This article describes variables that may influence alternate assessment outcomes for students with disabilities and offers recommendations to enhance student achievement. These variables include technical quality, curriculum access, data collection, instructional effectiveness, risk factors, and resources allocated to instruction. Two of four…

Investigated the family as a context for gender typing of adolescent science achievement. Findings indicated no child gender or grade-level differences in science-related grades, self-efficacy, or interest. However, parents were more likely to believe that science was less interesting and more difficult for daughters than sons. Parents' beliefs…

This study examined role of shared family context in understanding differential parenting. Findings indicated that child age was the strongest child-specific predictor of positivity and differential positivity. Lower SES, marital dissatisfaction, and larger family size related to higher differential positivity. Children's temperament related to…

Interviews and home observations examined friendships of 28 children (ages 3-10) with disabilities. Children with the greatest amount of contact with friends had disabilities that were mainly physical, while children with behavior problems and cognitive limitations had the fewest peer interactions. Children living in isolated areas had more…

A longitudinal study of 113 children (ages 3-10), including 35 with poor reading skills, found both socioeconomic status, Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment scores, and reading achievement scores were related to reading abilities, but preschool environment measures were more strongly and consistently related to and predictive of…

Investigation of the predictive ability of motivational and attitudinal factors in high school students' continuation of foreign language study revealed that both factors, as well as grade level, course grade, interest in culture, and interest in fulfilling college entrance requirements, distinguished continuing from discontinuing students. (29…

A social-context longitudinal model of the early schooling process was tested using three first-grade outcomes for 1,470 Black and 69 Hispanic children (1,359 remained in the school system at the end of grade 1). Many variables influence the early schooling process, including cognitive readiness at kindergarten entry. (SLD)

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)

Presents an integrative path model that details relationships among several demographic variables, life stress, depression, hopelessness, social support, and suicidal ideation of 737 college students. Found negative life stress to be a significant predictor of both depression and hopelessness. Depression proved to be a better predictor of suicidal…

Twenty-five youths, aged 10-17, with conduct or related disorders were assessed at entry and discharge from a Re-ED residential program. Improvements were found in: academic achievement, evening staff ratings of residents' hostility and anger arousal, and residents' perceptions of mastery over their environment. Day staff ratings did not indicate…

Describes a study conducted at Kirkwood Community College, Iowa, to determine if student scores on the American College Testing Program's Assessment of Student Skills for Entry Transfer (ASSET) placement test could help identify potential dropouts among vocational students and to compare the predictive validity of high school grades and ASSET…

Familial/individual predictor variables related to reading disability were assessed, using 66 lower-to-upper-middle-class second graders. Subjects were evaluated as preschoolers, at age 60 months, and at the end of grade 2. Familial reading problems and individual differences in vocabulary, phonological awareness, and early literacy skills were…

Describes study conducted to identify some of the characteristics of junior high school students who become successful computer users. The three measures used to test students are explained--the High School Personality Questionnaire (HSPQ), the Intellectual Achievement Responsibility Questionnaire (IARS), and a computer literacy test--and results…

A follow-up study of 268 adolescents was conducted to determine predictors of disabilities. Parental traits were more accurate predictors of adolescent status than the child's own behavior from birth to 3 years, whereas child-centered skills assessed at 4 and 7 years of age were better predictors than familial factors. (Author/JDD)

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…