The purpose of this study was to determine if verbal scores on the "Scholastic Aptitude Test" (SAT) were related to student birth order and number of siblings in the family. The SAT scores of 71 randomly chosen students of the 1978 graduating class of a suburban high school were classified by family size and class rank of student. Each…

This study examines the hypothesis that the lack of parental approval of the child characterizes child-abusing families. As part of a larger study of the coping styles of such families, a variety of verbal and non-verbal behaviors in parent-child interactions was examined. Subjects were 80 mother-child pairs from among four groups of comparable…

A literature review is summarized on the effects of educational and environmental factors on student achievement. Environmental factors include background and community influences, such as social, economic, racial, educational and achievement levels; home environment; and qualities of students, such as academic readiness, motivation, and social…

To synthesize knowledge concerning factors which affect occupational achievement through a set of explicit models based upon the concept of the socioeconomic life cycle, six major bodies of data from various sources were collected and subjected to secondary analysis. A number of items of lesser scope were gleaned from additional sources for use in…

A series of investigations studied dimensions of individual differences in elementary and secondary school students in ability and "style" in speaking, writing, and other verbal performances; the relations of these dimensions to measured personality characteristics; early childhood and home background factors in these variables; and the relative…

In order to assess the quality of stimulation in the home environment, the Inventory of Home Stimulation (HOME) was used as part of the evaluation strategy for the Houston Parent Child Development Center Program, which attempts to help parents develop their competence as teachers of their own children. One hundred low income, Mexican American…

This document presents an evaluation of the New York State Preventive Services Demonstration Project, which provides services to families in distress to shorten or prevent the placement of children in foster care. A total of 549 cases, involving 992 children, were involved in the 1-year study. The experimental group of 373 cases received services…

The purpose of this monograph is to develop the concept of differentiated foster family care designed to serve a range of children and to describe several foster family models useful in putting this concept into practice. In the first half of the monograph, a discussion of trends in foster parent selection and education is presented. Some criteria…

The objectives of this 1-year project were (1) to demonstrate an at-home procedure of teaching in order to improve the concept formation and language development environment of 40 children (3-5 years) residing in low income homes where the primary language was Spanish; (2) to train 11 women from the community as home teachers; and (3) to give…

This study was made to identify and measure social-environmental characteristics of low income children and to analyze the relationship of these variables to cognitive and socioemotional measures taken shortly after entrance into Head Start. It was felt that such information would be useful to teachers and curriculum planners who wished to devise…

The hypothesis of this 3-year study was that contact with supportive influences (peer leaders, personal counseling interviews, group counseling sessions, and warm, sincere, interesting teachers) would improve the academic performance of underachieving secondary school students. The subjects, 440 seventh, ninth, and 10th graders from the Kalamazoo…

The first phase of an 8-year longitudinal study of the onset and development of delinquency and behavior problems recruited 400 eight- and nine-year-old boys in a densely populated working class urban district. Assessment was made through psychological tests, teachers' and psychiatric social workers' reports, and parent interviews and…

The present study was an attempt to assess the impact of Project Head Start upon the parents of children who participated in a 6-month Head Start intervention program in Austin, Texas. The sample was comprised of 57 Negro and 51 Latin-American parents. From the Parent Interview, which was administered to the female caretaker (usually the mother)…

The Brookline Early Education Project (BEEP) has been initiated by the Public Schools of Brookline, Massachusetts to help parents provide an optimum learning environment for their children throughout the preschool years. Enrollment in BEEP begins at birth and the project provides educational and diagnostic services, including pediatric care. Each…

The elementary school counselor appears unable to provide adequate services for all children simply through individual and small group counseling. However, the educational, counseling, and consultative aspects of the Adlerian counseling model offer unlimited possibilities for expanding developmental guidance throughout each child's school and home…