An ORACLE chronicle: A decade of classroom research

This article describes a decade of classroom research carried out in the United Kingdom at the University of Leicester. The ORACLE Project (Observational Research and Classroom Learning Evaluation) began in 1975 and consisted of two main projects. The first concerned a longitudinal process-product study of teaching and learning in the junior-age (7–11) classrooms while the second study concentrated on one particular aspect of the organization of these classrooms, collaborative group work. The major findings of both studies are described including the categorization of teaching styles and pupil types and the relationship between them. Evidence concerning the effectiveness of different teaching styles is also presented. More importantly, the article explores some of the possible reasons which might explain both teachers' and pupils' behaviour. It is suggested that process-product research still has an important part to play in the study of classrooms but that the outcome measures might, more usefully, concentrate on social factors affecting pupils' learning and the ways in which teachers can create supportive classroom climates rather than on the traditional measures of achievement.     

Risk factors for speech delay of unknown origin in 3-year-old children

One hundred 3-year-olds with speech delay of unknown origin and 539 same-age peers were compared with respect to 6 variables linked to speech disorders: male sex, family history of developmental communication disorder, low maternal education, low socioeconomic status (indexed by Medicaid health insurance), African American race, and prolonged otitis media. Abnormal hearing was also examined in a subset of 279 children who had at least 2 hearing evaluations between 6 and 18 months of age. Significant odds ratios were found only for low maternal education, male sex, and positive family history; a child with all 3 factors was 7.71 times as likely to have a speech delay as a child without any of these factors.     

Self-Restraint as a Mediator of Family Influences on Boys' Delinquent Behavior: A Longitudinal Study

In the course of social development, family influences seem to become partly internalized and transformed into personality characteristics that regulate behavior outside the family sphere. In a longitudinal study of 81 boys and their families, we hypothesized that individual differences in boys' self-restraint would serve as a mediator between family factors in preadolescence and sons' delinquent behavior 4 years later. Measures were derived from principal components analyses of multiple indices of each construct as assessed by multiple informants. As expected, parenting practices measured at both pre- and mid-adolescence predicted delinquent acts only indirectly via their association with boys' self-restraint. In addition, general family functioning at preadolescence, independent of other scores, predicted boys' levels of self-restraint 4 years later. There was no evidence that boys' self-restraint at preadolescence systematically affected the quality of parenting that they subsequently received. Parents' and families' role in children's development of self-regulatory skills may be a primary vehicle by which they ultimately influence adolescents' problem behaviors.