The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of a transitional first grade program on the attitude and readiness scores of a group of regular first grade students who qualified for the transitional program but attended regular first grade (control group) and a group of transitional first grade students (experimental group). The study utilized a pretest/posttest design. The regular first grade students received formal instruction in all academic areas. The experimental group received no formal instruction.

This study was a descriptive study of student attitudes toward standardized tests and parent observations of behaviors during the testing process. A total of 87 third grade students and their parents were surveyed. predominately white and middle class. The students were The school settings consisted of parochial elementary schools.

The purpose of this study was to describe students' perceptions of their classroom in which HyperCard is used and to compare it to a non-HyperCard environment in which no HyperCard is or has been used. The participants were 67 fifth-grade students from four intact classrooms from the same school in a large, urban, midwestern city.A non-randomized control-group versus treatment group design was used. In this design preassembled groups were selected and given an environmental perception instrument and then compared for similarity on the five dependent measures: cohesiveness, friction, difficulty, satisfaction, and competitiveness.Specifically, the statistical design was a two factor MANOVA examining each of two levels (classroom type and gender), and five dependent measures corresponding to the five scales of the Mv Class Inventory, (MCI). Eleven null hypotheses were tested at the .05 level of significance.In this study, students' perceptions of the non-HyperCard utilizing classroom learning environments were compared to classroom environments utilizing HyperCard. Four fifth-grade classrooms were examined: two classrooms utilizing HyperCard and two non-HyperCard classrooms.The following results were reported:1. Multivariate tests of significance for Sex by Group effect found no interaction (p. = .274) Multivariate Analysis (MANOVA) of the differences between boys and girls as measured jointly on the subscales of the found no significant differences (with F [5,59] = .91, p = .483).2. Multivariate tests of the differences between groups, as measured jointly on the subscales of the MCI, found significant differences (with F [5,59] = 5.34, p - .000).The researcher concluded that HyperCard classrooms present new and more difficult challenges that are not addressed in similar and familiar ways.Recommendations for further research included longitudinal studies that would ascertain how students' perceptions of their classroom environment change over a period of time. Additional research might examine the effects a more time-intensive HyperCard program has on students' perceptions of their environment. / Department of Elementary Education

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of reading aloud nonfiction science trade books on the attitudes toward science and the book selection habits of students in the elementary classroom. Gender differences among attitude and book selection were also explored.The school district chosen as the site for the research was located in a small Midwestern town with a population of about 32,000. The community consisted of people with diverse socioeconomic status and cultural backgrounds. Four teachers and 73 third grade students participated in the study. Complete data was available for 60 students.The four classrooms were randomly divided into two groups, those listening to science nonfiction trade books for twenty minutes each day for six weeks and those listening to nonscience books for twenty minutes each day for six weeks. An attitudinal survey was administered at the beginning and the end of the study. The percentage of science books versus other types of books was monitored for the six week period.The analysis of data revealed that students who were read the science nonfiction books chose a greater percentage of science books when checking out books from the library than did the students who were read nonscience books. There was no difference in the percentage of books selected by girls compared with those selected by boys. Results also showed a very slight increase in positive attitude toward science as a result of listening to science books during read-aloud sessions. There was no significant difference in the attitudes of the girls compared to the boys who were read science books. / Department of Elementary Education

The transition from elementary to middle school is a significant period of change for adolescents and is remarkable for several reasons, including the opportunity for new experiences and the potential for other developmental changes to occur simultaneously. Existing literature on transition includes both positive and negative outcomes for adolescents in areas of achievement, peer relations, self-esteem, and self concept, with gender differences including more negative outcomes for girls. The possibility of multiple transitions occurring simultaneously (i.e. puberty and academic transition), along with literature suggesting that the elimination of the middle school model and replacing it with a K-8 building configuration would reduce negative student outcomes, provided the rationale for the current study: an examination of early adolescents either making an academic transition following the fourth grade or remaining in a K-8 building, and the potential influence on self concept. In addition, student perceptions of school related issues were surveyed. A repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance revealed no significant interactions of time and either group status or gender on self concept. The information from the student perception survey suggested students in the Transition group were more likely to report school as being very different before and after transition. Environmental factors, such as having a locker and more choices in the cafeteria, were more important to students than making new friends or facing increased difficulty in academics. The findings of the current study lend support to academic transition occurring at an earlier age and suggest a greater emphasis on environmental aspects of transition and protective factors in facilitating positive outcomes. / Department of Educational Psychology

This study reports on an investigation of the effects of busing on the academic performance and selected school-related attitudes of white fourth- and fifth-grade students in urban elementary schools. The 900 subjects of this study included 169 fourth-grade bused white students, 298 fourth-grade non-bused white students, 189 fifth-grade bused white students, and 264 fifth-grade non-bused white students, all assigned to desegregated schools. Based on the findings of this study, the following conclusions were drawn. 1) When middle-class, white fourth-grade students are bused to desegregated schools similar to their neighborhood schools, they can be expected to sustain positive attitudes about school and self. 2) The achievement made by fourth-grade bused white students in desegregated schools can be anticipated to be equivalent to the achievement of non-bused white students in desegregated neighborhood schools. 3) When middle-class, white fifth-grade students are bused to desegregated schools similar to their neighborhood schools, they can be expected to sustain positive attitudes about school and self. 4) The achievement made by fifth-grade bused white students in desegregated schools can be anticipated to be equivalent to the achievement of non-bused white students in desegregated neighborhood schools. 5) The effects of busing on middle-class, white fourth- and fifth-grade students transported to environments similar to their former schools appear unrelated to school achievement and attitudinal factors toward school.

This study investigated the implications of using computers in the writing process. The purpose was to determine whether there was a difference between two groups in their editing and revising techniques and their attitude towards writing. It was hypothesized that students who had had three years experience with computer writing would use more sophisticated forms of editing and would feel more positive toward writing than those students who had only a single year of writing with the computer. Two groups of seventh-grade students were identified: the One-year Group consisted of students who had one year of keyboard training and one year of experience with a word processor; the Three-year Group consisted of students who had a minimum of three years of keyboard training and a minimum of three years experience with a word processor. The students had all attended schools within the same district for the past three years. A group of grade-six students were trained as observers. They were given two training sessions, first observing a videotape and then observing another student. About 150 students were trained and the best 60 were used to observe the grade sevens for the study. Each writing group spent one forty-minute period composing an essay on the computer while being observed by the grade-six students. The observers tallied the editing and revising actions that were employed by the two writing groups. The editing activities of the two groups were compared. The grade-seven students were also given a writing opinion survey. Both groups had a positive attitude but there was no significant difference in their attitude toward writing. Three levels of editing are normally discerned (Kurth and Stromberg, 1987; Hillocks, 1987): surface, lexical, and phrase/sentence. The One-year Group made significantly more typing corrections but there was no difference in overall surface editing. The Three-year group did significantly more lexical and phrase/sentence editing. In this way, students with more word-processing experience exhibit an editing style that is characteristic of better writers. / Education, Faculty of / Graduate

A child's ability to learn in school and school performance are affected by various factors. Variables that affect learning and academic performance in 46 children, 4 - 7 years old, were examined. Children, parents, and teachers completed questionnaires rating children's attitudes and behavior toward school. Children completed a computerized matching-to-sample (MTS) task. The MTS trained the children to form 3 stimulus classes. One stimulus class included three arbitrary stimuli, the others contained a positively or negatively valenced stimulus, a school-related stimulus, and an arbitrary stimulus. Class formation performance was assessed. Rate of learning predicted attitudes toward school, school attitudes predicted academic performance; however a hypothesized mediation effect of attitudes was not demonstrated. No significant differences in rate of forming stimulus classes containing emotionally valenced and school stimuli were found. Future directions for intervention in the early education of students who have poor attitudes toward school are discussed.

This research investigated personal clothing purchasing practices of upper elementary school children in relation to: grade level, sex, race, socioeconomic status, mothers' employment, and types of clothing acquired. One hundred ninety-one fourth and seventh graders from rural Virginia completed a questionnaire in June, 1982. Data were analyzed using the Chi-square test of independence and Cramer's V or Phi tested the strength of the relationships. Three-fourths of the respondents shopped regularly for clothing and one-half had bought clothing without an older person present. When purchasing clothing independently, one-half of them used their own money. Students were more independent of elders when purchasing less expensive items. The findings which were statistically significant indicated seventh graders were more independent than fourth graders. More of them had purchased garments without their parents present, paid for them with their own money and liked to shop. They tended to buy clothing with only one parent present and make their own decisions about clothing purchases. Boys were more independent than girls. More males shopped without their parents and paid for clothing with their own money. Girls tended to shop with more than one person present. More black respondents shopped for clothing with both parents and others present and were influenced by their friends in their clothing purchases. The largest proportion of the white students bought clothing with one parent only and more of them paid for clothing with their own money and made decisions alone about purchases. No statistically significant differences were found for socioeconomic status or the mothers' employment in relation to any of the variables. / Master of Science

The purposes of this study were to apply a model of achievement-related behaviors to a sample of eighth-grade girls and to ascertain whether this theoretical model continued to describe girls' internal beliefs regarding mathematics.