Describes two studies designed to determine how community college students in remedial freshman English sections defined a written "sentence." Concludes that subjects associated a complete written sentence with a verb-noun sequence of a certain requisite length and with a word string containing a prepositional phrase. (ET)

Discusses the value of linguistic studies, noting the importance of encouraging students' interest in talking and thinking about language. Presents tape-recorded dialogues produced by students in a "nonacademic" class and tells how such activities can provide a basis for the study of language. (GT)

Internal locus of control and positive outcome subjects attributed responsibility for their test results to internal factors, while external and negative outcome subjects tended toward external causations. Ability and luck components were rated in accord with the Weiner model classification, but the effort and task components were not. (Author/SJL)

The academic success of students with previous open school experience who entered structured or traditional schools was impeded. (MM)

Drug use, academic performance, and stress as indicated by changes in living patterns, are interrelated. (MB)

Using arithmetic-achievement data on 50,000 pupils in 560 Dutch elementary schools, explores differences among high-, average-, and low-achieving schools. Only one characteristic, educational leadership, was related (negatively) to effectiveness. Teachers in highly effective schools give more whole-class instruction, have the same goals for all…

Summarizes current research on ability grouping of academically gifted students. Findings show that advanced students benefit more academically than low-ability students from homogeneous grouping; homogeneous groups are more academically and socially beneficial for all abilities than heterogeneous grouping; continuous progress makes an academic…

Neglected or abused/neglected children (N=420) were compared with matched, nonmal-treated children on measures of school performance. Differences between the sexes in timing of academic difficulties was found for both math and English. Grades of neglected and abused/neglected students paralleled that of nonmal-treated students but were lower at…

A study of 14 adolescents with learning disabilities and 7 low-achieving adolescents was conducted to evaluate a writing strategy designed to enhance the quality of compare-and-contrast essays. Results indicate the students improved substantially in the clarity of writing, appropriateness, and organization of ideas in their essays, but not in…

Discusses "story grammar" strategies, such as self-questioning, story maps, character and plot development, and comparison and contrast of similar stories, which can be used to help elementary students with learning disabilities or low-achieving students improve their reading and writing skills. Activities are described for each…

Studied the effects a high stakes test designed to end social promotion would have on poor black students in the 39 Georgia counties characterized as "declining rural counties." Findings suggest such tests would have a disparate impact on African American children, limiting their educational attainment. Illustrates the argument with the…

Examines the influence of word meanings on lexical processing in high- and low-skill readers. States that rated context availability was a significant predictor of lexical decision times and word reading accuracy beyond nonsemantic factors. Finds that ability to retrieve meanings of low-context-availability words easily is an important component…

The Open University of Hong Kong (OUHK) study showed student support services were an important component of distance education. One of the factors differentiating between high/low-achievers was that the former were more active in seeking help. This project explored what factors promote or inhibit use of peer support, and how it might be utilized…

Reviews literature on the ways in which college and university outreach programs impact Latino high school students. The programs outlined do aid in closing the college enrollment gap for Latinos. Results suggest, however, that the Latino students who exhibit the most need are summarily excluded from participating in the programs (generally due to…

Case study of urban middle school response to school state reform initiative describes how administrators and teachers chose to focus on improving nonmagnet students' academic achievement by increasing opportunities for their teachers to participate in professional development. Teachers created a set of innovative curriculum programs for…