Used teacher beliefs and attitudes, principal beliefs and school norms, and teacher efficacy to predict effective teaching in heterogeneous classrooms. Found that the strongest predictors of effective teaching were: (1) the subjective school norm operationalized by the principal's attitudes and beliefs about heterogeneous classroom and report of…

In machine-mediated learning environments, there is a need for more reliable methods of calculating the probability that a learner's response will be correct in future trials. A combination of domain-independent response-state measures of cognition along with two instructional variables for maximum predictive ability are demonstrated. (Author/LRW)

This longitudinal study examined relationships among 4 risk factors (social supports, maternal psychological adjustment, maternal preparation for parenting, and child temperament), maternal predisposition for aggressive coping, and maternal abuse potential in 75 adolescent mothers and their children. Preparation for parenting was most strongly…

Examined variables associated with differences in students' perceptions of interpersonal teacher behavior in seven secondary schools. Focuses on seven variables in a multilevel analysis: student and teacher gender; student and teacher ethnic background; student age and grade; class size; grade level; subject taught; and teacher experience.…

Assessed the characteristics that predicted the timing of first sexual intercourse in high-risk adolescents. Employed event history analyses and defined predictor variables using multimethod and multiagent assessments. Found that precocious sexual initiative can be understood using models of the etiology of other problem behavior, and that…

Data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care were examined to explore five propositions that would support a causal relationship between child care quality and child outcomes at age 4.5 years. Three propositions were supported, particularly in the cognitive domain. Associations between quality and outcomes remained even with child and family…

Evaluated hypothesis that cognitive antecedents of word recognition are domain-specific and unrelated to higher-order domain-general cognitive abilities in a longitudinal study of Hebrew-speaking children. Found that kindergarten domain-specific measures accounted for 33 percent of variance in Grade 1 word recognition, even after controlling for…

This study examined factors related to authoritarian and authoritative parenting practices among 463 Chinese mothers with preschoolers in Taiwan. Questionnaire findings suggested that maternal depression, child temperament, and degree of parenting daily hassles might have cross-culturally universal influence on parenting practices. Chinese…

Examines academic success and retention of first-year students in need of developmental education at a small private university to determine which variables are predictive of academic achievement, retention, and a GPA of 2.5 or higher. Results support other studies that indicate high school performance is the best indicator of success in college.…

Followed from infancy to age 7 internationally adopted children placed before 6 months. Found that girls were better adjusted than boys, except in cognitive development, and that easy temperament related to higher levels of social, cognitive, and personality development and fewer behavior problems. Attachment security and maternal sensitivity…

Analyzes econometrically the relationship between individual school characteristics and earnings of students entering the labor force directly from high school, using High School and Beyond data. One category of characteristics, school-to-work interventions, is a predictor. Access to labor-market information and substantial work-for-pay experience…

Qualitative and quantitative methods were used to investigate interdisciplinary practices of 116 early intervention faculty. Faculty engaged in a small amount of interdisciplinary teaching in their preservice programs. Quantitative results indicated work environment variables were the strongest predictors of the level of interdisciplinary…

Examined relations between patterns of marital communication, child adjustment, and family functioning. Subjects were couples observed to be hostile, hostile- withdrawn, or engaged, and having a 4- or 5-year-old child. Found that families in which couples were hostile-detached showed the most negative outcomes. Marital typology accounted for…

Examined stability and change from middle childhood to middle adolescence in participants' perceptions of their friendship-making ability and their friends' deviant behavior. Although perceptions were not highly stable over 5 years, participants perceived their friendship-making ability as greater during childhood than during adolescence;…

Psychological data were analyzed for 164 individuals (ages 3-15) with autism (IQs 14-143). Verbal IQ lagged behind nonverbal during the preschool years, but by school age the gap had closed. For school-age children with low IQs, math, spelling, and writing scores were consistent with IQ and reading was above IQ. (Contains references.) (Author/CR)