Convergence of views: Self‐perceptions of African American and White kindergartners

As the second in a series of studies concerning the development of kindergartners' self‐perceptions, this study examined the effects of the kindergarten experience on self‐perceptions of African American and White students as they progressed through their kindergarten year. Using a countywide sample of 209 children in 31 classrooms, the study incorporated in vivo observations of teachers' verbal behavior and self‐perception data from the Pictorial Scale of Perceived Competence and Social Acceptance for Young Children. Results indicate that the kindergarten experience had an equalizing effect on the self‐perceptions of African American and White children, although self‐perceptions of cognitive competence were initially lower for African American children than for their White counterparts. Teachers' verbal interactions with children were not affected by the child's race, at least when different achievement levels were taken into account. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

The effects of teachers' verbal behaviors on kindergartners' perceptions of competence

The purpose of this study was to examine changes in kindergartners' perceptions of competence and to determine the effects of teachers' verbal behaviors on these perceptions. A sample of 168 kindergartners from 31 classrooms participated in a pre- and posttest administration of the Pictorial Scale of Perceived Competence and Social Acceptance and three classroom observations. Kindergartners in this study generally reported high perceptions of competence. The drop in perceptions documented in previous research was not found in this study, suggesting that the developmental change occurs after kindergarten. A modest significant correlation between perceptions of competence and both academic skills and teacher ratings indicated that children were developing more accurate judgements. Teachers' verbal behaviors were not related to students' perceptions of competence. In contrast, the amount of praise that students received was related to the instructional style of the teacher and the frequency in which students were criticized was related to their academic skills. Implications for educational practice are discussed. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Solutions to Literacy Deficiencies in the Workplace; A Survey of Current Practices

Much attention has focused on employee basic skill (literacy) problems in recent years. Most authorities on the topic have focused their attention on two solutions alone: (a) offering in-house training to employees short-term solution intended to rectify existing basic skill deficiencies in the workforce; and (b) supporting public education as a long-term solution intended to ensure that future job applicants/employees possess basic skills adequate for beginning work. Few writers or authorities have suggested alternative performance improvement strategies to address basic skill problems. This article identifies a range of performance improvement strategies for addressing basic skill deficiencies and summarizes results of a recent survey of training and development professionals about how often these strategies are used in their organizations. In general, many survey respondents indicated that their organizations are using many different performance improvement strategies to address basic skill problems.     

Concurrent validity of the school problem screening inventory for behavior-disordered students

This study investigated the relationship between the School Problem Screening Inventory, Fifth Edition (SPSI) and the Bristol Social Adjustment Guides (BSAG) and the WISC-R. Subjects were 43 junior high school students enrolled in residential or day-treatment programs at a treatment center for adolescents with behavior problems. The results showed the SPSI Behavior Disorder-undercontrolled and overcontrolled scores to be moderately correlated with the BSAG Overreaction and Under reaction scores, respectively. The SPSI Learning Disability and the Mental Retardation scores were found to be moderately correlated negatively with the WISC-R IQs. The findings lend support to the concurrent validity of the SPSI.