The purpose of this study was to investigate predictors of early writing for low-income, urban students. Drawing on research and theory characterizing literacy development as a complex, integrative process, the author analyzed growth in the descriptive writing of students in Grades 1-3. The participants were 309 low-income children enrolled in 16…

Share's "self-teaching" model proposes that readers acquire most knowledge about the orthographic structure of words incidentally while reading independently. In the current study, the self-teaching hypothesis was tested by simulating everyday reading through the use of real words, analyzing the effects of context, and considering the independent…

An extensive and coherent body of social and psychological research has identified social ties and supportive relationships as important predictors of well-being and quality of life. This paper examines the relationships between structural and functional indicators of supportive relations and well-being in Greece at different levels of analysis…

Using latent variable path analysis with partial least squares (LVPLS), the study examines the pathways between parenting practices and children's motivational orientation toward school work over the transition to middle school. Greater external control and lack of guidance by parents in the 5th-grade year were related to children's poorer…

To understand whether difficulties in emotional functioning distinguish between body dissatisfaction and disordered eating, a set of emotion regulation (i.e., negative emotion, emotional awareness, coping), demographic (i.e., age), and physical (i.e., BMI (Body Mass Index)) factors were assessed in 234 early adolescent girls, grades six to eight.…

The Freshman Index, a combination of SAT score and high school grade point average, is the primary mechanism facilitating admissions decisions at Georgia State University. This article examines the relationships between these three admissions criteria and the graduating grade point averages of Asian, Black, and White six-year graduates.…

This report highlights the importance of addressing the unique set of needs of middle-level students. The struggle over structuring and content of middle-level education--the K-8 versus middle-school/junior-high argument--mirrors to a considerable extent the broader recurring battle of traditionalism versus progressivism. There are few empirical…

Despite increasing recognition that a high school diploma is a minimum requirement for success in the workplace, nearly half of Chicago Public Schools (CPS) students fail to graduate, and in some CPS high schools, more students drop out than graduate. Research on dropping out has shown that the decision to persist in or leave school is affected by…

What difference does education make for young adults' engagement in politics and social issues? This study is part of the OECD's Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (CERI) project on "Measuring the Social Outcomes of Learning" (SOL). It discusses relevant international research, with special attention to studies in the Nordic…

The Education-Drug Use Connection focused primarily on a nationwide sample of adolescents, first surveyed when they were nearing the end of 8th grade in the years 1991, 1992, and 1993, and followed biennially for eight years thereafter. (Full details on samples and methods are provided in Bachman et al., 2008, and are not repeated here.) The…

Peer- and teacher-reported prosocial behavior of 339 6th-grade (11-12 years) and 8th-grade (13-14 years) students was examined in relation to prosocial goals, self-processes (reasons for behavior, empathy, perspective taking, depressive affect, perceived competence), and contextual cues (expectations of peers and teachers). Goal pursuit…

Attrition in engineering programs continues to be an important issue for universities across the country. This study examined the connection between student performance in barrier courses and persistence in engineering. Quantitative results showed that high school academic experience, student behaviors (including study habits, work habits, coping…

Objective: To examine symptomatology and mental health service use following students' contact with a large urban school district's suicide prevention program. Method: In 2001 school district staff conducted telephone interviews with 95 randomly selected parents approximately 5 months following their child's contact with the district's suicide…

In order to gather data on the causes of student attrition, a study was conducted at a Florida community college to identify the relative importance of a set of selected environmental factors and student characteristics. A cohort was developed from the fall 1990 first-time-in-college students and was tracked for 2 years using the college's…

Research in Bahrain has demonstrated that children in educationally-oriented day care centers made significantly greater gains in cognitive, social, and emotional measures than children in care-oriented centers or at home. This study provided further data and addressed the question of whether there are differences in the daily learning experiences…