Two perspectives provide the theoretical framework for this study. The first provides confirmatory maximum likelihood estimates of factor loadings and factor intercorrelations; the second, and more important, provides statistical tests of hypotheses that factor structures and patterns of values are invariant for female and male adolescents. The…

Investigated the relationship between interest and knowledge among 11th graders from cultures differing in strength of gender-role stereotypes and endorsement of effort- versus interest-based learning. Data on Japanese, Taiwanese, and U.S. students indicated that gender more strongly related to Asian students' than U.S. students' scores. There…

Assessed the relative contribution of gender and gender role orientation to empathy and its development in 119 Israeli 8th and 11th graders. When the contribution of masculinity/femininity was covaried, empathy was found unrelated to gender. Findings are discussed in terms of socialization of emotions and gender role orientation. (SLD)

Describes a study whose purpose was to determine interest in a secondary health careers program and in a health career by 10th- and 11th-grade students in Nebraska. Relationships between interest and sex, grade, and grade average were examined. (Author/CT)

Examined contributions of physical attractiveness and physical effectiveness to self-esteem among adolescents in grades 7, 9, and 11, and college freshmen. Both attractiveness and effectiveness were significantly related to self-esteem of males and females. Attractiveness and effectiveness did not appear to be differentially important to…

Describes a study that examined differences in computer-related attitudes and future intentions between females in an all-female class and males and females in mixed-gender classes. Results of this study conducted in grade 11 computer science courses indicate that an all-female environment may enhance the learning experiences of female students.…

Although girls and boys were similar in cognitive skills and attitudes toward mathematics in grade 8, boys performed significantly better in mathematics by grade 11, even with mathematics background controlled. No sex-related difference in spatial visualization developed. (Author/GDC)

Examines the question of whether variables associated with middle school classroom practices and instructional emphasis would contribute to a prediction of science course placement in later grades. Concludes that what happens in early schooling does have a direct and substantive impact on later education. (ZWH)

The experience of challenge has been proposed as an important mechanism through which individuals learn new and more efficient strategies of operating on their environments. This study examined the relationship between challenging and supportive parental roles and the academic performance of 8th and 11th graders. The social roles of associates…

High school counselors in Virginia were surveyed on their recommendations for academic programs in science and mathematics for fictitiously named male and female students at different levels of academic achievement. The counselors were apparently not influenced by the sex of students. (MNS)

Investigated cognitive development of eleventh-grade students (N=389) in Jordan and its relationship to comprehension of concrete and formal physics concepts. Results revealed that cognitive level (17% formal; 52% concrete) was related to comprehension of both concrete and formal concepts. Findings related to sex differences are also reported.…

Although numerous cross-sectional studies have documented the coping responses of young adolescents of different ages and of both sexes, few studies have tracked the developmental stages of coping within adolescents. A longitudinal study of adolescent coping was conducted in metropolitan Melbourne, Australia. During the 5-year study, 168 students…

The third Attorney General's California Student Substance Use Survey was conducted between December 1989 and March 1990. A total of 6,282 students in grades 7, 9, and 11 participated. The primary focus was the extent to which declines in the use of drugs other than alcohol observed in the 1987-88 survey persisted, and whether the decline included…

Occupational aspirations and expectations recorded by the Pennsylvania Educational Quality Assessment were identified for 11th grade students. Analysis of the differences between male and female aspirations and expectations indicates that 47% of all male students and 52% of all female students desired occupations which require postsecondary formal…

Test performance of high school students on the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB), the General Aptitude Test Battery (GATB), and the Differential Aptitude Tests (DAT) was compared. The design of the study provided for information on test intercorrelations, prediction equations for the ASVAB tests from the commercial tests and…