Focusing on the high failure rate among first-year learners, particularly at black universities, explored student perceptions of their studies. Found that for these students, learner preparation was a non-significant, while lecture style was a significant, influence on their perceptions of university studies. Recommends that students be taught to…

Compared 64 learning-disabled, 46 low-achieving, and 40 average elementary-age boys on teacher ratings of hyperactivity and self-control. Found significant group differences in both areas. Learning-disabled and low-achievement groups differed significantly from average group in social-behavioral competence, with no significant difference between…

Analyzes the relationship between curriculum and the surprising disengagement in a "heavenly" college preparatory high school of "professional" teachers and relatively advantaged lower track students. The regressive curriculum parodies a college campus atmosphere without providing lower track students with access to the "college" academics or…

Comparison of effects of two roles (peer monitor or point earner) during an independent mathematics seat work peer intervention on the behavior of three low achieving fifth graders found students demonstrated comparable improvements in appropriate task behavior during both roles with no clear improvements in assignment completion or accuracy rate.…

On a peer sociometric measure, 101 learning-disabled and 156 low-achieving students received lower ratings than 608 normally achieving students. Parent/teacher behavior ratings for 77 of the learning-disabled and low-achieving students found that children rejected in peer sociometric ratings exhibited lower social competence and more behavior…

Ninety-three elementary school minority-group children in triads of a low-achieving student, an average achiever, and a learning-disabled (LD) student were observed in regular education classes. Findings indicated that the low achievers were treated differently than average achievers and mainstreamed LD children. Teachers' instructional behaviors…

Chronically disruptive students are often funneled into "watered-down" alternative schools that warehouse rather than educate them. The Atlantic County (New Jersey) Alternative High School is a successful college-based program that expects referred students to fulfill normal academic requirements while taking tuition-free college…

Learning style preferences and brain hemispheric dominance were determined for 82 low achieving female inmates. They were counseled to use their modality strengths and take responsibility for learning. Higher test scores, reduced absenteeism, and greater achievement motivation resulted. (SK)

Thirty students with learning disabilities (LDs) performed less competently on five information-processing steps than did average-achieving students. Compared to average and low achieving students, LD subjects exhibited a unique problem in the encoding of social information and in their tendency to select incompetent self-generated solutions to…

Evaluates an approach that supplemented existing Reading Recovery programs with small-group, early literacy instruction in 28 Arkansas public schools. The program enabled many children to receive timely support. When space became available in Reading Recovery, these children made accelerated progress and were discontinued earlier than children who…

Concern over low student achievement led to creation of a community-based Maryland mentoring program for at-risk African-American students. Mentoring was successfully used for teaching and coaching, strengthening racial harmony, promoting social change, ensuring equal education, and creating opportunities for personal empowerment. By portraying…

Students can fall behind early in reading and never catch up. Hoboken (New Jersey) teachers are using Reading Recovery, an innovative New Zealand program, to provide low-achieving first graders with daily tutoring sessions for 18 to 22 weeks. Reading Recovery offers confidence-building strategies that combine skill-and-drill and whole-language…

Presents annotations of eight books, journal articles, and research reports (published between 1991 and 1995) on the topic of helping underachieving readers. (RS)

Studied general and differential effects of an experimental mathematics program on student achievement in secondary education. Participants were Dutch seventh graders, 222 in the experimental program and 222 in a control group. Results suggest that lower-achieving students can benefit from strategy instruction as long as the instruction is not too…

Describes the difficulties low achieving students, many of whom are from ethnic minorities, have in dealing with the language of Business Studies in the British curriculum and suggests some strategies to raise language awareness within the discipline and increase the business vocabularies of students. (SLD)