academic success over students' college careers. Results reveal that mastery goals predicted continued interest, whereas performance-approach goals predicted performance. Ability measures and prior high school performance predicted academic performance but…

Tracks 1,110 adolescents identified as mathematically precocious with plans for a math-science undergraduate major. Participants' high school educational experiences, abilities, and interests predicted whether their attained undergraduate degrees were within math-science or nonmath-nonscience areas. More women than men eventually completed…

Parent-reported information on 159 children with learning or attention problems was obtained using the Parent Ratings of Everyday Cognitive and Academic Abilities (PRECAA) and compared to information from standardized psychometric assessments. The PRECAA was sensitive to group differences among children with reading disabilities, children with…

Testing has almost completely lost its identity as a device to increase access to college for the underprivileged. Testing today is seen as a device to deny access. Intelligence is randomly distributed among the rich and the poor, and testing helps remove privilege as a guarantee of success and advancement. (MLW)

Explores note writing and other "literacy events" in one sixth-grade classroom. Focuses on the "unofficial" use of literacy used to communicate within the students' underground classroom culture. Learning that exceeds adult expectations is evident in students' nonacademic writing which they use to present themselves, to share, and to order. (JS)

Estimates of the total subsidy received by undergraduates from all sources are presented, based on existing national data. Results are presented by family income, ethnic group, ability (quartiles), and type and control of institution. Some comparisons are made for 1980 and 1983. (Author/MSE)

A study of predictors of academic withdrawal among American Indian medical students found the characteristics of those withdrawing to include lower age, larger number of siblings, attendance at reservation schools, poorer academic preparation, excessive family responsibilities, and encounters with cultural misperceptions. (MSE)

An investigation of person dimensionality attempted to identify student clusters relating to demographic variables and their core on a university English-as-a-Second-Language placement examination. The two genuine clusters for students with scores in the top or bottom 27 percent could not be accounted for solely on an ability basis. (CB)

The phenomenon of scale shrinkage is examined. Focus is on the pattern of decreasing variances in item response theory scale scores from fall to spring within a grade. It is demonstrated that questions concerning population distributions of true ability can be addressed with empirical Bayes techniques. (TJH)

Investigates the effects of single- and multiple-window displays on the achievement of fourth-grade students during computer-assisted instruction by applying research-based window design guidelines. Results showed that, although there were no differences in window use, high ability students in the single window treatment demonstrated higher…

Reports on a study of 142 college music theory students on the influence of musical aptitude, academic ability, music experience, and motivation on the development of aural skills. Finds that musical aptitude had the largest effect on performance and motivation for music did not affect aural skills performance. (CFR)

A study of 42 Eastern Michigan University freshmen, both academically at risk (n=18) and of average ability, found that at-risk students had higher academic self-concepts than their average-ability counterparts, but the groups had similar educational and vocational aspirations. (MSE)