Effects of a new type of problem-solving instructional material and a reinforcement method called Premack on problem-solving skills of elementary school children is investigated. The problems provided were an extension of the materials developed for the Purdue Elementary Problem-Solving Inventory. The Premack Principle of behavior modification…

A study was conducted of how children's expectations for their own school performance develop over their first-grade year and what factors influence these expectations. Expectations for performance in reading and arithmetic were studied. Both middle class and lower class (black and white) children have higher expectations than their subsequent…

According to a recent study of fifth grade students' self concept and cooperative behavior, high self concept pairs produced the most competitive behavior, while low self concept pairs demonstrated the most cooperative behavior. White students were more competitive than black students. No significant sex differences were found. (Author/MV)

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of three basic demographic variables on reading test scores for students in the middle elementary grades. Limited English proficiency (LEP), race/ethnicity and socio-economic status (SES) were studied to determine their influence individually and in combination on performance in large-scale…

This study identified the associations between maternal racial socialization practices and child developmental outcomes by examining the effect of poverty, maternal temperament, positive affect, and social support on socialization. The sample included 51 8- and 9-year-old African American girls of various socioeconomic levels from the Girls'…

The Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-99 (ECLS-K) follows a nationally representative sample of children from kindergarten through fifth grade. This study analyzed the first results from the ECLS-K about kindergartners performance on a variety of reading and mathematics tasks, and it gathered valuable contextual…

Rural Black and White children of variant academic achievement were tested on the Minnesota Percepto-Diagnostic Test, which consists of six gestalt designs for the subject to copy. Analyses resulted only in a significant achievement effect; when intellectual level was statistically controlled, race was not a significant variable. (Editor/SJL)

Black and white researchers interviewed black Jamaican and white New England elementary students in urban and rural schools regarding skin color, body size preference, and self-identification, using a modified dolls test. Children from all three communities showed white favoritism and average body size favoritism. Within communities, there were…

Presents major findings from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2001 U.S. History Assessment, analyzed by student sub-grouping and teacher and student factors and compares them to 1994 results. There have been some gains in achievement in history in the period, but 2001 results show a continuing pattern of average score…

Finds that, among 134 rural fifth graders exposed to a 2-week environmental education program, hands-on classroom activities eliminated pretest racial differences in environmental attitudes, but a field trip did not. Suggests similarities in the negative environmental attitudes of rural and urban non-White populations. Contains 15 references. (SV)

Investigated elementary students' interracial interaction preferences in four desegregated, urban magnet schools. Data from a sociogram of students' working, playing, and sitting choices indicated that black students were less willing than white students to interact. Racial considerations were more pronounced among girls. There was no trend toward…

Much interest exists among parents and researchers regarding the benefits and drawbacks of delaying kindergarten entrance to acquire academic advantage ("redshirting"). How evident is this assumed advantage at the kindergarten level and beyond? The authors evaluated large-scale test data from Grades K-8 to investigate the difference in performance…

This study addressed concerns about the potential for differential gains in reading during the first 2 years of formal schooling (K-1) versus the next 2 years of schooling (1st-3rd grade). A multilevel piecewise regression with a node at spring 1st grade was used in order to define separate regressions for the two time periods. Empirical Bayes…

This study of 210 fifth-grade children attempted to assess whether children of varying race, socioeconomic status (SES) and sex differ in their levels of general and area-specific (school, peer, and home) self-esteem. Also investigated was the question of whether children are capable of maintaining differing levels of esteem across the different…

This study explores the relationships between nonconservation, conservation, field dependence/field independence and the following school variables: achievement, screening measures, sex and race. A sample of 72 students in grade one in a southern rural elementary school were grouped into three sections by ability and given a series of tests.…