The aim of this study is to examine the mathematics skills of fourth-grade children from Kosovo in relation to their background characteristics. Seventy-six children, out of 233 tested, who were identified with learning difficulties in mathematics were further assessed during fifth and sixth grades, in mathematics skills and reading comprehension.…

The motivational impact of messages about how to interpret experienced difficulty with schoolwork was tested in two studies. Students read that experienced difficulty with schoolwork is a signal either of the importance or of the impossibility of succeeding in school, rated how much they agreed, and completed a difficult task (Raven's Progressive…

This study explored the role and extent of the involvement of morphological awareness (MA) in contrast to rapid automatized naming (RAN) in word reading and comprehension of Arabic as a morphologically based orthography. We gave measures of word reading, reading comprehension, MA, and RAN in addition to a nonverbal mental ability test to 3 groups…

This study tests a proposed model of coping outcomes for 290 primary school students in Years 5 and 6 (mean age = 11.50 years) with and without learning disabilities (LDs) within a resource-based framework of coping. Group-administered educational and intelligence tests were used to screen students for LDs. Students also completed a questionnaire…

We evaluated the effect of morphological awareness training delivered in preschool (8 months before school entry) on reading ability at the end of grade 1 and 5 years later (in Grade 6). In preschool, one group of children received morphological awareness training, while a second group received phonological awareness training. A control group…

Through a review of the literature on mathematical learning disabilities (MLD) and low achievement in mathematics (LA) we have proposed a model classifying mathematical skills involved in learning mathematics into four domains (Core number, Memory, Reasoning, and Visual-spatial). In this paper we present a new experimental computer-based battery…

This study examines the intra-and inter-lingual relationships between first and second language morphological awareness and reading comprehension among grade 6 Chinese learners of English as a foreign language in China. Morphological awareness measures covered compounding as well as derivation. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that within…

The present study aims to contribute to the understanding of the effects of music education, in particular music composition as a classroom activity for fifth- and sixth-graders. The intervention (experimental condition) focused on a three-step-model for music composition, based on the Cultural Historical Activity Theory of education, and has been…

Outreach activities, like mobile science exhibitions, give opportunities to hands-on experiences in an attractive learning environment. We analysed attitudes, motivation and learning during a science exhibition visit, their relations to gender and future educational plans in Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Belgium (N = 1210 sixth-graders). Pupils'…

In this study, 909 5th- and 6th-grade children were recruited as participants, and questionnaires were used to investigate the relationships between migration to urban settings and children's creative inclinations. The study was broken down to 2 parts. Study 1 compared scores on measures of creative inclinations among migrant, rural, and urban…

Failure to "activate" relevant, existing background knowledge may be a cause of poor reading comprehension. This failure may cause particular problems with inferences that depend heavily on prior knowledge. Conversely, teaching how to use background knowledge in the context of gap-filling inferences could improve reading comprehension in…

In this quasi-experimental study, 142 fifth and sixth grade students at a suburban elementary school in Northwest Washington State participated in a week-long, 10-hour project using the "LEGO Mindstorms Robotics Invention System" (RIS). Partners constructed and programmed one robot from visually-based LEGO instructions and a second of…

To clarify the effects of noise, sex, and intelligence on student performance, 289 sixth-grade students were randomly assigned either the Standard Progressive Matrices (SPM) or the STEP Reading Test Form 3 (STEP III) to be taken under high- or low-noise classroom conditions, with gender and intelligence as variables. Students who took the SPM…

The predictive validity of the Standard Progressive Matrices (SPM) was examined with a sample of 212 sixth-grade students and 214 seventh-grade students. Correlation coefficients between the SPM and the California Achievement Tests of Reading, Language, and Mathematics ranged from .34 to .60. (Author/LMO)

Different effects of instructional strategies on recall and comprehension of terms frequently used in formal analysis of art were examined. The study looked at a synthesis of three theoretical positions: dual-coding theory, schema theory, and elaboration theory. Two-hundred and fifty sixth-grade students were randomly assigned to three groups:…