While the seventh and ninth grade Maryland Functional Mathematics Tests (MFMT) appear valid and well constructed, the 65 percent passing rate for Montgomery County Public Schools' ninth grade students raises questions about the 81 percent passing score set for the MFMT. This standard is far stiffer than the 59 percent set for the Maryland…

This survey analysis compares fertility levels in the United States and European countries, discusses socioeconomic influences in ultimate expected family size, and examines birth rate trends. The average number of ultimately expected children varies from 2.13 children per woman in Bulgaria to 2.80 in Spain. Eighty to 90 percent of U.S. and…

Although by traditional measures of test validity, the verbal section of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) is not culture biased, it, along with the English Composition Test and the Test of Standard Written English, reinforces a narrow view of academic excellence that excludes culturally different youths. Designed to prevent admission errors, the…

While the literature on the social development of children has increasingly stressed the importance of peer relationships, little research has examined the influence of peers in sex role development. Sex segregation in children's play from preschool through the elementary years remains the norm even though we live in a society that is increasingly…

Designed to explore the effectiveness of predictors of academic readiness among low SES ethnically diverse children, this study tested low income 4- and 5-year-old Anglo-American, Mexican, and Vietnamese children eligible for kindergarten in the school year 1982-83. The recently arrived Mexican and Vietnamese children did not speak English. Sixty…

Hispanic women still face educational and employment handicaps rooted in racial and sex-related discrimination. Because Hispanic women are the product of two cultures (the traditional Mexican American culture inside the home and the dominant American culture outside the home), they sometimes face a struggle. Although research indicates that…

An editorial and abstracts for 12 research reports are contained in this issue. The editorial by Robert E. Reys focuses on the dangers of publishing poor research. The abstracts, each with a critique, concern research on a game for logical reasoning, wait-time and sex differences, vocabulary instruction on ratio and proportion, male-female…

The introduction of the trial state assessment program into the design of the 1990 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) raises questions about differences across states in sampling and administration practices. In addition, questions about the general approach to comparing state data to national data need discussion. Subject areas…

This publication is one in a series of 12 giving the recommendations that were made for a broad and balanced education program in science for young people. Section one of this guide discusses gender-related issues raised by examining the interests, attitudes, aspirations and behavior that young people bring with them into science classes. Section…

This report presents results from three research studies that were designed to explore both the definition and the structure of the adaptive behavior construct. The first study investigated the structure of adaptive behavior as a function of age, developmental level, and type of handicap through an exploratory factor analysis of both the…

A study investigated the hypothesis that during the "silent" period of second language learning, in which there is a dramatic drop in language directed to speakers of the second language, children not only passively assimilate second language input but also use private speech to actively integrate it. The study examined the learning…

This study examined the effects of the type of adjunct questions (use-a-generality, remember-a-generality, and remember-an-instance) and the position of these questions either before the relevant text passage (pre-questions) or after it (post-questions) on the three corresponding performance levels of learning. The subjects were 74 eighth-grade…

Experiences of black women, who migrated from the rural south to the District of Columbia between 1900 and 1926, are examined in order to illustrate the nature of household work during this period. While previous research on black private household workers usually attributed changes in household labor to architectural and technological trends,…

A comparison of Middle Tennessee Rural (MTR) schools with the national sample of schools included in Kappa Delta Pi's Good Schools Project (GSP) focused on the areas of curriculum perspectives, goal attainment, classroom practices, interpersonal relations, commitment, discipline and safety, support services and facilities, and decision making. The…

Current educational research efforts are examining rural/urban differences in achievement, appropriateness of rural/urban achievement measures, effects of parents and community on the attainment of rural students, and how well rural students succeed in higher education. To accurately assess the small, rural school's impact on students, rural-urban…