Research shows that there is a substantial degree of correlation between scores obtained on the Nelson-Denny Reading Test and the academic averages obtained by freshmen students at Harcum Junior College. This indicates that the reading test is a useful measuring instrument for predicting general levels of first-year academic achievement. (CK)

A School-Within-A-School program (SWAS) in Keokuk, Iowa, has proved successful in improving reading skills of about 145 seventh-grade pupils who are below the local 50th percentile in reading ability. The Title III/ESEA program utilizes a team teaching system which facilitates the teaching of reading skills in the content areas of mathematics,…

The Corning Community College, having an open-door admissions policy, has been offering a course in achievement motivation for the past two years. The course, requiring about forty-five hours of participation, was started on an experimental basis with specially selected high-risk entering students during the summer of 1969. The main purposes of…

This study assesses an analytical process which seeks to describe the writing style of a student in terms of the four basic transformational operations: addition, deletion, combining, and reordering. Application of the process to writing skills of low achievers in English is evaluated. All ninth and eleventh grade students in the Falls Church,…

The present study related achievement motivation and the degree of responsibility attributed to the self for success and failure to school achievement. A children's achievement motivation scale and Crandall's Intellectual Achievement Responsibility Questionnaire were administered to elementary school children. Achievers and underachievers were…

Two objectives of this book are to provide a rationale for using basic language forms (sounds, letters, and words) in the perceptual-skill training of low-achieving children and to present techniques for teaching reading, spelling, and handwriting to low-achieving children. The first chapter, on the reading/spelling inversion, explains the…

Four items are described briefly: a program which combines home economics and science to teach living skills to ninth graders; a program which uses rewards as compensation for achievement; the correlation between low achievement and low income; and the problems faced by "guestworker children" (children of foreign workers) in Germany. (KC)

Investigates the differences in attitudes toward academic achievement and personality characteristics of third generation Japanese Americans (Sanseis). Sanseis were grouped by sex and high and low achievers and were administered the Adjective Check List and the Asian American Survey. Results show that Sanseis are relatively heterogeneous with…

Patterns of behavior stably related to achievement across academic settings may be dissimilar among groups of children in the same setting with different levels of achievement. (Author/DEP)

Critically evaluates recent statements and actions by federal and state officials who do not realize the efforts that will be necessary to raise school standards. Reviews kinds of standards proposed by current reform, considers their effects, and discusses the conditions under which at risk students could respond positively to higher standards.…

An intensive 10-day peer tutor training component is described as a key element in the success of a peer tutoring program in mathematics for 21 low-achieving second graders. Results suggest the program's effectiveness in increasing the speed and accuracy of responses on written speed tests of addition facts. (Author/JW)

Results of analyzing variables impacting the behavior of four ninth-grade poor-achieving tutors and 20 seventh-grade tutees with reading difficulties found that giving tutor points for reinforcing tutee responses was the most important component of the tutoring package for both tutors and tutees. (Author/JDD)

Reviews research on effects of teacher expectations on student achievement; suggests faulty teacher expectations could affect mathematics achievement when certain conditions are present; and presents recommendations which address teacher expectation behaviors to serve as guidelines for improving classroom environment. (MBR)

Describes the Instrumental Enrichment (IE) program, a three-year series of problem-solving tasks and exercises that are grouped in 14 areas of specific cognitive development called instruments rather than lessons. The aim of IE is to transform the retarded performer's behavior from a passive and dependent cognitive style to that of an active,…

This investigation attempted to ascertain longitudinally whether diffuseness about academic goals and plans would predict subsequent underachievement. Identity-status interviews were administered to 98 first-semester college students. Evidence for the hypothesized relationship between diffusion and academic underachievement was not found.…