The state of school social work around the world, including the scope and services provided in 13 countries, is summarized. Issues such as poor attendance, low achievement, and school violence are discussed. Common problems, areas of possible cooperation, and the role of school social work in international activities are examined. (Author/EMK)

This longitudinal study examined processes involved in transactional models of socialization, focusing on maternal intrusive support for children's academic achievement. Results suggested that low achievement elicited intrusive support through the mechanisms of increased maternal worry and increased child uncertainty. Day-to-day analyses suggested…

Describes and evaluates academic problems of international medical graduates (IMGs) within one community-based residency program. Suggests that many problems may be caused by difficulty with English, differences in medical education, length of time since previous training, different life stage, or cultural differences in beliefs about…

Investigated whether the values held by Australian aboriginal college students, which are more collective than those of non-aboriginal students, could help explain their low achievement levels. Longitudinal survey data indicated there were factors other than value systems that had a much greater impact on students' problems (e.g., lack of…

Named for Baltimore's Memorial Stadium, the Stadium School is a small charter school that combines project-based instruction with activities such as community gardening. Despite its popularity, this middle school has an uncertain future. Established in 1993, the school will close unless students' standardized test scores improve this year. (MLH)

Compared grade inflation rates among students of different abilities at an open-admissions public university by examining trends in graduating grade point average from 1983 to 1996. The higher grade inflation rates among low aptitude students suggest that faculty might be using grades to encourage learning among marginal students. (SLD)

Discusses how 68 third graders who were less-skilled readers performed more poorly than younger reading-level control children on tests of pseudoword reading and phonological sensitivity. Provides some suggestive evidence that less-skilled readers are less sensitive than their younger reading-level matched counterparts to all subword-size…

Describes how the Riverside (California) County's Office of Education employs County Achievement Teams (CAT) to provide low-performance schools with a set of strategies to improve student achievement. (PKP)

Examines the issue of how to teach unsuccessful language learners. One suggested way is to study the strategies of good learners and to direct the attention of unsuccessful learners to how the successful students arrive at their results. (Author/VWL)

Investigates causes of high and low reading achievement among elementary students using a causal model. Finds support for the model. Notes an implication of the model is that teaching and learning relevant to improving listening comprehension and word identification proximally affect verbal knowledge and pronunciation knowledge, and distally…

Employing E. Erikson's identity theory within J. Marcia's operational framework, the association between identity formation and adult achievement was examined in a subset of gifted individuals from Terman's longitudinal study. Significant relationships were found between identity formation and occupational success. Most successful individuals were…

The authors investigated the etiology of low mathematics performance in 7-year-olds in the context of normal variation. The lowest 15% were selected from a representative U.K. sample of 2,178 same-sex twin pairs rated by their teachers according to National Curriculum criteria in 3 domains of mathematics. Model-fitting analyses of mathematics…

One of the most absurd vestiges of yesteryear in the public schools is the widely accepted practice of moving students to different teachers and grade levels every year, leading to an annual mix of new classmates and instructional methodologies. No respectable body of research or scholarly reflection today gives any credibility to the academic and…

This paper explores some of the implications of moving from a traditional discrepancy model of learning disability (LD) to the low achievement model of LD proposed by Siegel and Ladyman in the British Columbia Review of Special Education (2000). We apply two variations of each of the two models of LD definition?the existing discrepancy model and…

The authors of this article were recently privileged to spend five days with a group of 10 talented principals who have been charged with turning around academically low-performing schools in their respective districts. These principals were selected as participants in a Turnaround Specialist Program initiated by Gov. Mark R. Warner of Virginia…