Attempts to identify patterns of teacher behavior that vary with expectations for pupil ability and to examine how these expectations interact with other pupil characteristics (race and sex). Subjects were 100 White female undergraduates enrolled in teacher training programs. (MP)

Gifted and regular high school students (n=158) completed a questionnaire on beliefs in fixed ability to learn, simple knowledge, quick learning, and certain knowledge; then advised a hypothetical student about going to college despite poor grades and few resources; and reported their feelings toward school and expectations of college demands.…

Despite research to the contrary, most college teachers assume students have more basic knowledge then they do, and they assign essays accordingly. One instructor discusses the poor results of students' knowledge testing, noting his institution's low admission requirements and questioning today's lax standards in the face of the information age.…

Challenges the assumption that female students enter college possessing greater verbal abilities than male students. The results of reading comprehension exercises conducted in introductory macroeconomics courses over a four-year period reveal little dichotomy in gender-specific performance. These findings are generally supported by SAT scores.…

Differences in critical thinking between undergraduate and graduate students in the social and mathematical sciences was investigated using multiple measures of critical thinking that reflect different types of problem structure. Educational level and academic area differences were found across measures. (Author/MLW)

This study (N=75) examined the effects of student ability, locus of control, and type of instructional control on performance and the motivational outcome of confidence. Results indicated that student ability and locus of control significantly influenced both performance and confidence, whereas type of instructional control did not affect…

This study of instructional priorities in preparing mentally retarded students for mainstreaming found that 41 primary-level regular class teachers gave higher priority to academic areas of reading and writing and to the behavioral problem of aggressive behavior than did 35 teachers in special schools for mentally retarded students. (Author/JDD)

Black adolescents estimated the degree to which they cared about whether their parents and friends perceived them as being smart, athletic, popular, and good students. A comparison sample of White adolescents from tenth grade was also assessed. (Author/BB)

Studies the role of cultural capital in the relationship between social background inequalities and educational attainment, using data from a national sample of Greek high school seniors. Finds that, although reproduction of the social hierarchy occurs through schooling, student ability and effort are the major mechanisms underlying educational…

Three causal attributions--ability, effort, and test difficulty--were examined for 223 University of Manitoba (Canada) students in relation to perceived performance and the quality of instruction. When instruction was good, causal attributions produced less variability in achievement and control. Implications for teaching are discussed. (SLD)

This commentary on Gardner's "Multiple Intelligences: The Theory in Practice" examines implications of Gardner's belief that his theory is a basis for educational reform, proposing reforms that would immediately benefit students and suggesting that formulating educational reform around the whole child rather than hypothetical ability…

This article suggests that "The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life" (Richard Herrnstein, Charles Murray), a controversial book about the relationship of intelligence to social class, has exposed a wide chasm between two major paradigms concerning the forces that shape human behavior, and that the debate has…

Reviews data from the "High School and Beyond" study to examine sibling intellectual symmetry and the degree to which family background affects the siblings' intellectual ability. Finds considerable symmetry in intellectual skills. Discovers little impact on symmetry from gender or birth order. (CFR)

Students with behavior disorders in Ontario (Canada) and Colorado were compared on 13 variables: age distribution, male/female ratio, number of years in special education, socioeconomic level, family status, siblings, intellectual level, mathematics achievement, best characterization, student performance, time in regular education, and other…

Study administered to 1,140 eighth graders examined relationships between dimensions of adolscents' attitudes toward school and their academic level, ethnicity, and gender. Results indicated regular class students held more favorable attitudes toward reading and social studies than did the educationally marginal or those with learning…