In trying to understand the origin of gender differences favoring girls in reading skills, analysts have examined mainly the performance of students who are in the same grade, with samples pooled across socioeconomic status (SES). Using a longitudinal sample in Baltimore, where all students in a randomly selected panel are the same age and are…

Presents the results of a study that tracked the educational progress of a group of first graders from 1982 to 1996. Examines the children's personal qualities, first-grade experiences, and family circumstances as precursors to dropping out in high school. Identifies dropping out as a long-term process of disengagement. (MJP)

Both black and white children's reactions to black adults are studies for how the status characteristics of adults and children affect adults' ability to raise a child's expectations of his own performance on school-like tasks. (Author/KM)

Reporting on a follow-up study of Baltimore (Maryland) schoolchildren, this article shows that long-term continuity in the level of school performance can be related to the child's early social environment. Focuses on how the nature of the children's early performance relates to their performance four to nine years later. (Author/GEA)

Previous experiments with grade school children, designed to raise their expectations for their own performance, were repeated with pupil subgroups formed according to race, sex, and age. Positive results were reproduced, and further analyses are presented to assess the effect of some status factors in the situation. (Author/JB)