Teachers deceive children when they concentrate on making them feel good regardless of their levels of accomplishment. Studies show great discrepancies between U.S. students' comparatively low academic performance and their "above-average" self-evaluations in mathematics. Deprived of appropriate standards, children could later face harsher critics…

Examination of social status, peer liking and knowing, and reciprocal friendships of 202 students (learning disabled, low achieving, average achieving, and high achieving) in grades 3-10 found that only low achieving students were less well liked and less well known by classmates. All groups showed a high relationship between knowing and liking.…

Presents an ecological theory of educational risk that conceptualizes this risk as discordant child-environment interaction that may occur in the classroom (microrisk), in the home (mesorisk), in the community (exorisk), and in the larger society (macrorisk). Discusses intervention strategies to reduce the prevalence of risk in each of these…

Detracking proponents should carefully examine research suggesting that tracking reform has potential dangers. One study shows that high- and average-track students of all racial and economic backgrounds lose out under heterogenous grouping. Detracked classrooms may encourage "bright flight" and erode low achievers' self-confidence. (MLH)

Investigated the relationship between measures of mathematics teacher skill and student achievement in 795 California high schools. Results support the hypothesis that there is a shortage of qualified mathematics teachers in California, and that this shortage is associated with low student scores. (SLD)

Examined Israeli secondary school teachers' beliefs regarding low-achieving students and instruction in higher order thinking. Interviews indicated that nearly half of the teachers considered higher order thinking inappropriate for low-achieving students. Their beliefs related to their general theory of instruction. Viewing learning as…

Examines relationships between phonological skills and reading in 143 Arab children in Arab villages of central Israel. Finds that a word recognition test was highly correlated with phonological skills, semantic processing, syntactic knowledge, and short-term memory, and that poor readers significantly lagged in skill development. Discusses…

Finds that teaching 13-year-old poor readers to use effective reading strategies convinced them that reading successes and failures were attributable to use of effective or ineffective strategies; improved their comprehension performance and increased use of reading strategies; and reduced their perceptions of learned helplessness. (RS)

Extensive on-site interviews in six Iowa school districts revealed that understandings and beliefs in three high-achieving school districts differed markedly from those in three low-achieving districts. The high-achieving districts had an "elevating" view of students, a focus on school renewal, and action-oriented goals. (MLH)

Discusses the notion of social promotion versus grade repetition, arguing that neither approach represents an appropriate solution for enhancing the learning outcomes of low-performing students and closing the achievement gaps among students of various ethnic groups. Offers a learner-centered approach as a viable alternative and a mechanism for…

Seeks to help dental educators recognize potential causes of students' learning problems by presenting a series of diagnostic questions designed to identify the underlying etiology of the learning deficiency. Introduces strategies for helping the academically struggling student based on these etiologies. (EV)

Interviews with 23 disadvantaged and aboriginal postsecondary students in Canada addressed academic motivation; study barriers and supports; knowledge, skills, and abilities; career goals; and definitions of success. Most had a high need for achievement, encountered situational barriers, were goal oriented, and believed postsecondary education…

This study compared the working memory abilities of children identified as having special educational needs with those making normal academic progress at ages 7 and 8. Special needs children showed marked working memory impairments, especially on tasks tapping central executive functions. Results have implications for identifying children at risk…

There is strong evidence of the correlation between educational under-achievement and social exclusion. Those who do not participate in or benefit from education are more likely to experience early parenthood, homelessness, poor health, involvement with the youth and adult justice systems, poverty and unemployment. In this paper, the author…

Many tout the "no excuses" mantra, from the Education Trust to President Bush, and the Heritage Foundation even titled its report on a group of higher-achieving, high-poverty schools No Excuses. As an antidote to decades of low expectations and substandard teaching for children from poor, often dysfunctional families and neighborhoods, the "no…