The transition from the primary to secondary phase of education has been highlighted as an area of concern for policy makers, educators and researchers alike in recent years. In particular, there is evidence to suggest that it is during this crucial phase of compulsory education that many pupils are at risk of becoming marginalized and…

College students who transfer from a two-year or community college to a four-year institution must make many adjustments to the new institution and frequently suffer "transfer shock," evidenced by a (usually temporary) drop in grade point average. A student who is unprepared for transfer shock may become discouraged and drop out before…

A study examined the difficulties Mainland Chinese students encountered in the process of adjusting to American culture. Subjects were 10 Mainland Chinese students enrolling in a mid-size public university, 8 females and 2 males. The length of time in America was from 10 months to 3 years, the average age was 27.9, and 6 were married. In-depth…

The focus of this paper is the effect of teachers' expectations for their students on their own behavior, on the classroom environment, and on learning. Literature is reviewed and integrated, and an assessment system for matching individual students with learning environments is presented. Section one reviews literature on the following topics:…

Four areas of concern to older students who commute are examined: mobility, integrating support systems, multiple life roles, and involvement in campus life. Implications for advising are discussed, and four roles for advisors are proposed. Three illustrative case studies based on interviews are provided. (Author/MSE)

Presents ideas that will help Native Indian students succeed as they move to predominately Anglo colleges. Discusses the strengths and concerns of Navajo students from tribal colleges and lists suggestions, such as respecting cultural differences and encouraging communication, for helping students from tribal colleges. (RJM)

A model based on the immigrant's experience is proposed to explain the social and psychological dimensions of the student's transition from high school to college. The freshman-year experience is viewed as a process of resocialization to a new cultural environment involving culture shock, new language learning, and internalization of academic,…

This paper reports a survey of 355 parents and 166 teachers of young children starting school in New South Wales, Australia. Parents and teachers were asked to rate a list of 20 items in answer to the question 'How important are the following for deciding whether a child has had a successful first two terms of school?' The results are presented in…

This study assessed the hypothesis that popularity in adolescence takes on a twofold role, marking high levels of concurrent adaptation but predicting increases over time in both positive and negative behaviors sanctioned by peer norms. Multimethod, longitudinal data, on a diverse community sample of 185 adolescents (13 to 14 years), addressed…

The authors argue that increased focus and pressure for high academic achievement, particularly among more highly-motivated and successful students, may have serious negative consequences. They present a number of strategies designed to help reduce both causes and consequences associated with academic stress and improve students' mental and…

This study assessed the extent to which teachers' perceptions of their relationships with young students varied as a function of child and teacher characteristics in a large, demographically diverse sample of 197 preschool and kindergarten teachers and 840 children. Children were approximately evenly divided between boys and girls. Regression…

We investigated bias in self-perceptions of competence (relative to parent ratings) for family, school, and peer domains as predictors of adjustment problems among 139 young adolescents over a 1-year period using a prospective design. Regressions examined measures of bias at Time 1 (T1) as predictors of ratings of internalizing and externalizing…

When students enter college, they experience a series of equally exhilarating and challenging events. Those who experience more of the latter may in fact leave. For a variety of reasons--some personal, some academic--many students dropout or transfer from their first institution. Colleges are committed to providing a quality education for all…

This longitudinal study examined the relations between multiple risk indexes representing contextual adversity, income-to-needs ratios, and the elementary school adjustment of children from economically disadvantaged families. The results provide evidence for volatility in family circumstances over 2-year intervals from preschool to 5th grade, for…

The authors suggest that the recess period serves a positive purpose in the primary school curriculum, counter to the current practice of minimizing recess in many schools across North America and the United Kingdom. The authors' position is embedded in the larger debate about school accountability; they argue that school policy should be based on…