The magic of hope: Hope mediates the relationship between socioeconomic status and academic achievement

Two studies examined whether hope partially mediates the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and academic achievement. Guided by recent theoretical formulations about social class and the social cognitive process, in Study 1 a mediational pathway from SES to academic achievement via hope was documented in a diverse sample of adolescents. The mediational pathway was replicated in Study 2 in a minority sample of high school students. In both studies, hope was found to partially mediate the relationship between SES and grade point average. In addition, the unique contribution of hope to academic achievement replicated across the 2 studies, indicating that the additional stressors and challenges associated with being a minority did not affect the mediation. These results have implications for achievement gap interventions.     

New books

PUBLIC SPEAKING: PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE. By Giles Wilkeson Gray and Waldo W. Braden. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1951; pp. xiv + 581. $4.00.

THE FUNDAMENTALS OF SPEAKING. By Wilbur E. Gilman, Bower Aly, and Loren D. Reid. New York: The Macmillan Co., 1951; pp. vx + 608. $4.00.

BASIC EXPERIENCES IN SPEECH. By Seth A. Fessenden and Wayne N. Thompson. New York: Prentice‐Hall, Inc., 1951; pp. xii + 427. $3.75.

ARGUMENTATION AND DEBATE: TECHNIQUES OF A FREE SOCIETY. By James H. McBurney, James M. O'Neill, and Glen E. Mills. New York: The MacMillan Company, 1951; pp. vii + 336. $3.50.

GROUP LEADERSHIP AND DEMOCRATIC ACTION. By Franklyn S. Haiman. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1951; pp. vii + 309. $2.50.

DISCUSSION AND DEBATE. By Henry Lee Ewbank and J. Jeffry Auer. Second Edition. New York: Appleton‐Century‐Crofts, 1951; pp. x + 492. $3.50.

DISCUSSION METHODS: By J. V. Garland. Third Edition Revised. New York: H. W. Wilson Co., 1951; pp. 376. $3.00.

CREATIVE BROADCASTING With Twelve Scripts for Broadcast. By H. J. Skornia, Robert H. Lee, and Fred Brewer. New York: Prentice‐Hall, Inc., 1950; pp.x + 407. $4.50.

TEACHING SPEECH IN THE SECONDARY SCHOOL. By Karl F. Robinson. New York: Longmans, Green and Co., 1951; pp. vii + 438. $4.00.

GERRIT J. DIEKEMA, ORATOR. By William Schrier. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1950; pp. xix + 269. $3.50.

A TREASURY OF THE THEATRE: From Agamemnon to A Month in the County. Edited by John Gassner. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1951; pp. xvii + 718. $4.50.     

Teaching Through Collaboration: Flexibility and Diversity in Caregiver–Child Interaction Across Cultures

Teaching supports the high-fidelity transmission of knowledge and skills. This study examined similarities and differences in caregiver teaching practices in the United States and Vanuatu (N = 125 caregiver and 3- to 8-year-old child pairs) during a collaborative problem-solving task. Caregivers used diverse verbal and nonverbal teaching practices and adjusted their behaviors in response to task difficulty and child age in both populations. U.S. caregivers used practices consistent with a direct active teaching style typical of formal education, including guiding children’s participation, frequent praise, and facilitation. In contrast, Ni-Vanuatu caregivers used practices associated with informal education and divided tasks with children based on difficulty. The implications of these findings for claims about the universality and diversity of caregiver teaching are discussed.