Concurrent validity of the test of nonverbal intelligence with learning disabled children

Results of the TONI, WISC-R, and WRAT were compared for a sample of 66 learning disabled children: 51 males (32 white, 19 black) and 15 females (9 white, 6 black) whose mean age was 9–5 (SD = 1–10). The mean score of the TONI was significantly different from the Performance IQ. Nonsignificant differences were found between the TONI and Full Scale IQ and between the TONI and Verbal IQ. Correlation coefficients between the TONI and WISC-R ranged from a low of .35 for the Verbal IQ to .44 for both the Full Scale and Performance IQs. The correlation coefficients between the TONI and standard scores of the WRAT were .38, .27, and .23, for Reading, Spelling, and Arithmetic, respectively. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

Correlations between WISC-R subtests and verbal,performance, and full scale IQ scores for minority group children

The relationship between WISC-R subtest scores and Verbal, Performance, and Full Scale IQs was investigated for a sample comprised of rural Appalachian children. The sample was comprised of both white and black children who might be described as culturally different by virtue of low family income and residence in the mountainous areas of Virginia and North Carolina. Data analysis consisted of computing product-moment correlations (rs) between each of the ten subtests and the Verbal, Performance, and Full Scale IQs. Correlations between individual subtests and the FS IQ ranged from.49 through.63, but none of the differences between these rs were large enough to attain significance. Correlations between the verbal subtests and Verbal IQ ranged from.64 for Comprehension up to.78 for Vocabulary. For the performance subtest, the rs ranged from.54 between Coding and the Performance IQ up to.72 for Object Assembly.     

Poverty Experiences of Young Children and the Quality of Their Home Environments

This paper assesses the relative contribution of maternal, household, child, and poverty characteristics to the quality of the home environment. The sample consists of 1,887 children birth to 4 years old from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY). Ordinary least-squares regression is used to explore conceptually distinct aspects of children's poverty experiences. Poverty variables are found to have a statistically significant effect on the quality of the home environment, after controlling for the effects of other variables in the models. Statistically significant interactions among poverty variables are identified. A major finding is that improvements in family income have the strongest effects on the quality of the home environment for children who were born poor or lived much of their lives in poverty. The conclusion emphasizes implications for future research.     

Deficits in bannatyne's sequencing ability on the WISC and WISC-R for mildly retarded and borderline functioning children over time

The WISC and WISC-R protocols of 94 special education students (51 white males, 5 black males, 30 white females, and 8 black females) who tested in the mildly retarded and borderline range of abilities (IQs of 50–78) were examined. Their test performance was then followed longitudinally for two additional WISC and WISC-R assessments. Mean age of subjects was 8 years at Test 1, 10.75 years at Test 2, and 14.9 years at Test 3. As predicted, subjects had lower IQ equivalent scores on Bannatyne's Sequencing Ability category than their IQ equivalent scores on the Verbal Comprehension or Perceptual Organization factors of the WISC and WISC-R for all three testings. Results were interpreted as supporting the notion that mildly retarded children and learning disabled children have qualitatively similar learning patterns.     

Predicting kindergarten academic skills: Interactions among child care,maternal education,and family literacy environments

This investigation used structural equation modeling to examine sources of children's reading, vocabulary, general information, mathematics, and letter recognition skills upon entrance to kindergarten. Potential predictors included ethnicity, gender, child IQ, family literacy environment, maternal education, and months in child care centers. Family literacy environment had positive causal links with four of five academic measures. Greater number of months in child care centers was associated with higher mathematics scores among children from less educated mothers who scored low on a measure of family literacy environment. In contrast, no effects of child care were found for children from mothers with more education. Implications include the need for strong parental involvement in children's development and subsidized child care for children in need.     

Mother's age at arrival in the United States and early cognitive development

This paper focuses on the cognitive development of young children from diverse backgrounds with a particular focus on ethnic and nativity differences in home environments. Hypotheses are developed addressing the extent to which home environment and parenting practices mediate the relationship between mother's age at arrival and cognitive development in early childhood. Data from the first two waves of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth cohort are employed. Children whose mothers arrived in the United States at the youngest ages (0–7 years) have similar cognitive scores to children whose mothers are born in the United States once socioeconomic status and family background are considered. Multivariate analyses indicate parenting practices and home environment are associated with cognitive development and act as partial mediators between cognitive scores and mother's age at arrival. Overall, the results highlight the need to consider parental migration experiences and differences in the home environments of children of immigrants in the United States as sources of variation in outcomes for the second-generation.     

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.     

The Minnesota Adoption Studies: genetic differences and malleability

In 1974 we launched 2 large adoption studies for 2 quite different purposes. The Transracial Adoption Study was designed to test the hypothesis that black and interracial children reared by white families perform on IQ and school achievement tests as well as other adoptees because they are reared in the culture of the tests and the schools. In addition, transracial families provided a sample with large numbers of adopted and natural children in the same families. Sources of individual differences among siblings could be studied without fear of possible differences between adoptive families and those with their own children. The Adolescent Adoption Study was designed to assess the cumulative impact of differences among family environments at the end of the child-rearing period. All of the children were adopted in the first year of life and averaged 18.5 years at the time of the study. A comparison sample of families with their own adolescents was also studied. Black and interracial children scored as well on IQ tests as adoptees in other studies. Individual differences among them, however, were more related to differences among their biological than adoptive parents, whether they lived together or not. Young siblings were found to be intellectually quite similar, whether genetically related or not. Adolescents' IQ test scores were similar to those of their parents and siblings only if they were biologically related. Our interpretation of these results is that younger children are more influenced by differences among their family environments than older adolescents, who are freer to seek their own niches.     

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.     

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 Home Environments of Children in the United States Part I: Variations by Age, Ethnicity, and Poverty Status

Although measures of the home environment have gained wide acceptance in the child development literature, what constitutes the "average" or 'typical" home environment in the United States, and how this differs across ethnic groups and poverty status is not known. Item-level data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth on four age-related versions of the Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment-Short Form (HOME-SF) from five biennial assessments (1986-1994) were analyzed for the total sample and for four major ethnic groups: European Americans, Asian Americans, African Americans, and Hispanic Americans. The percentages of homes receiving credit on each item of all four versions of the HOME-SF are described. For the majority of items at all four age levels differences between poor and nonpoor families were noted. Differences were also obtained among African American, European American, and Hispanic American families, but the magnitude of the effect for poverty status was greater than for ethnicity, and usually absorbed most of the ethnic group effects on HOME-SF items. For every item at every age, the effects of poverty were proportional across European American, African American, and Hispanic American groups.     

Ethnic Variation in the Association Between Family Structures and Practices on Child Outcomes at 36 Months: Results From Early Head Start

Research Findings: This study analyzed data from the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Study (EHSRES) to examine whether the association between family structural characteristics (maternal education, number of parents, employment status, and number of children), parenting practices (sensitive and negative parenting, cognitively stimulating home environment, authoritarian parenting), and children's outcomes (receptive language, cognitive development, and problem behaviors) differ across ethnicity. A sample of 2,777 low-income families included 39% European Americans/Whites, 36% African Americans, and 25% Hispanics. Results indicated ethnic differences in some family structural characteristics, parenting practices, and child outcomes. With the exception of employment status, there was limited evidence that ethnic differences in family structural characteristics were related to differences in child outcomes. Though there were also ethnic differences in parenting practices, there was no evidence that ethnicity moderated the relation between parenting practices and children's language, cognitive, and behavioral outcomes at 36 months. Practice or Policy: The implication of this study is the need to foster and focus on positive parenting practices, rather than negatives ones, because of their importance to children's language, cognitive development, and behavior management. Ethnic differences may matter, but they may not in the face of other stressors such as economic fears, job instability, health concerns, and neighborhood safety.     

Prenatal Caloric Intake and the Development of Academic Achievement Among U.S. Children From Ages 5 to 14

Few studies have examined the relation between maternal caloric intake during pregnancy and growth in child academic achievement while controlling for important confounding influences. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, the current study examined the effects of reduced prenatal caloric intake on growth in scores on the Peabody Individual Achievement Test from ages 5 to 14. While models controlling for within‐family covariates showed that prenatal caloric intake was associated with lower reading and mathematical achievement at age 5, models controlling for between‐family covariates (such as maternal IQ) and unobserved familial confounders revealed only a statistically significant association between siblings differentially exposed to prenatal caloric intake and mathematical achievement at age 5.     

Early Intervention and Mediating Processes in Cognitive Performance of Children of Low-Income African American Families

This longitudinal study of 161 African American children from low-income families examined multiple influences, including early childhood interventions and characteristics of the child and family, on longitudinal patterns of children's cognitive performance measured between 6 months and 8 years of age. Results indicate that more optimal patterns of cognitive development were associated with intensive early educational child care, responsive stimulating care at home, and higher maternal IQ. In accordance with a general systems model, analyses also suggested that child care experiences were related to better cognitive performance in part through enhancing the infant's responsiveness to his or her environment. Maternal IQ had both a direct effect on cognitive performance during early childhood and, also, an indirect effect through its influence on the family environment.     

Factors influencing the identification of black and white students with learning disabilities

This study examined the differential influence of an IQ cutoff and standard score or regression-based method for determining a severe discrepancy as eligibility criteria for the identification of black and white students with learning disabilities. Subjects were 218 white and 132 black students referred for possible learning disability services. The results of the study demonstrated that the use of a standard score method for determining a severe discrepancy and the use of an IQ cutoff above the range for mental retardation resulted in the disproportionate underrepresentation of black students meeting eligibility criteria. In contrast, when a regression-based method to determine a severe discrepancy was used, along with the absence of an IQ cutoff, no differences were discerned between the two groups. The implications of these findings for current practice are discussed.     

Effects of Early and Recent Maternal Employment on Children from Low-Income Families

The effects of early maternal employment (employment during the child's first 3 years) and recent maternal employment (employment during the previous 3 years) on 189 second-grade children from low-income families were examined. Maternal employment was related to a number of selection factors. In comparison to mothers who were not employed, employed mothers scored higher on a mental aptitude test and were more highly educated. Both early and recent maternal employment were also associated with measures of the current family functioning: there was less poverty and higher HOME environment scores when mothers were employed. Hierarchical multiple regressions showed that children's math achievement was positively predicted by early maternal employment and children's reading achievement was positively predicted by recent maternal employment, even after controlling for selection effects and current family environment. These results are discussed in terms of possible mechanisms by which maternal employment may affect children's development.     

Home again: effects of the Mother-Child Home Program on mother and child

4 successive cohorts of low-income families were randomly assigned either to a home-based intervention program that focused on modeling verbal interaction between mother and child around selected toys and books or to comparison treatments. Large program effects were found on maternal interaction styles in videotaped observations. Small IQ and program-specific effects were found for children in contrast to much larger IQ effects found in earlier research. IQ effects did not appear to have been mediated by changes in maternal behavior. A variation in which toys and books were supplied without home visits was as effective as the full program on IQ but not on maternal behavior. 3 years postprogram , there were no detectable effects in achievement or IQ tests or in first grade teachers' ratings of school adjustment and performance, but IQ and achievement scores were near national norms. Reasons for discrepancies with earlier results are discussed. The results highlight the need for continued experimental evaluation of early intervention programs with safeguards to insure that samples are educationally at risk.     

Observations of teacher behavior in desegrated reading groups

Despite concern about the effectiveness of biracial schooling, there is little research which delineates what actually happens in desegrated classrooms. To generate information where the scientific knowledge base is limited, 10 second-grade teachers (five black and five white) were observed. The question raised was: In a sequence of teaching behaviors for reading groups, what are the proportions of positive and negative behaviors directed toward black and white children? In summing the behavior of all 10 teachers, the proportions of positive and negative behaviors directed toward black and white children were remarkably similar to the ethnic composition of the sample, yet these undifferentiated results did not hold for groups of black or white teachers. In addition to group differences, sketches of an individual white and a black teacher are presented, including observation results and data from a standardized interview of social distance.     

Stability of Intelligence from Preschool to Adolescence: The Influence of Social and Family Risk Factors

Intelligence scores of children in a longitudinal study were assessed at 4 and 13 years and related to social and family risk factors. A multiple environmental risk score was calculated for each child by counting the number of high-risk conditions from 10 risk factors: mother's behavior, mother's developmental beliefs, mother's anxiety, mother's mental health, mother's educational attainment, family social support, family size, major stressful life events, occupation of head of household, and disadvantaged minority status. Multiple risk scores explained one-third to one-half of IQ variance at 4 and 13 years. The stability between 4- and 13-year environmental risk scores ( r = .77) was not less than the stability between 4- and 13-year IQ scores ( r = .72). Effects remained after SES and race, or maternal IQ, were partialled; multiple risk was important in longitudinal prediction, even after prior measurement of child IQ was accounted for; the pattern of risk was less important than the total amount of risk present in the child's context.