Effects of race of examiner and type of reinforcement on the intelligence test performance of lower-class black children

This study examined the effects of race of examiner and type of reinforcement upon the WISC-R performance of lower-class black children. A total of 120 black males were selected and assigned to either a white or black examiner to form two groups. Within each group, children were given no reinforcement, tangible reinforcement, traditional social reinforcement, or culturally relevant social reinforcement after each correct response. Children given tangible rewards, regardless of race of examiner, obtained significantly higher scores than did children given no reinforcement or children given traditional social reinforcement. Also, children given culturally relevant social reinforcement by a black examiner obtained significantly higher scores than did children given culturally relevant reinforcement by the white examiner.     

Ethnic group,hyperkinesis, and modes of behavior

This paper examines modes of behavior across different ethnic groups of children rated as hyperactive on a behavior rating scale. The experimenters questioned the similarity in behavior patterns or modes displayed by 132 black, white, and Mexican-American children who had been rated as hyperactive. Using the Abbreviated Conners Teacher Rating Scale, score patterns of these children were examined through analysis of variance. The results revealed differences across ethnic groups: black children scored significantly higher than the white and Mexican-American children on three scale items and also scored significantly higher than the other two groups in terms of mean total scale score. These findings are interpreted from a sociological perspective.     

Interaction of race with other variables on achievement in school

This study was concerned with academic performance in black and white children and the interactions of race with other variables on school achievement. Subjects were 334 blacks and 637 whites in grades three to six. Data consisted of general background information and grade equivalent scores on the California Achievement Tests. They were analyzed using multiple re- gression analysis of variance. Results indicated that blacks scored lower than whites and fell farther behind as they progressed from grade to grade. Significant interactions were revealed for sex, social class, family structure, and teachers. Means for black children were generally less variable than for white children.     

Ethnic and regional influences on teachers' evaluations of oral answers

Tape recordings were made of six white and six black ninth-grade northern boys speaking identically worded answers to typical school questions. Black students were given significantly higher grades than white students by 56 white and 50 black southern teachers. Black teachers gave significantly higher grades than white teachers, but no significant interaction was found between students' and teachers' ethnic group. The study is a partial replication of a previous study in which it was found that black students were given significantly lower grades than white students by northern white teachers.     

三重意识的张力之源：理查德·赖特笔下的种族关系

理查德.赖特在文学作品里以自己独特的视角和笔调揭露了美国20世纪三四十年代紧张的种族关系,认为种族隔离和种族界限是以人为的方式把处于共生关系的黑人和白人进行了活生生的社会切割,导致这两大种族之间的误解和仇恨。白人在教育、司法等方面对黑人实施双重标准,引起黑人对白人的更加反感和不信任。种族隔离和种族界限是黑人与白人相互仇视的根源,白人对黑人的仇恨和种族压迫引起部分黑人率先形成自己的第三种意识,激化了他们三重意识中的张力,从而促使更多的黑人加入到追求种族平等和社会公正的斗争中去。     

School and Neighborhood Friendship Patterns of Blacks and Whites in Early Adolescence

This research examined the school and neighborhood friendships of 292 black and white children who attended an integrated junior high school. Most students reported having a close other-race school friend, but only 28% of the sample saw such a friend frequently outside of school. Reports of an interracial school friendship that extended to nonschool settings were significantly more common among black students than whites and among children who lived in integrated neighborhoods rather than segregated ones. Race differences in reported friendship behavior were also found on other friendship variables. Compared to whites, blacks reported more extensive neighborhood friendship networks but indicated that they talked to fewer friends during the school day. In addition, the study replicated prior findings that white girls report more peer social support than white boys but failed to find a gender difference in peer support among blacks. The discussion emphasizes the importance of the school/nonschool ecology and the need for further comparative study of white and black children's friendship patterns.     

A Comparative Study of Selected Black and White University Sophomore Students on a Required Reading Test

Abstract

A total of 256 black and 3009 white sophomore students in the four large Georgia universities were studied with regard to their reading test scores obtained during the 1982-83 Georgia Regents' Testing Program. Classification analyses showed that white students scored significantly higher on the reading subtests as well as apposite aptitude/achievement variables. The overlap of black and white student score distributions was consistent, though insignificant, on the aptitude/achievement variables as well as the reading subtests. The extant overlap, however, was significantly greater for black students on the reading subtests than with the aptitude/achievement variables, and these results were similar to those obtained with white students. Further, with the reading subtests, approximately 41% of the black students were misclassified as white students, while only 26% of the white students were misclassified as black students, and this difference in overlap was statistically significant. The study was regarded, to a limited extent, as a cohort extension of the NAEP studies and the results were compared to those findings.     

A comparison of the guidance received and desired by black and white pupils in South Africa

A survey was conducted of 692 black and white high school pupils in sixteen South African high schools. A questionnaire requested information regarding pupils' perceptions of the extent to which they actually received guidance services in twelve areas listed in official syllabi. Subjects were also asked to indicate which of these dimensions they wished to receive, and their preferences in this regard. Results indicated that black pupils received guidance significantly less than did whites, and that they had a commensurately stronger desire for such input. In their ordering of preferred areas in which Guidance should be provided, there were certain commonalities and a few differences in the responses of black and white pupils. It was concluded that the inadequacies in the guidance system, particularly for blacks, are associated with the nature of the apartheid society. Accordingly, changes in the guidance system are seen as dependent upon pervasive reform of that society.     

VALIDITY OF THE SAT FOR BLACKS AND WHITES IN THIRTEEN INTEGRATED INSTITUTIONS

Differential prediction for black and white students was empirically investigated at 13 institutions by comparison of regression planes. Particular attention was given to the possibility that prediction procedures that are appropriate for white (majority) students would underpredict the performance of black (minority) students. The data tend to support, among others, the following generalizations: (a) a single regression plane cannot be used to predict freshman GPA for both blacks and whites in 10 of the 13 institutions studied; nevertheless, (b) if prediction of GPA from SAT scores is based upon prediction equations suitable for majority students, then black students, as a group, are predicted to do about as well as (or better than) they actually do; but (c) the multiple regression (SAT-V, M) prediction for blacks in 12 of the 13 institutions was lower in magnitude than for whites and was nonsignificant in 6 of the situations studied.     

Effects of School Organizational Structure on Interracial Friendships in Middle Schools

Abstract

This study examined the effect of school organizational structure on interracial friendships among middle school students. Students evaluated a white friend and a black friend on a modified semantic differential scale and reported the number of their other-race friends. Responses of students in two team-structured schools were contrasted to those of students in three traditionally structured schools. Multivariate analysis revealed that the organization of a school affects number of other-race friends and that whites with even "some" black friends are more positive in their perceptions of blacks than are those who report having "almost no" black friends. Variations in the nature and extent of contact between white and black students in schools does affect the racial attitudes of whites. Black students rated white and black friends the same regardless of the organizational structure of the school.     

An investigation of WISC-R verbal-performance differences as a function of ethnic status

The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised was administered to 187 black, 184 Hispanic, and 184 white children aged 6–11. The Verbal-Performance (V-P) IQ discrepancies were determined for the total group and for each ethnic group. The overall mean of 10.74 was similar to the V-P discrepancy found in the WISC-R standardization sample. The Hispanic group had a significantly greater V-P split than did the black group or the white group. Implications of these results were discussed, focusing on the various cautions of using V-P discrepancies for diagnostic decision making.     

The effects of immediate achievement and retention of middle school students involved in a metric unit designed to promote the development of estimating skills

Three hundred nintey-seven seventh-grade students were studied to determine the effect on immediate achievement and retention of a unit designed to promote the development of estimating skills involved in metric measurement. The study involved five teachers with a total of 15 average- or advanced-level classes divided into the reference and treatment groups. A five-day metric unit was designed so that both groups received exactly the same instruction in metric length, mass, and capacity with the exception of the treatment group's participation in activities relating to the development of estimation skills. Data collected from the Metric Application Instrument and analyzed with analysis of covariance indicated that students in the experimental group did retain significantly more of their improved metric application skills than the students in the reference group. The analysis of the main effects of race, sex, and ability indicated that white students achieved significantly more than black students and that males achieved significantly more than females. Analysis of significant race/ability and sex/race interactions indicated that (a) white students in the advanced group attained significantly greater achievement in metric application skills than black students of equal status and (b) white males significantly retained their metric applications achievement when compared to black males or black or white females.     

Effects of alternative testing procedures on two subtests of the Woodcock-Johnson Psycho-Educational Battery

The purpose of this study was determine whether or not the method of presentation chosen by the examiner (live voice vs. taped) affects a child's score on both the Blending and Memory for Sentences subtests of the Woodcock-Johnson Psycho-Educational Battery. Subjects were 60 young children (mean age=8-3) and 60 older children (mean age=13-4) from a rural county school population. There were 30 black and 30 white children within each age group, and 15 children from each age and racial group were randomly assigned to one of two experimental conditions (live voice vs. taped presentation of subtests). For both subtests, there were significant main effects for presentation condition, racial group, and age level. There were no significant interactions. The overall pattern of results indicated that live voice presentation benefitted black and white children of both age levels in their scores on both subtests.     

Relationship of socioeconomic status and ethnicity to primary grade children's self-concept

This study provides evidence regarding the controversy about the relationship of socioeconomic status (SES) and ethnicity to self-concept. Subjects were 345 first-, second-, and third-grade children of low SES (180 were black) attending inner city schools in a large metropolitan area. The Purdue Self Concept Scale was the measure of self-concept. There was a decline in self-concept with grade level (p < .01), and blacks scored higher than whites (p < .01). An analysis of black second-grade children's scores indicated that the race difference was due to the high scores of those with welfare status. Low expectations resulting from SES and ethnic segregation, effects of the black pride movement, and defensiveness are considered as possible explantions.     

Do parents,teachers, and psychoeducational evaluators agree in their perceptions of the problems of black and white emotionally disturbed children?

The aim was to examine the agreement among parents, teachers, psychologists, and educational diagnosticians in their perceptions of the problem behaviors of emotionally disturbed children. The sample of 194 emotionally disturbed boys and girls included 129 whites and 65 blacks. The use of measures of relationship showed that there was significantly greater consensus among the raters in perceptions of white than of black children; agreement was particularly poor between parents and teachers of black youngsters. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

A Factor Analytic Study of the Infant-Toddler and Early Childhood Versions of the HOME Inventory Administered to White, Black, and Hispanic American Parents of Children Born Preterm

Factor analyses were performed on the Infant-Toddler and the Early Childhood versions of the HOME Inventory for 3 groups (blacks, whites, and Hispanics) of premature, low-birthweight children. Participants lived in 8 different U.S. cities. On the IT-HOME, 5 factors were originally retained for each group using the principal factors method of extraction. Factor structures for blacks and whites were similar, accounting for 85% and 75% of the variance, respectively. The structure for Hispanics was somewhat different; a 7-factor solution accounting for 65% of the variance was most interpretable. For the EC-HOME, 6 factors were retained for both black and white groups, accounting for 80% and 73% of the variance, respectively. For Hispanics, an 8-factor solution accounted for 59% of the variance. The factor structures for blacks and whites were largely in agreement with the current organization of items into subscales. The fit for Hispanics was not quite as good, but most factors also corresponded to current subscales.     

Children's ability to recognize other children's faces.

Facial recognition ability was studied with 288 children from 4 grades--first, second, third, and sixth--who also varied by sex race, and school type, the last being segregated or integrated. Children judged whether each of 40 pictures of children's faces had been present in a set of 20 pictures viewed earlier. Facial recognition ability increased significantly with each grade but leveled off between ages 8 and 11. Blacks' performance is significantly better than whites', and blacks are better at recognizing faces of whites than whites are at recognizing blacks. Children from an integrated school show smaller differences recognizing black or white faces than children from segregated schools, but the effect appears only for children of the integrated school who also live in mixed-race neighborhoods.     

Racial differences in factors associated with bachelor's degree completion: A nine-year follow-up

This study employed a sample of 5,577 students initially enrolling in 352 four-year colleges and universities. The study's purpose was to investigate racial differences in the factors associated with bachelor's degree completion. The sample was followed over a nine-year period, from 1971 to 1980. Tinto's (1975) theoretical model guided the selection of 19 predictor variables. This set of predictors accounted for between 15% and 29% of the variance in attaining the bachelor's degree for white and black men and women. For all race and sex subgroups, measures of the collegiate experience (e.g., number of institutions attended, academic and social integration, and subsequent institutional commitment/satisfaction) had the strongest and most consistently positive regression weights with degree completion. Only a small number of significant race or sex differences were found in the factors associated with degree completion. For black men, the number of institutions attended and the size of the institution initially attended had significantly stronger negative associations with degree attainment than they did for white men. Institutional commitment/satisfaction had positive regression weights for all subsamples, but the magnitude was greater for men of both races than it was for women. Within samples, academic integration was a somewhat stronger predictor of degree attainment than social integration for whites but not for blacks.     

Ethnicity,social class,and perception of hyperactivity

This paper examines the relationship between ethnicity and hyperactivity, an area largely neglected in research on hyperactivity. The assumption that hyperactivity is uniformly distributed across ethnic groups is challenged, based on a large (N = 1719) sample of white, black, and Mexican-American elementary school children. The Abbreviated Conners Teacher Rating Scale was used to identify the hyperactive group. Two important findings emerged. First, the 15% overall incidence rate is substantially higher than previously reported in the literature for large samples. Second, in those schools with nonwhite majorities, teachers rated black children as significantly more often hyperactive and Mexican-American children as significantly less often hyperactive than would be expected, based on their representation in the general student body. These findings are interpreted from a sociological perspective.     

Differential effects on the achievement of males and females of teaching the particulate nature of chemistry

Chemistry concepts in three 2‐week modules were presented to a treatment and control group of high school students from 10 different high schools. The treatment group was taught using three representations of matter (macroscopic, particulate, and symbolic), whereas only two representations (macroscopic and symbolic) were used with the control group. The treatment group scored significantly higher across the combined score of all three modules. When the data were analyzed for gender–group interactions, females who were taught the particulate representation scored as well as males whereas those who were not taught the particulate representation scored significantly lower than males. Teaching males the particulate representation did not significantly affect males' achievement. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 39: 911–927, 2002