A focused scientific research effort on writing research and its relationship to language development and reading is needed to address the writing and broader literacy needs of today's and tomorrow's learners and workers. In the United States, as well as in many other nations, research on writing has been neglected in relation to the emphasis on…

Motivation has long been viewed as a key element of learning. A study of over 300 high school juniors and seniors demonstrated that motivation was at least as predictive of achievement in a subject as was intelligence. Among younger students, motivation is a linchpin to learning, even at a time developmentally when overall motivation for…

Despite Commissioner Pascal Forgione's claims (in the June 1998 "Kappan"), the final-year Third International Mathematics and Science Study obviates comparison of achievement across nations. Comparers are engaging in a political exercise. There are problems with age, cultural, and enrollment-rate differences; definition of the U.S.…

Responds to the most commonly asked questions and criticisms regarding the Third International Mathematics and Science Study's assessment of students at the end of secondary school. Answers cover differences in age and grade levels, differences in enrollment rates, definitions of the U.S. advanced mathematics population, unbelievable numbers,…

Examined secondary school students' (n=364) attitudes toward time use. Three constructs of time-use attitudes were identified: passive fatalistic, egoistic, and conscientious. Several significant developmental patterns of time-use attitudes were found for males and females in grades 8, 10, and 12. (Author/NB)

This paper examines the sample-free test calibration claim, derived from Rasch's structural model for test items, by comparing item difficulty and log ability estimates between different samples of ability levels. Three tests from the Ball Aptitude Battery--Inductive Reasoning, Paper Folding; and Vocabulary--were administered to three samples of…

The 1983 report, "A Nation at Risk," left education researchers with the important question of how much student achievement, for youth who stay in school, grows during different stages of schooling. Data are available to answer this question for high school students, and the same data source, the National Education Longitudinal Study of…

Consultant preference (familiar or expert adult or peer) of 122 male and 125 female Canadian adolescents was examined in relation to self-concept and locus of control. Results reveal significant interaction among age, sex, and consultant choice as well as among self-worth, locus of control, situation, and consultant choice. (SLD)

The contributions of dating status, grade, gender, and family structure to the frequency and intensity of normative conflict and to behavioral autonomy were studied in 859 10th and 12th graders. The importance of focusing on developmental patterns as well as age in assessing adolescent conflict is highlighted by the findings. (SLD)

The reading recall protocols of 24 tenth grade and 24 twelfth grade students were used in a study that investigated the relationship of average reading ability and high school grade placement to recall of expository text with adversative and attributive structures. Two test passages were written in an adversative structure with contrasting…

The purposes of this study were to: (1) examine the psychometric properties of the Ball Aptitude Battery (BAB) on a high school freshman sample; (2) develop BAB norms for high school freshmen; (3) develop and evaluate four memory tests and a vocabulary test appropriate for freshmen; (4) examine level and structure differences for the BAB tests…

Teachers may fail with junior high school age and black students because these groups differ from their senior high school age and white counterparts in their perceptions of which teacher behaviors are important. To test this hypothesis, black and white ninth and twelfth graders were asked to select their three best and three worst teachers and…

This study examined students' active roles in constructing knowledge when learning new information in the domain of biological evolution. A computer-based connectionist methodology was developed to provide a way to present students with new information while the experimenter provides probe statements congruent with or contradictory to the…