As data on the reliability and validity of ratings of infant temperament have accumulated, researchers have begun to ask what caregiver ratings really measure. An argument has been made that ratings of social behavior are less a reflection of enduring individual differences than a measure of rater characteristics and error variance. This study…

"Outlier studies" identify items for which extreme differences in performance by contrasting groups occur; these extreme items are the "outliers" referred to. Review of the studies conducted on tests receiving major use in higher education reveals that though one cannot make a priori classifications of outliers with confidence,…

To determine what positive benefits to school learning might accrue from competence in Black English, a study explored the hypothesis that the rich and varied experience that black youth typically have with figurative language outside of school would enhance their understanding of figurative language in school texts. Subjects included 157 black…

Research studies investigating group differences in academic achievement consistently document lower scores for blacks than for whites, who typically score about one standard deviation above their black counterparts. Many controversial explanations for black achievement deficits have been advanced, ranging from cultural deprivation to inferior…

In the period since the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act Blacks have continued to experience severe disadvantages relative to Whites in such areas as family stability, unemployment rates, average income, poverty rates, and dependence on government transfer payment programs. From the diverse statistical indicators of relative status two sharply…

The Austin Independent School District (AISD) in Austin, Texas defines a dropout as a student who leaves AISD and for whom there is no evidence that he/she is pursuing an education in another district or institution offering a high school diploma. All students who withdraw from AISD are initially considered dropouts. When a request for a…

This study analyzes the 1984-1985 Cleveland, Ohio, School District student reading data. The average Cleveland student maintained but did not significantly improve his/her reading achievement position relative to comparable students in a national sample. Average reading comprehension scores of the adversely affected students remained below the…

This paper reviews the effectiveness and practicality of various educational approaches for increasing racial tolerance and calls for developing strategies that have been formally evaluated to avoid the waste of time and limited resources. The first section discusses the racial inadequacies of most programs which purport to affect racial…

In the spring of 1972, over 6500 black and white, male and female high school students in 23 northern Mississippi schools responded to questionnaires concerning their educational plans, when (early or late) they consider the best time to marry, whether they were sure they wanted to marry, and whether they were sure they actually would marry.…

Trends in black and white migration differentials (by race, age, education, and region) between 1965 and 1976 are analyzed in this paper. Findings provide further documentation of the increased net flow of populations from the North and East to the South and West regions of the United States. Migration differentials with respect to age increased…

During the past several years the Phoenix Union High School has experienced a phenomenal decline in enrollment and a high dropout rate. To focus on enrollment statistics, number of dropouts, causes for dropping out, number of dropouts by race, percent of absences, and transfers, computerized data received from district high schools were analyzed.…

For 4 years, from 1978 to 1979, questionnaires were sent to elementary and secondary school teachers in New Castle County, Delaware, to determine their teachers' attitudes concerning race, school desegregation, school quality, and educational practices before and after school desegregation. Differences in attitudes by teachers' age, sex, race, and…

An emerging hypothesis about black progress since the civil rights movement in the United States postulates that economic polarization is occurring in the black community. This hypothesis, which incorporates conflicting earlier theories of declining versus persistent racial differences, suggests that talented and well-educated blacks are competing…

Deficiency theories of racial inequality are basically inadequate in explaining observed racial differences between groups. Nonetheless, throughout the history of our country, both political leaders and prominent educators have propounded the notion that the inferior social status of blacks is due to some inherent deficiency in their make-up.…

Over 1,000 black, white, and Spanish, moderately disadvantaged and affluent children from Grades 2, 4, and 6 were given the Gruen, Korte, Stephens Internal-External Scale. Results are discussed in terms of ethnic, socioeconomic and sex differences, and score relation to grade point average.