Characteristics of children referred for evaluation of school difficulties who have adequate academic achievement scores

Forty children (7 to 11 years old) referred for evaluation of learning problems, who had scores within the normal range on standardized measures of academic achievement, were compared to 81 similarly referred children who had scored low (< 90) on at least one measure of academic achievement. We tested the hypothesis that children with normal achievement scores who are referred for evaluation of learning problems show neuropsychological profiles comparable to those of children with low achievement. Referral problems, school history, IQ, academic achievement, and neuropsychological function were evaluated. Referred children with normal achievement scores came from more advantaged backgrounds and had less intensive academic interventions, higher IQs, and better decoding skills. Nonetheless, the two groups showed similar neuropsychological profiles. Vulnerability to complexity and decreased automaticity were prominent. Normal-range achievement test scores among children referred for evaluation should not be regarded as indicating absence of neurodevelopmental vulnerability.     

Utility of kindergarten teacher judgments in identifying early learning problems

Most existing research on early identification of learning difficulties has examined the validity of methods for predicting future academic problems. The present study focused instead on the sensitivity of kindergarten teachers to learning problems in their students and on the continuity of teacher-identified problems over time. To identify early learning problems, kindergarten teachers in a suburban school district rated student progress toward six academic objectives as satisfactory or unsatisfactory. Twenty percent of the district's 303 kindergarten children received unsatisfactory ratings in at least one area. Thirty-eight of these children (identified group) were matched to 34 children with satisfactory ratings in all areas (nonidentified group). Results of testing conducted during kindergarten revealed poorer academic achievement in identified children than in nonidentified children. Children from the identified group also performed more poorly than children from the nonidentified group on tests of phonological processing and working memory/executive function and were rated by teachers as having more behavior and attention problems and lower social competence. Follow-up of the sample to first grade documented continued learning problems in the identified group. These findings support the use of teacher judgements in early detection of learning problems and argue against reliance on discrepancy criteria.     

湖南民族地区留守儿童学业成就现状研究

文章采用随机抽样、调查问卷、访谈等方法,对湖南民族地区留守儿童学业成就的现状进行调查分析,发现民族地区留守儿童学业失教现象严重、学业成就普遍较低,并对影响留守儿童学业成绩主观原因以及家庭、学校、社区等客观因素进行详细分析,从家庭、学校、社区角度提出了改进的建议.     

Beliefs and Achievement: A Study of Black, White, and Hispanic Children

School achievement among black, white, and Hispanic elementary school children was investigated, and efforts were made to study the beliefs about academic achievement of the children and their mothers. A total of approximately 3,000 first, third, and fifth graders enrolled in 20 schools in the Chicago metropolitan area were given achievement tests in mathematics and reading. Black and Hispanic children performed at a significantly lower level than white children, but at fifth grade ethnic differences in mathematics scores were no longer significant when mothers' education was statistically controlled. This was not the case in reading, where differences were found after controlling for the effects of mothers' education. Interviews with subsamples of approximately 1,000 mothers and children revealed greater emphasis on and concern about education among minority families than among white families. Black and Hispanic children and mothers evaluated the children and their academic abilities highly; they were positive about education and held high expectations about the children's future prospects for education. Mothers of minority children and teachers in minority schools believed more strongly than white mothers and teachers in the value of homework, competency testing, and a longer school day as means of improving children's education.     

Experiences of violence and deficits in academic achievement among urban primary school children in Jamaica

ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to examine the relationship between children's experiences of three different types of violence and academic achievement among primary school children in Kingston, Jamaica.MethodsA cross-sectional study of 1300 children in grade 5 [mean (S.D.) age: 11 (0.5) years] from 29 government primary schools in urban areas of Kingston and St. Andrew, Jamaica, was conducted. Academic achievement (mathematics, reading, and spelling) was assessed using the Wide Range Achievement Test. Children's experiences of three types of violence – exposure to aggression among peers at school, physical punishment at school, and exposure to community violence – were assessed by self-report using an interviewer administered questionnaire.ResultsFifty-eight percent of the children experienced moderate or high levels of all three types of violence. Boys had poorer academic achievement and experienced higher levels of aggression among peers and physical punishment at school than girls. Children's experiences of the three types of violence were independently associated with all three indices of academic achievement. There was a dose–response relationship between children's experiences of violence and academic achievement with children experiencing higher levels of violence having the poorest academic achievement and children experiencing moderate levels having poorer achievement than those experiencing little or none.ConclusionsExposure to three different types of violence was independently associated with poor school achievement among children attending government, urban schools in Jamaica. Programs are needed in schools to reduce the levels of aggression among students and the use of physical punishment by teachers and to provide support for children exposed to community violence.Practice implicationsChildren in Jamaica and the wider Caribbean experience significant amounts of violence in their homes, communities, and schools. In this study, we demonstrate a dose–response relationship between primary school children's experiences of three different types of violence and their academic achievement. The study points to the need for validated violence prevention programs to be introduced in Jamaican primary schools. Such programs need to train teachers in appropriate classroom management and discipline strategies and to promote children's social and emotional competence and prevent aggression.     

Immigration in the United States and the Golden Years of Education: Was Ravitch Right?

In this article I address some assertions made by one of the most outstanding educational historians, Diane Ravitch, regarding the relation between immigration rates and academic achievement among children in the United States. In her book The Great School Wars Ravitch asserted that low immigration levels during the 1920s to early 1960s period played a large role in producing a golden age of education in New York and probably in the United States. The research undertaken for this article does confirm some of Ravitch's assertions but questions whether other claims of hers may be overly simplistic. Among her assertions that the research supports are that academic achievement rose among New York City elementary and secondary students during this "golden age," children from most immigrant groups did perform poorly compared to children born in the United States, and that the increased volume of enrollment and language factors did exert added pressure on the school system. Nevertheless, other factors lead one to believe that Ravitch's claim, although possessing merit, may be overly simplistic. For example, certain immigrant groups performed very well academically after coming to the United States. This fact supports the notion that the makeup of the immigrant population may be as important as the immigration volume. In addition, the decline in American student academic achievement in the 1960s and 1970s began well before the United States fully liberalized its immigration policy. One would not expect this, if immigration has the level of impact that Ravitch claims.     

The self-perception of a learning disability and its relationship to academic self-concept and self-esteem

Eighty-seven children with learning disabilities, aged 9 through 11 years 11 months, completed measures of self-esteem, academic self-concept, and self-perception of their learning disability. The Self-Perception of Learning Disability (SPLD) instrument measures the extent to which children with learning disabilities perceive their disability as (a) delimited rather than global, (b) modifiable rather than permanently limiting, and (c) not stigmatizing. It was hypothesized that self-perception of one's learning disability would be related positively to both academic self-concept and self-esteem, and that each of these relationships would remain significant when controlling for sex, ethnicity, age, reading and math achievement, self-contained versus mainstreamed classroom setting, and age at diagnosis. Correlations and multiple regression analyses confirmed these hypotheses. Results were discussed in terms of helping children to develop less negative self-perceptions of their disabilities.     

The Ecology of Educational Equity: Implications for Policy

Policy responses to disparities in education have proven to be largely inadequate in reducing persistent differences in academic outcomes, commonly referred to as the achievement gap. In this article, we identify some of the ways in which the fragmented nature of public policy generally, and education policy specifically, has contributed to the problem. We draw upon research from a variety of disciplines to argue that the most effective way to address the broad array of social and economic conditions impacting low-income children and their families is through the adoption of an ecological approach, similar to those used in public health. In order for education policies to promote equity in academic outcomes, they must explicitly address the ways in which race, class, language, and culture, as well as implementation processes, reproduce and reinforce disparities in academic achievement. We propose a new, comprehensive framework for equity-based education policy that makes it possible to respond to the social and economic factors that impact, and often undermine, efforts to improve academic outcomes. An analysis of California’s Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) and interviews with senior county leaders allows the authors to draw connections to the new policy framework, generating recommendations for strengthening education policies like LCFF.     

The visual Aural digit span test and Bender gestalt test as predictors of wide range achievement test-revised scores

Visual Aural Digit Span Test (VADS) scores and Bender Gestalt Test (BG) scores as predictors of Wide Range Achievement Test-Revised (WRAT-R) scores were examined in this study. The sample consisted of 115 children referred for low academic achievement. They were divided into three age groups: (Low) 6–0 to 7–11; (Middle) 8–0 to 9–11; and (High) 10–0 to 11–11. The scores on the 11 VADS measures and BG errors were used to predict the WRAT-R achievement. The VADS Test scores were found to predict Reading and Arithmetic in the Low Group. The BG Test did not correlate with achievement in the Low Group. In the Middle Group, the VADS Test correlated with Reading and Spelling, but not with Arithmetic. The BG correlated with all three achievement measures. In the High Group, neither the VADS Test nor BG correlated with any of the achievement measures. The results suggest that the BG and VADS Test can be used as an effective screening device for young children with potential learning problems.     

Relationship between WISC-R and WRAT in children referred for learning difficulties

Correlations between the WISC-R Full, Verbal, Performance, and Freedom from Distractibility Scale IQs, WISC-R subtest scaled scores, and Wide Range Achievement Test Reading, Spelling, and Arithmetic standard scores were computed for a sample of 114 children (64 boys, 50 girls), aged 6 to 16 years, who were referred for psychological evaluation because of academic or learning difficulties. The Full Scale IQ, Verbal Scale IQ, and Freedom from Distractibility IQ correlated moderately with the three achievement area standard scores (rs of .48 to .59). However, the Performance Scale IQ correlated minimally with reading and spelling scores (rs of .26 and .27), but moderately with arithmetic scores (r = .40). The results support the concurrent validity of the WISC-R.     

Parents' Management of Their Children's Education Within the Home,at School,and in the Community: An Examination of African-American Families Living in Poverty

Using parents' answers to open-ended questions, we examine variation in parents' management of their children's education within the home, at school, and in the community as a function of whether their children were experiencing academic success or academic problems. Within the home, parents of high achievers used more specific strategies to help their children with their schoolwork and had more supportive conversations with their children than parents of low achievers. At their children's school, parents of high achievers not only were more involved but had different reasons for their involvement than parents of low achievers. In the community, more parents of high achievers explicitly engaged their children in activities to support their achievement than parents of low achievers. Implications for parents, schools, and communities are discussed.     

Student learning in higher education: a path analysis of academic achievement in science

Learning outcomes in higher education are of considerable interest to students, teaching staff, researchers, tertiary education institutions and funding authorities. To improve the quality of learning outcomes may require a better understanding of what happens in the learning process from the perspective of the learner. This study makes use of a number of current instruments for the evaluation of student learning to explore aspects of learning outcomes in terms of academic achievement. The students evaluated were either in their first year of study (N=194) or in the third year of their course (N=118). A causal mode of learning outcomes was developed for each group and evaluated using the PLSPATH program to explore the impact of student‐related causative factors. A number of these factors were shown to have a direct effect on student academic achievement, as measured by annual grade point average (GPA), with some consistency across two year‐levels. The most important factor in predicting academic performance for both groups was students' prior academic performance. Approaches to learning and English language skills were also shown to have some predictive value. Students' metacognitive skills and self‐efficacy, though showing strong inter‐relationships with other factors, did not show a direct effect on academic achievement.     

Predictors of self-esteem: the roles of parent-child perceptions, achievement, and class placement.

This study examined the relative influence on children's self-esteem of academic achievement, maternal self-esteem, maternal acceptance, and children's perception of their parents' acceptance of them. Subjects were students with learning disabilities in a self-contained class (n=31), similarly diagnosed students in resource room (n=35), students in compensatory education (n=30), and nondisabled students (n=30) from Grades 3 through 6. Results showed that for the self-contained group, a child's perception of maternal and paternal acceptance plus the child's academic achievement score accounted for 58% of the variance in the child's self-esteem. None of the independent variables accounted for a significant proportion of the variance in the compensatory education and regular class groups. The self-esteem of the regular class students was significantly higher than that of the resource room students and the compensatory education students, but not significantly higher than that of the self-contained students.     

Middle-school-age outcomes in children with very low birthweight

Most previous studies of children with birthweight <750 g have focused on early childhood sequelae. To evaluate later outcomes, a regional sample of 60 <750-g birthweight children was compared at middle school age (M = 11 years) to 55 children with birthweight 750-1,499 g and 49 term controls. The groups were matched on age, gender, and demographic variables at the time of an early-school-age assessment (mean age 7 years). The <750-g birthweight group fared less well at middle school age than the term group on measures of cognitive function, achievement, behavior, and academic performance. In many instances, outcomes were less favorable for the <750-g children than for the 750 to 1,499-g group. Children in the <750-g group who were free of neurosensory disorders and global cognitive impairment performed more poorly on several tests than their term counterparts. Group differences in this subsample on tests of motor skills, math, and the ability to copy and recall a complex drawing remained significant even after controlling for IQ. Disparities between the <750-g and term groups increased with age for some measures. Despite favorable outcomes for many children in the <750-g group, this population is at risk for long-term developmental problems.     

Educating the Orang Asli children: Exploring indigenous children's practices and experiences in schools

The author is concerned with the education available for the Orang Asli, an indigenous minority community in Malaysia. Literature written about Orang Asli and education mostly assumes a deficit perspective where the lack of educational achievement among the Orang Asli children is often attributed to their culture and community. Therefore, rather than taking a perspective that Orang Asli students perform poorly in schools because of their own personal failure attributed to their culture and community, the author explores and analyses schooling experiences of the Orang Asli children to investigate the roles and responsibilities of schools to provide the necessary support for successful educational outcomes for these children.     

Building on existing informal learning in Traveller communities through family literacy programmes: an Irish case study

Focusing on Ireland, this paper explores the potential role family literacy programmes can play in influencing educational attainment and in fostering positive attitudes towards formal learning in Traveller families. It is often claimed that members of the Traveller community tend to undervalue learning; that they are uninterested in their children's education and perceive it holds little relevance to adult life. However, research shows that significant forms of learning do take place within the family, for example, skills-based work-related learning. Further, there is evidence to suggest that some Traveller parents believe there is value in educating their children and there is a growing recognition, especially by mothers, that children need to achieve academically, particularly where there are concerns that migrant workers are accessing the jobs, Travellers have traditionally performed. Drawing on Bourdieu's concepts of habitus and field, the author argues that family literacy programmes can potentially offer an alternative space in which to engage Travellers in formal education and that such engagement has the potential to impact positively on the academic attainment and achievement of Traveller children by helping mothers recognise, and build on, the informal learning in which they are already engaged.     

Developmental outcomes of children in classes for special educational needs: results from a longitudinal study

This longitudinal study investigates the differences in cognitive and socio‐emotional development and academic achievement between children educated in special education classes (N = 37) and regular classes (N = 37). The study is retrospective. The first measurement point was while children were attending play‐oriented kindergarten and no decision about their education had yet been made. The second measurement point followed after 2 years of schooling. Comparing carefully matched groups, no differences in executive functions (EFs) were found before beginning school. Children assigned to special education had poorer language, fine motor skills and a lower pre‐academic self‐concept, self‐regulatory skills and social integration. Notably, every fourth child in special education was an immigrant, 9% of whom later attended regular classes. After 2 years of schooling in either setting, the groups differed significantly in academic achievement, EFs, fine motor skills and cognitive self‐regulatory skills. However, it was not – as school officials had intended – that children in special education classes had caught up, except in regard to their academic self‐concept and social integration.     

The Relationship Between IQ,Homework, Aspirations and Academic Achievement for Chinese,Vietnamese and Anglo-Celtic Australian School Children

Flynn (1991) proposed that students from Asian cultural backgrounds typically achieve at higher levels than non-Asian students with the same IQs. This study investigated relationships between IQ, study time, educational and occupational aspirations, and academic achievement among Australian school children ( n = 160) from Chinese, Vietnamese and Anglo-Celtic backgrounds. Mathematics grades for Chinese and Vietnamese Australian children were higher. They spent more time studying and were more likely to desire an occupation requiring tertiary qualifications than Anglo-Celtic Australian peers. Consistent with Flynn's hypothesis, students from Asian backgrounds obtained higher mathematics grades than their Anglo-Celtic Australian peers with the same IQ. However, study and occupational aspirations formed only part of a more complex socio-cultural package that contributed to group achievement differences. Parents' support for studying and aspirations may interact with these factors to produce high achievement.     

Promoting self-regulated learning to improve achievement: A case study in higher education

Abstract

The aim of this article is to report on a study conducted to assess the effect of an intervention programme to improve SRL and the achievement of a group of poorly performing undergraduate students at the Tshwane University of Technology. SRL was used as theoretical framework. The case study reports on 20 Engineering students who attended learning skills intervention sessions and wrote a college version of the learning and study strategies inventory (LASSI) pre-test and post-test. The intervention consisted of 12 workshop sessions presented over a period of three months. The LASSI pre-test showed that the group scored below the 50th percentile on four scales (anxiety, attitude, selecting main ideas and test-taking strategies). Observed improvements in the post-test scores of the LASSI scales for seven out of ten scales were statistically significant. The students’ academic achievements also improved. The findings are important for improving student success and throughput in South African higher education.     

Contexts of achievement: a study of American, Chinese, and Japanese children

The major purpose of this study was to attempt to understand some of the reasons for the high academic achievement of Chinese and Japanese children compared to American children. The study was conducted with first and fifth graders attending elementary schools in the Minneapolis metropolitan area, Taipei (Taiwan), and Sendai (Japan). 1,440 children (240 first graders and 240 fifth graders in each city) were selected as target subjects in the study. The children were selected from 20 classrooms at each grade in each city and constituted a representative sample of children from these classrooms. In a follow-up study, first graders were studied again when they were in the fifth grade. The children were tested with achievement tests in reading and mathematics constructed specifically for this study, the children and their mothers were interviewed, the children's teachers filled out a questionnaire, and interviews were held with the principals of the schools attended by the children. In the follow-up study, achievement tests were administered, and the children and their mothers were interviewed. Background information about the children's everyday lives revealed much greater attention to academic activities among Chinese and Japanese than among American children. Members of the three cultures differed significantly in terms of parents' interest in their child's academic achievement, involvement of the family in the child's education, standards and expectations of parents concerning their child's academic achievement, and parents' and children's beliefs about the relative influence of effort and ability on academic achievement. Whereas children's academic achievement did not appear to be a central concern of American mothers, Chinese and Japanese mothers viewed this as their child's most important pursuit. Once the child entered elementary school, Chinese and Japanese families mobilized themselves to assist the child and to provide an environment conducive to achievement. American mothers appeared to be less interested in their child's academic achievement than in the child's general cognitive development; they attempted to provide experiences that fostered cognitive growth rather than academic excellence. Chinese and Japanese mothers held higher standards for their children's achievement than American mothers and gave more realistic evaluations of their child's academic, cognitive, and personality characteristics. American mothers overestimated their child's abilities and expressed greater satisfaction with their child's accomplishments than the Chinese and Japanese mothers. In describing bases of children's academic achievement, Chinese and Japanese mothers stressed the importance of hard work to a greater degree than American mothers, and American mothers gave greater emphasis to innate ability than did Chinese and Japanese mothers.