A case study of a 15-year-old gifted, underachieving African-American female 9th grader explores underachievement among gifted African-American females through her perceptions of peer relations, teacher expectations, and curricular issues. Recommendations are made to improve her educational experiences and those of other gifted African-American…

There are multiple approaches to measuring physical activity. Among these are direct observation, electronic monitoring, direct and indirect calorimetry, and self-report instruments. Self-report instruments are the most practical and cost effective option for use with a large group. In a study by Motl, Dishman, Dowda, and Pate (2004), two groups…

The aim in this study was to develop a way of identifying resilient and non-resilient middle adolescents in a formerly black-only urban residential (township) school, in order to ultimately support the development of learners' resilience under stressful circumstances. A Resilience Scale was developed to screen for resilient and non-resilient…

This study examined adolescents' perceptions of parenting practices and extended kinship support in relation to academic adjustment for 104 African American and 60 European American 9th and 10th graders (14 and 15 year olds). For African-American teens, parental acceptance was associated with school values, teacher bonding, and work orientation.…

During the 1984-1986 academic years, the Nebraska Prevention Center for Alcohol and Drug Abuse again cooperated with the Omaha Public Schools to assess the effects of the videotape-based educational program, "Resisting Pressures to Drink and Drive." This report summarizes the activities of the 1984-1985 year and presents an assessment of…

Theoretical models of social competence suggest that a necessary component of performing socially skillful behavior is the ability to accurately self-monitor the impact of one's behavior and to use this feedback to make adjustments in behavior. These models suggest that less socially competent adolescents may not accurately evaluate the impact of…

Ontario's Transition Years initiatives, designed to change schooling structures and processes and ease early adolescents' transition to high school, seem to place teachers in equally trying and traumatic transitions in their work and careers. Program components challenge teachers' sense of competence and effectiveness and threaten to consume…

A 1969 cross-sectional sample of adolescent males in the Fort Wayne, Indiana public schools was used to investigate the effect of father absence on educational ambition. Information from surveys completed by the boys and from interviews held with their mothers provided the relevant data. Multiple regression analyses were conducted for four…

Researchers have concluded that the continued debate over the heredity-environment issue concerning the nature of intelligence is nonproductive. Recent evidence demonstrates that intellectual abilities can be improved with practice. Heredity may determine upper limits of abilities within individuals, but there is considerable room left for…

Describes an innovative home economics course that contains such vital subject matter as self-image, communication, decision making, legal rights and responsibilities, banking functions, and job-seeking skills. The course, which meets daily for 18 weeks, is offered on an elective basis to ninth-grade students. (CT)

Indiana's ninth-grade students must write a plan for their high school education that will lead them to a career. To help them in this effort, and throughout their high school years, the Indiana Career and Postsecondary Advancement Center provides students with newsletters, planners, and college financial aid information. This booklet is part of…

This study examines the effects of early experiences and behaviors on course failure, grade point average, and educational aspirations, analyzing survey data gathered from 20 high schools participating in a whole-school reform initiative aimed at helping troubled high schools. All of the schools served mainly poor and minority students. Students…

Data from test instruments developed to measure student progress in a decision-making approach to values education suggest that either current methods of decision-making instruction are ineffective or that the adolescent years are a stagnant period for growth in this domain. (Author/CM)

A study involving 697 male and 765 female ninth and twelfth graders was undertaken to assess learned helplessness in attribution patterns associated with personal failure. Although significant gender differences were identified, little evidence was obtained supporting the learned helplessness model for adolescent female achievement motivation.…

The effectiveness of the Program for Fostering of Reading and Thinking for disadvantaged adolescents in Israel was assessed during a controlled study using 133 eighth and ninth graders. The study assessed verbal reasoning exercises, special training effects, and various types of texts and cognitive operations. (TJH)