Multivariate analyses of questionnaires and standardized test data indicated that performance at age eight could be predicted with considerable accuracy by a combination of teachers' ratings of home and personal characteristics at age five. (Author/PN)

Mobilizing relevant preexisting knowledge significantly facilitated retention of information inconsistent with prior knowledge but did not affect retention of congruous information. A topically organized passage was not better remembered than a topically disorganized one. (Author/PN)

Supervising teachers appear to reliably evaluate student teachers and tend to perceive student teachers in terms of two major factors: preparation and presentation. There were differences between primary and secondary level supervisors. (Author/PN)

Hypothesized effects of school which determine parent behavior dispositions were found to have important consequences for a child's cognitive skills, learning strategies, and personality. A conceptual and empirical investigation was conducted in the context of ethnic diversity, individual variability, and educational and occupational equity. A…

Subjects were better able to read essays in good rhetorical form with explicit structural cues than essays in bad form without cues and in deviant paragraph order. Differences depended upon whether the test evaluated macro- or microprocesses (global or local comprehension). Comprehension strategies involving rhetorical cues are discussed.…

Investigated whether differences by sex or race existed in placement, learning disabilities classrooms, teacher contacts, assignment practices, and student learning behavior. Found differences in placement. Similarities were found in teacher treatment, student behavior, and the effects of such behavior on test performance. (Author/CM)

In time-on-task observations, the effects of variations in methodological characteristics on the importance of time-on-task for student achievement were examined. Substantive conclusions were affected by variations in five areas with the greatest differences due to changes in the duration and number of days of observation. (CM)

The conditions that lead teachers to be more controlling versus more autonomy-oriented with students were examined. When responsibility for their students' performance was impressed upon teachers, they became more controlling. They talked more, were more critical, gave more commands and allowed less choice and autonomy. (Author/CM)

Two experiments investigated whether instructions to students about how and what to learn can facilitate learning as effectively as adjunct postquestions. Adjunct-question, instruction, and adjunct-question plus instruction groups performed significantly better than the control group in recall of verbatim factual information and in responding to…

An explanation is sought for the striking apparent failure of the interactions of intelligence and memory factors with socioeconomic status predicted by Jensen's Level I/Level II theory, in a study by Stankov, Horn and Roy (EJ 239 630). It is suggested that Level I ability is a category of narrower abilities involving rote learning and primary…

Jensen's ideas about two levels of intellectual abilities are criticized as being oversimplified. More than two levels of intellectual abilities and relationships between variables reflecting more than racial and socioeconomic status (SES) differences are suggested, arguing that Jensen's statements about race and SES differences are not properly…

When 1,201 males and 1,145 females responded to a range of spatial questions, males significantly outperformed females on 25 of 72 occasions. On no occasion did females significantly outperform males. Wattanawaha's system for classifying spatial tasks was used to identify qualitative differences in performances of males and females. (Author/CM)

Apparently positive behaviors, such as praise, help-giving and pity, may indicate low estimation of ability to the student, and blame, relative neglect, and anger may be perceived by the recipient as high estimations of ability. These behaviors influence recipient self-perception and determine expectations, affective reactions and performance.…

Grade 10 and 12 students from single-sex and coeducational schools were surveyed, comparing their perceptions of school emphasis on scholarship and achievement affiliation and nonacademic activities, and control and discipline. Coeducational schools were perceived to enjoy an advantage in social-emotional needs and to minimize regimentation and…

Three views of the compatibility of Piaget's theory and educational practice are considered. More research is needed to establish the validity of Piaget's most educationally relevant constructs. Features of Piaget's theory that have attracted teachers and the implications of Piaget's more recent theoretical emphasis on social factors are…