Negative mood regulation expectancies (NMRE) represent people's beliefs that they can use behaviors and cognitions to alleviate unpleasant emotional states. The relationship between NMRE and measures of affect, coping, depression, and anxiety with youth in Grades 4 through 8 (N = 539) was examined. In hierarchical regressions, scores on an NMRE…

Background: College- and career-ready standards cite the "special place of argument writing" in preparing students to be college students, professionals, and engaged citizens in an information-rich society (NGA, 2010). To support these critical skills, the National Writing Project (NWP) developed the College, Career, and Community…

We report results from two studies on the underlying dimensions of morphological awareness and vocabulary knowledge in elementary-aged children. In Study 1, 99 fourth-grade students were given multiple measures of morphological awareness and vocabulary. A single factor accounted for individual differences in all morphology and vocabulary…

Learning to write in middle school requires the expansion of sentence-level and discourse-level language skills. In this study, we investigated later language development in the writing of a cross-sectional sample of 235 upper elementary and middle school students (grades 4-8) by examining the use of (1) lexico-grammatical forms that support…

Investigates students' sensitivity to compare/contrast, description, enumeration, and sequence text structures using an error-detection paradigm. Finds that task (oral recall and recognition), text structure, and grade level differentially affect students' sensitivity to the four text structures. (RS)

The 1994 NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) Reading Assessment was administered to a national sample of students in grades 4, 8, and 12. National reading proficiency results were reported for students at each grade and within various subgroups of the population. State-level results were reported for individual states or…

A study examined the writing performance of American schoolchildren based on a survey conducted in 1992 by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Nationally representative samples of fourth-, eighth-, and twelfth-grade students attending public and private schools--approximately 30,000 in all--responded to a variety of writing…

This report describes the procedures used to collect, describe, and evaluate school-based writing in a special pilot portfolio study conducted by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) to explore portfolios as an alternative method of assessing students' writing achievement. The report has three main purposes: (1) to explore…

The intention of this study was to discover how and to what extent children use simile and metaphor in their spontaneous oral language. Results showed that type of stimulus was the most influential factor in inducing children's oral metaphoric language, with the nature of the task also significant. (Author/GK)

CALLING CAREERS is a televised series of fifteen 20-minute lessons intended to acquaint fourth through eighth grade students with twelve vocational clusters and to demonstrate the opportunities contained within them, the relationships between them, and the personal characteristics and work habits they require. The series also demonstrates how jobs…

Analyzes the effect of grade level on stances students take when responding to literature. Finds that a two-way analysis of variance for grade and text on the variable of stance reveals no significant main effects for grade. (PRA)

Presents teacher and student responses that show a privileging of girls' writing over boys' writing. Finds that girls' writing was viewed as more detailed, descriptive, and showing greater conformity to writing conventions. Indicates a need for conversations that question an emphasis on conformity in writing and that explore ways to nurture…

According to results of the 1994 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), teachers of fourth- and eighth-grade students were using a variety of assessment methods to measure their students' progress in reading. At both grades, teachers' reports indicated that in comparison with multiple-choice questions, written paragraphs were used…

Highlighting the important innovations embodied in the 1992 National Assessment of Educational Progress' (NAEP) Reading Report Card, this report provides information on how the NAEP's large-scale reading assessment is evolving in response to changing perceptions of reading development and assessment procedures. Included in the report is an…

Explores the effects of the use of aesthetic and efferent stances in response to literature with 43 fourth graders, 47 sixth graders, and 40 eighth graders. Finds use of an aesthetic stance is associated with higher levels of personal understanding and the level of understanding increases with grade level. (MG)