Based on the National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE) recent report, this article provides the foundation for state accountability systems that focus on improvement. Contains NASBE's proposed Public Policy Position on Low Performing Schools. (Contains 14 references.) (Author/MLF)

The effects of fathers' absence from the home on their children's educational aptitude and achievement were studied for about 9,000 Swedish children from grade 6 to age 21 years, 15 percent of whom lived only with their mothers. Low achievement in the mathematical and technical spheres characterized those with no father in the home. (SLD)

Twelve low-achieving, high-potential junior high students were involved in a pullout program to improve their academic performance. The students were partially successful in applying strategies they learned for analyzing their potential, building self-esteem, managing time, managing stress, goal setting, and developing individual action plans.…

The academic performance of 86 mainstreamed learning-disabled students was compared with that of 87 low-achieving students. Significant differences were found between the groups' grades in social studies and health but not in science. Of intelligence quotient, reading level, and absence rates, only absence rates differentiated between ninth grade…

The Learning in Science Project (Energy) was designed to investigate teaching and learning about the energy concepts of New Zealand elementary and secondary students. Discussed are aspects of an approach to teaching energy to low ability students in physics. (YP)

Two studies (N=4,261 persons) illustrate an inverse relationship between ability level and correlations among IQ measures. Low IQ subjects showed higher correlations than did high IQ subjects. Intercorrelations of IQ subtests, intercorrelations of cognitive ability measures, and correlations of IQ with measures of cognitive ability displayed the…

The educational community needs to ensure that children have developed learning strategies before they are expected to develop subject or task proficiency. The low achievement of poor children is due to their lack of preparation. The stratification of American society is the major problem with education. (BJV)

Cites studies linking teachers' expectations of students to students' performance. Expectations especially affect American Indian students as smallest and poorest of minorities. Defines good teachers as having positive belief systems and practices and offering students cheer and encouragement. Includes suggestions, anecdotal material. (TES)

Argues that the promulgation of guidelines, used in directing early childhood education and based on universalist assumptions, places racial, ethnic, and linguistic "minority" children and parents at a disadvantage and contributes to the very processes that early childhood educators seek to remedy. It concludes that poor scholastic performance is…

Pennsylvania's instructional support initiatives for secondary students with special needs include collaboration, curriculum-based assessment, learning strategies, and instructional adaptations. A learning strategies model for low achievers is described, followed by one school's experience using instructional supports in regular English classes…

Investigates differences between high-achieving and low-achieving school-based decision groups in decision making. Decision groups (207 groups of 3 members each) used computer simulations to address problems facing principals concerning fourth grade academic achievement. Higher-achieving groups made more decisions and made a combination of related…

The "Thinking Actively in a Social Context" (TASC) project, currently underway with African-American high school pupils and teachers in KwaZulu/Natal schools (South Africa), stresses the systematic development of thinking and problem-solving skills. The program has been very successful with relatively high achieving students but requires…

Four low-achieving fifth-grade African-American males with behavioral disorders tutored sight words to four low-achieving second-grade African-American males with behavioral disorders. The tutoring appeared to have positive effects on sight word vocabulary and positive social interactions for both tutors and tutees but not on self-perceptions of…

Includes "On the Common Core of Learning" (Kennedy); "Constitutional Implications of National Curriculum Standards" (Arons); "Arguments against National Performance Standards" (Fulk, Mantzicopoulos, Hirth); and "The Painful Lessons of Introducing the National Curriculum in England" (Foster). (SK)

A survey of 1,140 eighth grade students showed that regular class students had higher levels of self-concept than did students who were educationally marginal or learning handicapped. African-American students had higher self-concept ratings than did white and Hispanic students. Males had higher ratings than did females on five of seven scales.…