This article explores the empirical validity of the Social Interactionist (SI) perspective as an explanation of violent victimization. An additional goal is to explain why early puberty among adolescents is connected to violent victimization. Using SI, we theorize that early puberty creates unusually high levels of distress for adolescents (more…

This study examined 7-year follow-up data from the Yonkers Project, a study of a 1985 court-ordered neighborhood desegregation program in Yonkers, NY. Low-income Black and Latino families residing in impoverished neighborhoods who were randomly selected to relocate to publicly funded townhouses in middle-class communities and demographically…

Experiments that assign intact groups to treatment conditions are increasingly common in social research. In educational research, the groups assigned are often schools. The design of group-randomized experiments requires knowledge of the intraclass correlation structure to compute statistical power and sample sizes required to achieve adequate…

In this article, we describe patterns of Hispanic students' math skill development during elementary school using data from a nationally representative sample of Hispanic students assessed in math skills from kindergarten through 5th grade. Several robust patterns are evident. First, Hispanic students enter kindergarten with average math skills…

This report describes the Social Ecology Research Project, which assessed the foundations of personal-social competence in children with mental handicaps (MH). Children with mild MH (n=1,200) and their normally achieving peers (n=2,500), all ages 8-14, were studied over 3 years. Students were assessed in resource and regular classrooms, and…

A study described and evaluated "First Steps," an intervention program for low-reading first graders that was implemented in four rural schools in western North Carolina. First Steps borrows heavily from Reading Recovery but differs significantly in the areas of pre-post assessment, tutor training, and teaching procedures. Attention was…

When faced with personal success, some persons appear to become anxious and will do something to avoid or sabotage their efforts. This fear of success among university students was investigated in this study. The sampling included 210 students, 83 males and 127 females. The independent variables under consideration were locus of control, gender,…

The degree of consciousness of one's own familiar surroundings by high and low achieving students of a technical gymnasium in Malmo (Sweden) was studied through essays written about Sweden as a place to live. Focus was on testing the proposition that an individual's ability to express cognitive integration of experience in covariation with…

This review evaluates research on the Strategies Intervention Model (SIM) developed at the Institute for Research in Learning Disabilities, University of Kansas. The model is designed to teach learning-disabled and low-achieving adolescents strategies which will enable them to learn and perform independently, show appropriate social and personal…

In April 1987, the Austin school board approved the current student assignment plan, which returned most elementary students to their neighborhood schools and created 16 predominantly minority schools with many students from low-income families. This report summarizes the outcomes of a 5-year plan, "A Plan for Educational Excellence," in…

During the recent past, the U.S. Department of Defense has, on two occasions, admitted large numbers of low-aptitude individuals into the Military Services: Project 100,000 and the 1976-80 misnorming of the enlistment test. To determine the impact of having served in the military on the subsequent experiences of these individuals, samples of…

A practicum was designed to solve the problem of the lack of desire to read and the poor quality of the reading of 65 inner city underachieving basic skills students. Objectives were to increase motivation to read among the students and to improve the quality of their oral, silent, and reading comprehension skills. Incentives for reading enjoyment…

A study investigated the performance in Standard Grade English language of those Scottish secondary-school candidates who were judged to be "average to below-average" and identified changes in grade-related criteria which might lead to improvements in the teaching of basic competencies. Examination scripts and portfolios from over 600…

The Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library's summer reading program aims to help children develop a love of reading by giving them full control over what and how much to read. A study examined the effects of the 1990 program, with special attention to low-achieving students. A quantitative analysis was undertaken of 164 first- through…

Elementary students who are overage due to retention are compared with those who are overage for other reasons on both at-risk indicators and demographic factors. Records of 127 fifth, sixth, and seventh graders were examined with respect to student performance on academic indicators of at-risk behavior. Findings indicate that overage students…