Learning problems, anger, perceived control, and misbehavior

Fifty-four students diagnosed as having learning disabilities (LD) and 73 students in regular education were administered the School Anger Inventory and the Perceived Control at School Scale. Teachers and parents rated student deportment and motivation. Predictably, those in the LD sample indicated higher school anger levels and were rated as exhibiting more negative behavior, less positive behavior, and lower motivation for on-task performance. The samples did not differ in their ratings of perceived control, which was moderate, and were given comparable positive teacher ratings for recall of relevant and interesting material. Significant correlations between school anger and behavior were found only in the LD sample, and there was no significant overall relationship between school anger, behavior, and perceived control within either sample. Overall, however, students who reported both a high level of anger and high perceived control were found to exhibit more negative behavior than those with high anger and low perceived control.     

An exploration of teachers' current perceptions of children with emotional and behavioural difficulties

Difficulties exist in identifying and providing services for children with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties (SEBD). As teacher referral is an essential link in service delivery this study investigated teachers' current perceptions of SEBD by examining characteristics of children nominated by their teachers as having SEBD. While the majority of children were nominated for externalizing behaviours, teachers rated girls as having more severe externalizing difficulties than boys. In contrast, there was no significant difference between teachers' internalizing ratings of boys and girls, despite the fact that girls reported more severe depressive symptomatology. Moreover, teachers rated gender‐contrary behaviours more severely than gender‐consistent behaviours. Consistent with achievement results, teachers rated the majority of children as having moderate to severe academic difficulties. Little agreement was found between characteristics reported by teachers and children. Implications are discussed within the context of the school psychologist's role in working with teachers to increase awareness of the profile of these children.     

Cognitive and Family-Support Mediators of Preschool Effectiveness: A Confirmatory Analysis

Investigated in this study were the mediators of the effects of preschool intervention on children's school achievement in sixth grade. A confirmatory structural model developed in a previous study of third graders was tested with 360 low-income, mostly black children who were available at the 3-year follow-up. The model incorporated cognitive readiness at kindergarten entry and parent involvement in school (rated by teachers and parents) as primary mediators of preschool effectiveness. In sixth grade (age 12), preschool participation at ages 3 or 4 was significantly associated with higher reading achievement, higher math achievement, and with lower incidence of grade retention. Cognitive readiness and parent involvement in school significantly mediated the estimated effects of preschool participation on school achievement and grade retention 7 years postprogram. Teacher ratings of school adjustment, school mobility, and grade retention also contributed to the transmission of effects. This integrated model fit the data better than several alternative models, including those based on the cognitive-advantage and family-support hypotheses.     

Computer-assisted foreign language learning: Effects of text,context, and gender on listening comprehension and motivation

A computer-based foreign language lesson was developed to study the effects of text, context, and gender on listening comprehension and motivation. A total of 109 fifth grade students responded to spoken commands, with text and a story absent or present. Presenting spoken language with text appeared to assist the development of listening skills. When text was present, students made fewer errors on the subsequent comprehension test and gave higher relevance and confidence motivation ratings than when text was absent. Girls demonstrated higher achievement than did boys and rated the lesson higher, indicating that girls tend to like different kinds of software than do boys. An interaction between context and gender regarding achievement was significant: Girls, but not boys, made fewer errors after a story-embedded lesson.     

Teacher ratings of behavior among African American and Caucasian children during the first two years of school

This article prospectively examines teacher‐rated behavior problems and competencies during the first 2 years of formal schooling among African American (n = 190) and Caucasian (n = 350) children. A significant main effect for race was found for both behavior problems and competencies in repeated measures analyses conducted across kindergarten and first‐grade teacher ratings. A time × race interaction indicated that teachers rated Caucasian children's competence as stable over time, whereas their African American peers were rated as less competent. According to these data, African American children did not maintain age‐appropriate school‐based competencies in task orientation and frustration tolerance. No interaction effects were found for a gender × time term for either competencies or behavior problems, suggesting that African American boys do not show more disturbed behavior in the early school years. Behavior trajectories are discussed in terms of the need for competence‐enhancing interventions aimed at early school transitions, particularly for African American children. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

School behavior and attendance during the first year of treatment for childhood cancer

The school behavior of children with cancer and hemophilia is a relatively new area of interest and investigation. Children with cancer have been described as having increased school absenteeism and a self-protecting posture. The school behavior and achievement of children with cancer and hemophilia were rated by their teachers before and after first being seen in a large pediatric center. No pre-vs-post diagnosis differences were noted on academic and behavior ratings with either the cancer or hemophilia children. School absenteeism for the children with cancer was four times greater than that of healthy children, and absenteeism of children with hemophilia was twice normal. A substantial percentage of children with cancer was rated as having academic performance affected to at least a moderate degree. The school performance and behavior of children with cancer and hemophilia need to be monitored and appropriate educational adjustment made to accommodate the limitations imposed by these medical conditions.     

Hands‐on versus teacher‐centred experiments in soil ecology

This study focused on differences between teacher‐centred and learner‐centred experiments in soil ecology. After a pilot study, we selected three experiments simple enough to be carried out by pupils even with little experience in self‐determined learning and hands‐on practice. The sample comprised 123 fifth and sixth graders from a middle school (four classes). We found a significant influence of treatment on achievement and pupils enrolled in a learner‐centred environment scored higher. Girls scored higher than boys in both treatments. We found no differences in well‐being, boredom or difficulty of the tasks, but pupils of the learner‐centred group expressed a higher interest.     

A well-rounded view: Using an interpersonal approach to predict achievement by academic self-concept and peer ratings of competence

Academic self-concept is a prominent construct in educational psychology that predicts future achievement. Similarly, peer ratings of competence predict future achievement as well. Yet do self-concept ratings have predictive value over and above peer ratings of competence? In this study, the interpersonal approach (Kwan, John, Kenny, Bond, & Robins, 2004) was applied to academic self-concept. The interpersonal approach decomposes the variance in self-concept ratings into a “method” part that is due to the student as the rater (perceiver effect), a shared “trait” part that is due to the student’s perceived achievement (target effect), and an idiosyncratic self-view (self-enhancement). In a round-robin design of competence ratings in which each student in a class rated every classmate’s competence, a total of 2,094 school students in 89 classes in two age cohorts rated their own math competence and the math competence of their classmates. Three main results emerged. First, self-concept ratings and peer ratings of competence had a substantial overlap in variance. Second, the shared “trait” part of the competence ratings was highly correlated with achievement and predicted gains in achievement. Third, the idiosyncratic self-view had a small positive association with (future) achievement. Altogether, this study introduces the interpersonal approach as a general framework for studying academic self-concept and peer ratings of competence in an integrated way.     

Home and Parental Influences on the Achievement of Lower Primary School Children in Singapore

This study investigated the effects of home environment and parental involvement in the achievement of pupils in the lower primary classes in nine schools found in four zones in Singapore. In total, 3,759 pupils and their parents participated in the study. The study was designed to answer four main questions relating to the effects of the home environment (SES, time engaged in television viewing, reading, school work and ethnicity of parents) and parental involvement in the children's school work and in other school matters. The findings indicated that significant differences in achievement were found for all combinations of SES categories and between most ethnic groups. A higher percentage of high-achieving pupils spent more time on television viewing, reading and school work. Parents of high-achieving children were more anxious about maximising every opportunity for their children including those not directly related to school work.     

A Twin Study into the Genetic and Environmental Influences on Academic Performance in Science in nine‐year‐old Boys and Girls

We investigated for the first time the genetic and environmental aetiology behind scientific achievement in primary school children, with a special focus on possible aetiological differences for boys and girls. For a representative community sample of 2,602 twin pairs assessed at age nine years, scientific achievement in school was rated by teachers based on National Curriculum criteria in three domains: Scientific Enquiry, Life Processes, and Physical Processes. Results indicate that genetic influences account for over 60% of the variance in scientific achievement, with environmental influences accounting for the remaining variance. Environmental influences were mainly of the non‐shared variety, suggesting that children from the same family experience school environments differently. An analysis of sex differences considering differences in means, variances, and aetiology of individual differences found only differences in variance between the sexes, with boys showing greater variance in performance than girls.     

GENDER DIFFERENCES IN MATHEMATICAL ACHIEVEMENT RELATED TO THE RATIO OF GIRLS TO BOYS IN SCHOOL CLASSES

The relationship between mathematical achievement and the ratio of boys to girls in school classes was investigated in a sample of third-grade Norwegian elementary school students (440 girls and 480 boys). Belonging to classes with a numerical majority of boys or girls did not affect the achievement of either of the sexes. The results from the study do not support the single-sexing of mathematics teaching.     

Self-perceptions,temperament, socioemotional adjustment and the perceptions of parental support of chronically underachieving children

Several studies suggest that children who chronically underachieve are, like children with learning disorders, at risk for negative outcomes and are more likely to experience adjustment problems than are their typically developing peers. This study compares children's self-esteem, perceived competence, negative perfectionism and beliefs of peer acceptance, temperament-based factors (parent-rated), and socioemotional adjustment (parent and teacher rated) of underachieving and non-underachieving elementary school children. It also explores whether children's perceptions of parental support act as a protective factor in children's self-perceptions and socioemotional adjustment. The sample includes 309 fifth and sixth graders 55 underachievers (31 boys and 24 girls), 217 standard achievers (90 boys and 127 girls) and 37 overachievers (16 boys and 21 girls) from the same classes. Significant intergroup differences are found in children's self-perceptions and in teachers’ report of socioemotional adjustment but no difference is observed in parental reports. Children's perceptions of parental support do not differ between groups and do not significantly mediate the association between level of achievement and socioemotional adjustment. Results underscore that whatever the achievement classification of children, their perception of parental support has a unique contribution to their self-perceptions and socioemotional adjustment.     

Are boys left behind? The evolution of the gender achievement gap in Beijing's middle schools

Using one cohort of 7235 middle school students in Beijing, China, we examined the evolution of the gender achievement gap in middle school. Our study found a more significant female dominance than in U.S. studies: even though boys gradually caught up during middle school, especially in Math and Science, and the gender achievement gap decreased over the distribution of test scores, girls outperformed boys throughout primary and middle school and in each quartile of the performance distribution. As well, girls had a more positive school experience than boys, and boys had a higher dropout rate by the end of middle school. Despite significant gender differences in various important characteristics that have explained the gender achievement gap in the U.S., in our study, primary school test scores seemed to be the only significant source of the gender achievement gap at the end of middle school, indicating the importance of early intervention.     

The impact of parental availability on Swazi students’ school achievement: a nine year longitudinal study

This paper constitutes a major part of the third phase of a longitudinal study in Swaziland investigating the short- and long-term effects of parental absence on primary children’s school achievement. In 1998, 42 of the original sample of 80 students who entered grade one in 1990 were found remaining in the educational system but varied in their educational attainment. While girls had a higher drop-out rate than boys, males repeated grades at a higher rate. Father absence from the home had a negative influence on boys’ participation in and successful completion of school. Generally, the study found school achievement to be highly impacted by social variables rather than academic ability for both boys and girls.     

The use of motor activity as an index of curiosity in children

The curiosity of 120 elementary school children, aged five through thirteen years, was assessed by three measures: (1) the amount of coordinated sensory-motor activity directed toward designated objects in a waiting room environment during a 10-minute waiting period, (2) the number of unsolicited questions asked within the same time period and environment, and (3) teacher ratings, where classroom teachers estimated children's curiosity based on their normal classroom behavior. In a three-way analysis of variance, the amount of curiosity expressed through motor activity was found significantly related to groups based on racial-ethnic origins, but not to groups based on age or sex. The amount of curiosity expressed through motor activity was negatively correlated with teacher ratings in one class but not significantly correlated in three other classes. Children who asked most questions were rated highest in curiosity by their teachers, but exhibited least curiosity through motor activity in the waiting room.     

从教育神经科学理论视角解读中小学男生课堂问题行为

在中小学课堂中男生产生问题行为的比例高于女生。从教育神经科学理论视角看,男女大脑中的胼胝体体积和颞平面的差异使中小学男生出现以退缩性行为为代表的内向性问题行为,男女体内的睾丸激素和血液中的多巴胺含量的差异使中小学男生出现以攻击性行为为代表的外向性问题行为。中小学男生课堂问题行为的解决策略为:改革"静坐式"教学,让课堂充满乐趣;循序渐进,让男生养成自律的习惯;用冷处理法,让男生感受教师的爱;有效评价,使成就欲成为男生发展潜能的重要动力。     

Early teacher-child relationships and the trajectory of children's school outcomes through eighth grade

This study followed a sample of 179 children from kindergarten through eighth grade to examine the extent to which kindergarten teachers' perceptions of their relationships with students predict a range of school outcomes. Kindergarten teachers rated children's behavior and the quality of the teacher-child relationship. Follow-up data from first through eighth grade were organized by epoch and included academic grades, standardized test scores, work-habit ratings, and discipline records. Relational Negativity in kindergarten, marked by conflict and dependency, was related to academic and behavioral outcomes through eighth grade, particularly for children with high levels of behavior problems in kindergarten and for boys generally. These associations remained significant after controlling for gender, ethnicity, cognitive ability, and behavior ratings. The results have implications for theories of the determinants of school success, the role of adult-child relationships in development, and a range of early intervention and prevention efforts.     

Gender differences in academic and social behavior of elementary school transfer students

This study describes a tutoring program designed to help children in grades 3 through 5 who underwent an unscheduled school transfer. We examined gender differences in self-concepts, academic performance, teacher evaluations, and peer ratings. Gender differences were found in several measures, although gender did not substantially interact with the intervention. As expected, female transfer students reported lower self-concepts than males; teachers reported that boys were more popular; peers also rated boys as more aggressive and girls as more likable. Findings suggest that preventive interventions for transfer students need to account for effects of gender.     

Junior Primary in the Van Dyke Level Plan

Abstract

Attitudes toward school subjects were explored in a group of sixth graders. First, correlations were obtained between ratings of school subjects on the Semantic Differential (SD) and scores on corresponding subtests of the SRA Achievement Series. Significant positive correlations (p < .01) were observed for boys in social studies, arithmetic, and reading and for girls in reading. Second, achievement at the end of the year was predicted from IQ, achievement and SD scores at the beginning of the year. SD ratings contributed significantly to predictions only in the case of arithmetic for boys (p < .01). Third, SD ratings of school subjects at the beginning and end of the year were compared by an anlysis of variance procedure. For both boys and girls, attitudes were significantly less favorable for most subjects at the end of the year.