A study at an urban university found that, while type of child care used by classified staff was not a significant predictor of absenteeism, care by nonrelatives was associated with significantly more absences than was care by relatives. However, satisfaction with care was a significant predictor of absenteeism. (MSE)

Explored the role of relationship orientations, gender-related characteristics, and perceptions of friendship quality during preadolescence and adolescence. Results indicated that grade and sex differences are evident in the early adolescent years and are linked to perceptions of friendship quality. Preliminary evidence showed that relationship…

Evaluated predictors of child day care satisfaction by surveying the families of 104 children in center-based care and 45 children in family child day care homes. Results indicated that perceived social support derived from the care arrangement was the best predictor of parental satisfaction in both types of care. (MDM)

Explored the environment for literacy in day-care centers, its relationship with traditional measures of day-care quality, and its influence on children's cognitive and language development. Observations in 30 community-based day-care classrooms revealed relatively impoverished literacy environments. Found that both day-care quality and…

Examined risk factors leading to adolescent substance abuse so as to provide greater understanding of their influence. Divided risk factors into four categories: demographic, social, behavioral, and individual. Separated each category into its respective components, including ages of susceptibility and gender differences. Offers information on…

Researchers compared fourth graders' literature preferences and examined categories of children's literature as preference indices. They investigated whether children preferred to read or view selections. Students expressed preferences on an annotated titles inventory. Content was a more powerful preference factor than traditional classifications…

Study compared teachers contemplating quitting the profession with teachers planning to continue. Subjects completed surveys which assessed work-related attitudes, perceptions, and reaction to work environment conditions. Results indicate that teachers who plan to quit or remain can be reliably distinguished by patterns of work-related attitudes,…

Study investigated relationships between secondary students' school achievement, leisure activities, and motivation. Leisure activity variables predicted school achievement but were weak compared to motivation variables, which were weak compared to goals for college. Number of leisure activities and hours spent in leisure activities correlated…

Computed measure of average academic rigor of student's high school program from high school transcripts and used measure as supplemental predictor to Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores and high school rank in class. Data from two cohorts of college graduates revealed new measure was superior to SAT scores and rank in class in predicting…

Study examined relationships between self-esteem, health values, specific health behaviors, and general practice of wellness behaviors in Navy personnel. Lifestyle surveys indicated health values predicted specific health behaviors and general practice of wellness behaviors. After controlling for health values, self-esteem predicted general…

Information about family background and birth history was evaluated with respect to its power to predict speech language status in 662 preschool children. A set of risk criteria was found to accurately predict 55 percent of those children with poor communication skills and 76 percent of those with normal communication development. (Author/DB)

Verbal precocity at 20 months of age did not predict children's later precocious reading. Frequency of story reading in the home at 24 months predicted children's language ability at 2.5 and 4.5 years and, along with literacy instruction, predicted knowledge of print conventions at 4.5. (BC)

Variance formulas of H. E. Daniels and M. G. Kendall (1947) are generalized to allow for the presence of ties and variance of the sample tau correlation. Applications of these generalized formulas are discussed and illustrated using data from a 1965 study of contraceptive use in 15 developing countries. (SLD)

This study found that accuracy in predicting the out-of-home placement of children with severe disabilities increased little in a large cross-sectional sample (n=5,992) over a smaller semilongitudinal sample (n=141). Factors such as age, adaptive and maladaptive behavior, and ethnicity are discussed. (Author/JDD)

Two questions are examined: the relationship between prior to formal experience (high school instruction) and success on university foreign language proficiency tests, and the similarity of prior experience to pass rates for students of varying languages. (LB)