Investigated relations between certain antecedent variables in Lebanese students' academic history and home environment and frequency of grade repetition. Information from 1,633 retainees representing all grade levels indicated that most entered school early, experienced frequent repetitions, and changed schools. Most were male, over-age for their…

Examined whether previous classroom grades were as useful as standardized test scores for identifying students likely to fail the Ohio Ninth Grade Proficiency Test. Analyzes letter grades received by 99 freshmen attending a small, rural high school. Classroom teachers' own grades proved as useful as standardized scores. (14 references) (MLH)

A sub-group of at-risk learners consists of students who have demonstrated academic capability yet begin to fail in their senior years. Describes the achievement perspectives of three such students using qualitative interviews. Results reveal that academic, social, family, and peer factors influenced their decision making. Suggests ways to modify…

A survey of 7,848 seventh-, ninth-, and eleventh-grade students on high-risk behaviors found that student school experiences explained more variance than ethnicity. Low academic grades, observation and threat of violence, drug use, and perceived lack of adult and peer support were experiential factors associated with involvement in high-risk…

Responses of 138 third and fourth graders to failures and successes in mathematics computation were studied in 4 experimental conditions varied by social learning context and modeling. The collaborative learning context increased student persistence after failure and dynamism after success, and modeling increased persistence and dynamism in an…

This article describes basic assessment considerations for infants and toddlers exhibiting nonorganic failure to thrive. The evaluation process must examine feeding, maternal-child interactions, child temperament, and environmental risks and behaviors. Early identification and intervention are necessary to minimize the long-term developmental…

Contemporary scholars argue that in recent decades American racism has changed its face, away from an outright racism that is no longer socially acceptable toward a more subtle form termed "aversive," "laissez-faire," or "colorblind" racism. This ideology embraces mounting American individualism, transferring group-based explanations of…

The Helping One Student to Succeed (HOSTS) Language Arts volunteer tutoring program was evaluated by comparing pre- and post-intervention scores on standardized measures of reading using a 5-month test-retest interval. Students (n = 129) from six elementary schools in Michigan that utilize the HOSTS program served as the experimental group, and…

The article emphasizes and illustrates the importance of precise, coherent, and continuous home-school communication to facilitate parental involvement useful in promoting the educational success of children in urban schools. Two sets of parents and teachers were interviewed to obtain their perspectives on how their children were performing in…

Recently, increasing attention has become focused on the inadequacy of the American high school experience for adequately preparing individuals for the jobs of the future as well as for life more generally. This inadequate preparation is explored primarily through the findings from the twelfth grade portion of the Third International Mathematics…

Although self-initiative is recognized as instrumental to success in college, some students do not take responsibility for their academic development and fail to make the transition from high school to college. This problem is exacerbated when bright, highly skilled students drop courses or quit college entirely. Research into this paradox of…

Reading Recovery is a short-term intervention program for first-graders who are at risk of failure in reading and writing. More than 1.5 million children have been served in the United States since 1984, and pre- and post-test Observation Survey scores have been collected across the nation for the past 20 years. Yet there is a need to determine…

Despite the best attempts of academic staff to teach students the mechanics of citation, the rules of referencing continue to be broken, particularly by those new to Western university systems (either first-year undergraduate students or international students from different cultural backgrounds). In late 2003, 16 postgraduate international…

This paper offers an assessment of the efforts to de-Arabize the Bedouin Arab youth of the Negev. We show that despite the extensive efforts to achieve this goal, they have become pronouncedly alienated from the State of Israel, and are increasingly perceiving themselves as an integral part of Israel's Palestinian Arab national minority. The…

The paper outlines a framework for the development of reading that shows it is heavily dependent upon spoken language processes. Within this view, reading difficulties can follow from difficulties with speech processing (decoding problems) or from broader language processing impairments (comprehension problems). The paper describes the literacy…