Decoding and comprehension skills were assessed for Turkish and American first and third graders. Twenty students in each group were tested on a pseudoword vocalization task and on a paragraph comprehension task. The data suggest that languages with more regular letter-sound correspondences lead to faster acquisition of decoding skills. (Author/BS)

Teacher efficacy has been identified as a variable accounting for individual differences in teaching effectiveness. This study of elementary school teachers developed an instrument to measure teacher efficacy, provided construct validation support for the variable, and examined the relationship between teacher efficacy and observable teacher…

This article extends both the logic and the statistical procedures used in a recent analysis of Hyde's data on gender differences in cognitive abilities by Rosenthal and Rubin. The logic of a "model fitting" approach to meta-analysis is described. Relevant statistical procedures and goodness-of-fit tests are illustrated. (Author/BS)

Children 5, 7, 9, and 11 years old were presented short narrative passages imbedded with three types of problems which could only be identified by using three specific evaluation standards. Although older children used standards more effectively, overall problem identification was considerably better than that reported in noninstructed settings.…

The keyword method was compared to the context method of learning new vocabulary in two experiments with undergraduate subjects. In both experiments the keyword method produced significantly greater definition recall. Implications for vocabulary learning theories in particular, and discovery learning approaches in general, are discussed.…

Language analysis tasks (segmentation and rhyming) and rapid automatized naming tasks (objects, colors, and letters) were found to tap different linguistics-processing components in both kindergarteners and first graders. Children who could analyze letter names were more likely to be among the better readers at the end of first grade. (Author/BS)

The construct validity of the Sequential Processing, Simultaneous Processing and Achievement scales of the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children was supported by factor-analytic investigations of a representative national stratified sample of 2,000 children. Correlations provided insight into the relationship of sequential/simultaneous…

This article evaluates five causal model of educational productivity applied to learning science in a sample of 882 fifth through eighth graders. Each model explores the relationship between achievement and a combination of eight constructs: home environment, peer group, media, ability, social environment, time on task, motivation, and…

Sixth graders (n=124) were tested for their perceptions of self-efficacy with print and TV, perceived media realism, and attributions of failure and success with each medium. The amount of invested mental effort (AIME) and achievement were measured. The roles of a priori perceptions and AIME in learning are discussed. (Author/BS)

Sixth graders and undergraduates were tested in two experiments to investigate the salience imbalance hypothesis, one aspect of the similarity theory of metaphorical processing data indicate that salience imbalance generally enhances metaphorical interpretation but is not a necessity. (Author/BS)

The speed and accuracy of skilled and less skilled first-grade readers were assessed in the fall and spring. Children read random lists of words and coherent paragraphs. Poor decoding skills, rather than an inability to use content to facilitate word recognition, caused the poor performance of less skilled readers. (Author/BS)

A battery of spatial, linguistic, and mathematical tests was administered to tenth- and twelfth-grade students to examine the relation between sex differences on particular spatial tests and sex differences on particular mathematical problems. The sex difference magnitude was not diminished by taking spatial and linguistic scores into account.…

Based on the Laosa model, this longitudinal study examined relationships between family learning environments and the aspirations of 512 Australian adolescents from three occupational status groups. Adolescents' aspirations had moderate associations with parents' aspirations but only modest or negligible relations to parents' instrumental and…

Findings and research designs used to study university students' evaluations of teaching effectiveness are reviewed. A construct validation approach which recognizes the multidimensionality of both effective teaching and students' evaluations is recommended for further research. (BS)

Using cross classifiable pictures, this study assessed taxonomic and thematic clustering in free recall in 240 children, ages seven and ten. The effects of both free and constrained test conditions and developmental, ethnic, and socioeconomic differences, were examined. (BS)