There are racial/ethnic disparities associated with school punishment practices and academic progress. In addition, research suggests that urban schools have stricter school punishment practices and higher grade retention rates. What remains unknown, however, is the relationship between race/ethnicity, school punishment practices, and retention…

This study examines the use of Internet online polling at a suburban junior high school as a means for decision makers to systematically acquire student perceptions about local conditions of learning. Federal and state mandates result in curricular, instructional, evaluative, and organizational changes that affect students' conditions of learning.…

The hypothesis that parochial students would self identify less as Chicanos and blacks than their public school counterparts was tested. The acceptability of various ethnic designations commonly used to identify members of the two minority groups was examined in relation to sex, socioeconomic status, and the school system attended. (Author/GC)

Considers social and ethnic inequity in access to resources for mathematics learning in eighth grade using data from 41 states and territories participating in the 1992 Trial State Assessment of the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Findings indicate that state differences in access to key educational resources are important. (SLD)

The main objective of this study was to show whether eighth graders' performance on standardized mathematics tests could be predicted from a variety of variables. These predictors included the students' race/ethnicity, gender, attitudes toward mathematics, students' time spent on homework, whether parents helped with homework assignments,…

The effect of item format on metacognitive and affective processes of children in a large-scale mathematics assessment program were studied. Results from 1032 eighth graders indicate that open-ended and multiple choice items have differential effects, although these did not vary substantially as a function of gender and ethnicity. (SLD)

Examined self-report cross-sectional and longitudinal data on associations between drug use, suicide ideation, and attempts among seventh-and eighth-grade males. African Americans had highest prevalence of six-month ideation; Haitians had highest attempts. For total sample, tranquilizers had highest odds ratio for ideation. Psychoactive drug use…

The "Give and Take" economic series, developed by the Joint Council on Economic Education for junior high school students, was found to have a positive and significant impact on learning and attitudes. Three eighth grade classes from Texas City, Texas, participated in the study. One class received instruction using the "Give and…

This report describes a student leadership program, Putting the Environment Above the Common Ego (PEACE), designed to reduce incidences of eighth grade students forming self-segregating groups based on ethnic or racial heritage. The targeted groups form the diverse student body attending a middle school with 1,400 students in Rockford, Illinois.…

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) serves as the nation's primary indicator of what school children know and can do. This study examines the policy relevant variable, computer use in the classroom, as indicated by the 1992 NAEP Trial State Assessment data for Mississippi. After a preliminary examination of other variables…

Coursework-mastery test scores for all middle school students in a school district were used to test the narrowly meritocratic hypothesis that course-grade differentials for gender, ethnicity, and poverty groups can be accounted for by the differential coursework mastery of these groups. Samples ranged from 1,124 to 8,381 seventh graders and…

Item response theory (IRT) has been used extensively to study differential item functioning (dif) and to identify potentially biased items. The use of IRT for diagnostic purposes is less prevalent and has received comparatively less attention. This study addressed differential objective function (dof) to identify potentially biased content units.…

This teaching manual presents a model course for eighth graders involving the study of the ethnic groups that make up an American urban community. The course considers cultural, historical and sociological elements of immigrant groups in New York City, especially the Irish, Italian, Jewish, Chinese, Black and Puerto Rican populations. The manual…

Designed to provide trend data about critical transitions experienced by students as they leave elementary or middle school and progress through high school and beyond, this study examines the extent of traumatic events experienced by 10th graders of various ethnic backgrounds and family types. In addition, the study demonstrates the importance of…

This study is an extension of an on-going longitudinal study, the Girls Engagement With/In Science (GEIS) Project. The GEIS Project was designed to understand how girls who are poor, minority or both, engage in science. The two teachers who form the focus for this study are these girls' 7th and 8th grade teachers. Data for this interpretive…