The purpose of this study was to try to determine what influences girls to choose science. Forty girls were interviewed in Grades 2, 5, 8, 11 using a semistructured protocol. The interview focused on feelings about science, science careers, peer and parental support, and how science is taught. To determine whether their responses were based on…

Objective: To examine provider and type variation in social support (SS) for activity. Methods: Three hundred sixty-three fifth to eighth-grade students completed a questionnaire assessing self-reported activity and social support (SS) from 3 providers: mom, dad, and peers. Important covariates of activity were included in the analysis: age, BMI,…

Whether there were differences in motivational and learning environment perceptions of students selected based on their performance on the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) was studied over 3 years in a public school district in Texas. The degree to which affective elements of student behavior varied according to their success on this…

The Maryland Accountability Testing Program Annual Report is a reference document on basic skills test data for the public, providing a survey of test results and the progress made by state students in grades 3, 5, and 8. Basic skills areas for these grade levels are covered, along with average grade equivalent scores. The California Achievement…

This book contains a 14-lesson module for grades 5-8, focusing on giving students a solid understanding of disease transmission and prevention. It opens with a curriculum overview which stresses the sophistication level of today's adolescents and their inquisitiveness. The overview describes the importance of teaching students how to prevent…

Learning skills determined by Oregon teachers to be necessary for all Oregon students are presented in this booklet. The skills are divided according to seven outcome goals expected of students by the end of grades 3, 5, 8 and 11: (1) ability to demonstrate the use of vocabulary, speech, numerals, and other symbol systems essential for effective…

Prepared as part of a project designed to provide an objectively measured indication of the quality of student writing in one school district, this paper examines argumentative and narrative essays written by students at the fifth, eighth, and twelfth grade levels. The first section of the paper discusses the primary analysis of student writing…

The study investigated whether significant differences resulted from a bilingual-bicultural reading program as compared to the results of a traditional monolingual reading program. During the third spring semester of a four year bilingual project, 86 third, 84 fifth, and 96 eighth grade bilingual Mexican American students from the same South Texas…

The relationships between school accreditation variables, socioeconomic status, and student achievement were investigated from standardized reading and mathematics achievement test scores in 38 eighth grade and 74 fifth grade schools. The percentage of children eating a free lunch at school was used to indicate socioeconomic background. School…

A computer-assisted instructional (CAI) course, WRITE, was used at the Poughkeepsie, New York, Middle School to help 5th through 8th graders with spelling and word usage problems. The course used the Coursewriter III language and an IBM System/360 computer; students received self-paced instructional programs at typewriter terminals. All teaching…

This study investigated the accuracy and types of interpretations that fifth, eighth, and eleventh graders gave to 24 editorial cartoons in four issue areas and the effect of intelligence on political cartoon interpretation. Numerous misinterpretations and no interpretations indicates assumptions that cartoons are an effective teaching medium…

This study sought to develop and verify the Index of Science Reading Awareness (ISRA) based on a model of an efficient, successful interactive-constructive science reader and three independent metacognitive awareness domains. Results did not support the assumption about the three independent metacognitive awareness domains and also indicated that…

Explores how fifth- and eighth-grade schoolchildren picture the past by asking them to project themselves into historical roles and to illustrate specific historical figures. Results reveal boys and girls differed across task and historical role as well as in their depictions. Discusses what these findings say regarding students' beliefs about…

Study tested the effects of an experiment-based physical science program on cognitive outcomes with 556 urban fourth through eighth graders. Teachers implemented the hands-on Quantitative Approach to Elementary Science program consisting of 22 physical science experiments. Results indicate the program influenced only science process skills and…

Issues in the study of friendship across cultures were explored by reviewing a set of studies focusing on the friendships of Indonesian and United States youth. Four topics are considered: similarity of friendships across cultures, dimensions of friendships that vary across cultures, the utility of the individualism/collectivism dimension for…