This handbook provides a guide to assist African American parents of children with learning disabilities to become advocates for their children and raise awareness about learning differences. An introductory section notes the disproportionate risk of African American boys for being labeled mentally retarded and placed in special education. The…

The purpose of this research brief is to summarize the literature on research conducted with at-risk students. Emerging from the research are three central groups of factors that are characteristic of at-risk students: (1) social and family background; (2) personal problems; and (3) school factors. In spite of the presence of several risk factors,…

The aim of this study was to assess the interrelations of social support and school attitudes as predictors of achievement across a culturally and economically diverse sample of preadolescent children. Parent and peer support were assessed along with parent and peer attitudes toward school. Achievement indices were the child's own attitudes,…

Some children require a great deal of assistance to overcome difficulties in taking in and responding to information from their senses, and to achieve the levels of self-regulation they need to interact with and explore the world around them. This monograph, targeted to a wide array of disciplines from the medical, therapeutic, educational, mental…

This paper focuses on a 1997 pilot project carried out in five secondary schools in South Africa that examined children's reading and information use. This study (n=958) was part of a larger study from 1995 and 1996 carried out in the United Kingdom. The primary goal was to examine what young people are reading at the end of the 20th century. The…

This report offers a broad overview of the three major categories of explanations of gender patterns in cognitive functioning. Two of the major categories are biological and psychosocial. The third category, explanations that have been attributed to differences in the educational experiences of men and women, is treated separately because while…

The current study was designed to examine performance effects and fatigue effects associated with different total SAT testing times. In addition, the researchers examined personality, motivation, and other determinants of individual differences in examinee fatigue before, during, and after testing.

Presents numerical data related to federal support for grants involving individualized instruction (II). Tables provide detailed information on supply for II by these programs: Comprehensive Assistance to Undergraduate Education (CAUSE), Local Course Improvement (LOCI), Science Education Development and Research (SEDR), and NSF support of…

Describes personal contributions made by the author in individualized instruction, including: Individually Prescribed Instruction (IPI), the Doctor of Arts program, and the development of educational videodiscs. Innovations in these areas are discussed: education for the handicapped, personal development education, industrial and military…

Data from a 1974 national survey on career interests and influences of high school seniors were used to develop a theoretical vocational interest model. Results of factor analysis of one dimension ("Realistic Services") of vocational interest indicated that sex was an important predictor of interest in this vocational dimension. (MF)

Some methods for getting adult learners to participate in classroom discussions are offered by a training manager. The trainer's attitude and the classroom environment contribute to motivating all trainees to participate, stimulate the nonparticipant to join in, and control the aggressiveness of the overparticipant. (MF)

Examined autonomy and individuation levels within financial, residential, romantic, and family formation domains among 17- to 27-year-olds in a community-based longitudinal study. Found that subgroup differences related to family socioeconomic status, parental divorce, gender, or race were not generally attributable to educational enrollment. Both…

Examined nonshared environmental (NSE) influences on twin preschoolers' behavior independent of genetics. Found that within-pair parenting differences correlated with monozygotic differences in behavior. For the extreme 10 percent of the parenting-discordant and behavior-discordant distributions, average NSE effect size was 11 percent, suggesting…

Wisconsin teachers (N=416) who had preservice multicultural education training were surveyed by mail to discover what they were doing in their classrooms to attend to diversity based on race and ethnicity, gender, and social class in the areas of curriculum and material, expectations, instructions, and student-student relationships. (IAH)

Educational opportunity is often based on standardized testing and normative educational structures, which can perpetuate labeling and inequality. Rather than force students to conform to fixed expectations and models, schools must assure the delivery of educational services to all students through individualized instruction and alternative…