Assesses the role of extracurricular athletics and other activities participated in by high school and college students. The authors conclude that athletics has little effect on academic achievement but that social participation has a strong and salutary effect on academic performance in school and college for both sexes and tends to mediate the…

The focus of this issue of "NetNews" is dyscalculia, or math disability. Most of the attention over the years has been on reading and writing difficulties, thus leading to the belief that math difficulties are not very common or serious. However, it has been estimated that about 6% of school-age children experience significant math difficulties.…

Anxiety about statistics can result in impaired performance, mental anguish, and avoidance of statistics courses needed for professional advancement. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of the anxiety felt by students in graduate statistics courses to their characteristics and to the teaching strategies used by their…

This study examined the predictive validity of placement test scores with course grade and retention in English and mathematics classes. An increase in the use of testing to determine student eligibility for community college courses has prompted debate and litigation over the equity, access, and legal implications of these practices. In…

Interests and abilities have been cited as important concepts in the career guidance of adolescents. While it is important for students to understand these constructs independently, particularly if they are not congruent, their complex relationship can make it difficult to combine the information into career directions. This paper considers a…

This paper updates the discussion of Francoys Gagne's Differentiated Model of Giftedness and Talent (DMGT), which proposes a clear distinction between these two most basic concepts in the field of gifted education. Under the DMGT model, giftedness is defined as the possession and use of untrained and spontaneously expressed superior natural…

By measuring the performance of 62 students enrolled in a community college introductory algebra course, this study challenges the generally accepted assumption among mathematics instructors that mastery of arithmetic is necessary for the learning of algebra. Study subjects were 35% male, 74% Hispanic, 16% Black, 8% white, and 2% other. A pretest,…

There is a growing appreciation of the need for a greater supply of well-educated people, not only in the scientific and technological fields but also in the political, social, and cultural areas. The high school should play an important role in identifying and developing the specific abilities of each boy and girl so that each can make the…

Black college students from three socioeconomic levels were compared on the variables of Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores, attrition after a two year period, grade point averages (GPA) and correlation between the SAT and first semester GPA. The middle socioeconomic group consistently performed most poorly on GPA. (Author/KM)

The purpose of this article was to summarize information on the use of tests as devices for assessing men and women for positions in business and industrial establishments. (Author/RK)

The performance of black youths in educational and psychological testing situations cannot be assessed adequately without consideration of their particular attitudes, perceptions, and behavioral patterns. The authors discuss Blacks' attitudes toward whites, systems of time allocations, expressions of identity, attitudes toward learning,…

Deals with pre and post-natal malnutrition and its possible influence on the child, focusing on these points: How wide-spread and severe is the malnutrition? What might be the effects of the malnutrition at certain critical points in development? (Author/JM)

Extends P. E. Jonson's studies of physics learning by analyzing, on the basis of a 12-student control group, 24 high-school students' word associations, aptitude scores, and achievement results during instruction. Indicated a positive relationship between problem-solving ability and meaningful concept formation. (CC)