This study explores the effects of school-level characteristics on North Carolina students' reading and math achievement from fourth through eighth grade, focusing on the relationships between achievement and the racial and poverty composition of schools. After creating race-by-poverty cohorts of schools, I use multilevel models to examine math…

In general, studies on gender and mathematics show that the advantage held by boys over girls in mathematics achievement has diminished markedly over the last 40 years. Some researchers even argue that gender differences in mathematics achievement are no longer a relevant issue. However, the results of the Trends in Mathematics and Science Study…

Objectives: To determine relationships between physical fitness and academic achievement in diverse, urban public school children. Methods: This cross-sectional study used public school data from 2004 to 2005. Academic achievement was assessed as a passing score on Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) achievement tests in…

Background: While higher smoking prevalences have been better described for adults and adolescents in the mountainous areas than in the plain area in Taiwan, no studies have previously examined whether this disparity begins with children in elementary schools. The purpose of this study was thus designed to explore clustering in smoking behavior…

Do preadolescent sport self-concepts influence subsequent sport performance? Longitudinal data (Grades 3, 4, and 6) for young boys and girls (N = 1,135; mean age = 9.67) were used to test reciprocal effects model (REM) predictions that sport self-concept is both a cause and a consequence of sport accomplishments. Controlling prior sport…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of DISCOVER, a performance-based assessment in identifying gifted Lebanese students. The sample consisted of 248 students (121 boys, 127 girls) from grades 3-5 at two private schools in Beirut, Lebanon. Results showed evidence for DISCOVER's concurrent validity with the Raven Standard…

This report presents results of the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in mathematics at grades 4 and 8. Nationally representative samples of 209,000 fourth-graders and 175,200 eighth-graders participated in the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in mathematics. At each grade, students responded to…

This study examined the relationship between overt and relational peer victimization and depression in a sample of predominantly Mexican American students in Grades 3 through 5 in a Southwestern U.S. school district. Acculturation level was assessed and included as an independent variable along with gender and grade (a proxy for age). Fifty six…

The activities and self-direction allowed after school provide children in different countries with distinct developmental opportunities that promote culturally valued orientations and outcomes. Fourth-grade children in Bulgaria, Taiwan, and the United States (countries with contrasting social values and expectations) reported their usual…

(Purpose) The purpose of this study was to examine the perception of children in the general education classroom of their classmates with developmental and other disabilities. Gender and grade level were evaluated, but more importantly, levels of integration and relationships with people with disabilities were analyzed. (Methodology) Two hundred…

This study evaluated the Gentle Warrior Program, a traditional martial arts-based intervention to reduce aggression in children, as it was implemented in three elementary schools. The sample consisted of 254 children in grades 3, 4, and 5 who participated in the Gentle Warrior Program as part of a larger school violence intervention. Results…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of DISCOVER, a performance- based assessment in identifying gifted Lebanese students. The sample consisted of 248 students (121 boys, 127 girls) from Grades 3-5 at two private schools in Beirut, Lebanon. Students were administered DISCOVER and the Raven Standard Progressive Matrices…

This study sheds light on the achievement gap between two culturally diverse populations in Israel by employing a diagnostic model for analysing responses of a representative sample of Jewish and Arab fourth graders on a national mathematics test. The results indicated large significant differences, in favour of the Jewish group, on most…

Literature suggests that communication is a protective factor against high-risk sexual behavior. This study assessed the impact of a fourth-grade communication-centered life skills program on attitudes, norms, self-efficacy, behaviors, and intentions toward communication about difficult subjects. Participants included 1,581 low-income Mexican…

This study examined if pre-intervention maternal gender role beliefs predict change in sexual communication in a sexual risk behavior prevention program designed to increase parent--pre-adolescent communication about sex. A sample of 281 African American fourth and fifth graders and their mothers participated in the five-session program and…