High-achieving Groups Research Articles

Superior Self-Regulatory Skills in African American College Students

Excessive drinking is more common among Whites (W) than African Americans (AA) on college campuses, but the reasons for this are not clear. The authors investigated demographic and personality factors in a group of 369 W and 202 AA college students, finding that alcohol consumption was significantly less prevalent among AA students (69%) than W students (78%) ( p = .02) and that binge drinking was significantly less frequent in AA drinkers (42% past month, 60% past year) than W drinkers (56%, 79%) ( p < .00001). Cigarette smoking was also dramatically less frequent in AA students (5%) than W students (28%) ( p < .00001). AA students also scored significantly higher on Overcontrolled Hostility ( M = 18.2, SEM = 0.40) than did W students ( M = 15.7, SEM = 0.19) ( p < .00001). The authors conclude that AA college students are a more self-selected group of high achievers who reveal evidence of superior self-regulatory skills.

Effects of the Peer Group on the Development of Social Functioning and Academic Achievement: A Longitudinal Study in Chinese Children

This longitudinal study examined, in a sample of Chinese children (initial mean ages = 9.5 and 12.7 years, N = 505), how the peer group contributed to social functioning and academic achievement and their associations. Data on informal peer groups, social functioning, and academic achievement were collected from multiple sources. Multilevel structural equation modeling revealed that group academic performance made direct contributions to children's social development. Group academic performance also moderated the individual-level relations between academic performance and later social functioning. Whereas high-achieving groups strengthened the positive relations between academic achievement and social competence, low-achieving groups facilitated the negative relations between academic achievement and social problems. The results indicate the significance of the peer group for social functioning from a developmental perspective.

Individual and longitudinal differences among high and low-achieving, LD, and ADHD L2 learners

High-achieving (HA) and low-achieving (LA), learning disabled (LD), and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) high school students were followed over two years of L2 study and compared on measures of L1 literacy (reading and writing) in elementary school, L1 cognitive ability, L2 aptitude, oral and written L2 proficiency, and L2 word decoding and spelling, and in L2 grades. Findings revealed significant differences between the HA and LA and the HA and LD groups on all of the L1 and L2 measures. No significant differences were found between the LA and LD groups on any of the L1 and L2 measures, and few differences were found between the HA and ADHD groups. Results replicated studies which have shown that L1 literacy skills are important for L2 learning. New findings showed that students classified as ADHD who have average or better L1 skills do well in L2 courses and that L1 literacy differences between high and low achieving L2 learners emerged early in elementary school, providing support for long-term cross linguistic transfer of L1 to L2 skills.

Students’ Perceptions of Learning Geography through Group Investigation in Singapore

This study examines students’ perceptions of the Group Investigation method of cooperative learning. A total of 142 students (62 low-achievers and 80 high-achievers) from two schools worked in cooperative learning groups during a period of over six weeks using the Group Investigation method. At the end of the study, they were asked to write their perceptions of the Group Investigation method. Out of a total of 955 statements made by all the students, two-thirds (652) were positive statements and one-third (303) were negative statements. Both the high-achieving and low-achieving groups made twice as many positive statements as negative ones. The students’ written statements of their perceptions and experience of learning with the Group Investigation method provided insights into their attitudes and orientations toward school learning. Four main categories of positive statements emerged. One category indicated that the Group Investigation method was interesting, fun and effective, while the other categories reflected the students’ positive perception of their social relationships, learning skills and academic achievement in terms of deeper understanding of the topics investigated. On the negative side, students stated that they would like the teacher to continue with their normal teaching method, that is, to present academic material to them. The students thought that the Group Investigation method was time consuming and they were concerned about their coming examinations and syllabus coverage. Another cluster of statements was about their inability to learn as much from the new method of learning, and they encountered problems while working in groups, such as how to conduct their research and how to make their presentations.

Social Self-Concept, Social Attributions, and Peer Relationships in Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Graders Who Are Gifted Compared to High Achievers

Socially related self-concept, attributions for social success and failure, and peer relationships were investigated for fourth through sixth graders identified as intellectually gifted and a comparison group of high achievers not identified as gifted. The group identified as gifted scored significantly higher on 3 of 4 socially related self-concept subscales ( p < .01) and on the general self-concept scale ( p < .05) of the Self-Description Questionnaire-I (Marsh, 1988). On the Student Social Attribution Scale (Bell & McCallum, 1995), an interaction effect was noted, with the group identified as gifted scoring higher than the comparison group on attributions for social success due to ability and effort and lower on attributions for social failure due to ability, effort, and task difficulty. Though teachers‘ ratings of peer relationships yielded no differences between the 2 groups, boys across groups were rated significantly higher than girls ( p < .05).

Policy Issues Related to Curriculum Development and Implementation for Gifted Education in Science in Korea

The article examines admission policy issues related to curriculum development and implementation for the gifted education in science at special high schools in Korea. High school admission policies provided a means to identify and select a population of the scientifically gifted with certain characteristics and gave major directions for curriculum development while university admission policies had significant influences on curriculum implementation in special high schools. The admission policies for science high schools in Korea selected a homogeneous group of high achievers in all subject areas while special high schools for the gifted tended to select a heterogeneous group of the scientifically gifted in various areas of science including physics, chemistry, biology, earth science or information technology. University admission policies seemed to function as a parameter to achieve successful curriculum implementation.

Parent-adolescent interaction: influence on the academic achievement of African American adolescent males.

As the achievement gap between African American and while students persists, an examination of factors outside the school setting are essential. Acknowledging the dynamics of family environment as perceived by African American adolescent males is apposite to understanding the relationship between family environment and academic achievement. Utilizing an ecological perspective, this study describes the characteristics of family process variables and analyzes the adolescents' perception of parent-adolescent interaction and its influence on their psychological well-being. Results indicate that a substantial proportion of the 179 adolescent males who perceived parent-adolescent interaction as positive and were identified as having a stable psychological well-being, were more likely to have average to above-average grade point averages, high Stanford Nine scores and high achievement group membership, than those adolescent males who did not perceive parent-adolescent interaction as positive.

Educational success for children in public care: advice from a group of high achievers

ABSTRACTResearch over the past 20 years has consistently shown that children in public care fall behind at school, seldom achieve good qualifications, and are much less likely than their peers to go on to further or higher education. However, a small minority of looked‐after children do well academically. This paper examines the opinions of 38 high‐achieving young people who spent at least a year in residential or foster care on what they think are the best ways to enhance the educational experience of looked‐after children. An evaluation of four key questions from a semistructured interview highlighted the importance of foster carers, residential workers, social workers and teachers in providing support and encouragement for academic achievement. On the other hand, many of these individuals emphasized their dislike of being ‘singled out’ by the teacher. A third of the participants believed that negative stereotypes and low expectations of children in care among professionals and care providers were major obstacles to their educational success. Over half the sample reported that in many children’s homes basic necessities such as books, a desk and a quiet place to do homework were lacking. In addition their opportunity to engage in outside interests and hobbies was severely limited. By contrast, for these individuals foster care had provided better opportunities. On entering higher education the majority of the participants had faced severe problems. They stressed the need for continuing financial support and adequate year‐round accommodation, because, unlike most students, these care leavers usually have no parental home to return to during university vacations. A third of participants also felt a strong desire for a ‘guardian angel’ to support and encourage them during their time at university. The paper concludes that the views of these thoughtful and resilient individuals should be taken very seriously and translated into improvements in policy and practice. Official guidance now highlights the importance of education for looked‐after children, but changing attitudes and priorities at ground level presents a major challenge.

Atribuição de causalidade ao sucesso e fracasso escolar: um estudo transcultural Brasil-Argentina-México

The attributional mechanisms used by Brazilian, Argentinean and Mexican students to explain the academic success and failure were compared. The sample consisted of 1594 high school students of both sexes separated into either high or low achievement groups, attending either public or private institutions. They were asked to indicate the causes of their own performance, of their classmates, of students from a different kind of school and of students from another country. Effort was chosen by the majority of students from the three national groups as an explanation of either success or failure of their own, of other students from the same country and of students from different countries, albeit observed differences in attributional patterns as a function of nationality, sex and type of school. These results are discussed based both on the self-serving attributional bias and the fundamental attribution error theoretical framework, by taking into account the cultural peculiarities of the three countries which participated in the study.

Homework style, homework environment, and academic achievement

The study examined the preferred and actual homework styles of 272 seventh graders (134 males and 138 females) who were characterized by (1) three levels of self‐perceived homework achievement, (2) three levels of academic achievement, and (3) three levels of homework achievement. Consistencies and differences in the distinguishing components were found within and between the different types of achievement. Although different patterns of distinguishing components emerged between preferred and actual homework styles, there were remarkable consistencies between them that distinguished the achievement levels. In general, high achievers were more self‐, parent‐, and teacher‐motivated and persistent, organized their homework in some order, preferred or did homework in a bright home environment and by themselves, and did better with specific instructions, when compared with low achievers. However, neither preferred nor actual perceptual preferences distinguished the levels of achievement. In both preferred and actual situations, students in the high homework achievement group were more parent-motivated than those in the low homework achievement group, demonstrating the importance of parental involvement in the home learning environment.

CAI/multimedia approach to farm tractor and machinery safety certification

Research was conducted at Purdue University with the primary goal to compare a newly developed self-instructional CAI/multimedia computer program with traditional instructional methods for use by youth enrolled in a farm tractor and machinery safety program. Seventy-two subjects selected from three 8th and 9th grade agricultural education classes and one group of middle school-aged youth (grades 6–19) involved in a 4-H tractor and machinery-related program were randomly divided, with half of each group receiving traditional instructor-based training using printed materials, videos, and demonstrations, and the other half receiving self-instruction with a computer program. A pretest and post test evaluation revealed that there was not a statistical difference in knowledge gained between the two instructional strategies. However, an analysis of low, middle and high achievement youth, based on knowledge gain, did reveal significant difference between the two instructional strategies. Subjects from the computer-based instructional method dominated both high and low achievement groups, while the traditional instructional method subjects tended to fall into the middle achievement group.

Network representations of knowledge about chemical equilibrium: Variations with achievement

AbstractThis study examined variation in the organization of domain‐specific knowledge by 50 Year‐12 chemistry students and 4 chemistry teachers. The study used nonmetric multidimensional scaling (MDS) and the Pathfinder network‐generating algorithm to investigate individual and group differences in student concepts maps about chemical equilibrium. MDS was used to represent the individual maps in two‐dimensional space, based on the presence or absence of paired propositional links. The resulting separation between maps reflected degree of hierarchical structure, but also reflected independent measures of student achievement. Pathfinder was then used to produce semantic networks from pooled data from high and low achievement groups using proximity matrices derived from the frequencies of paired concepts. The network constructed from maps of higher achievers (coherence measure = 0.18, linked pairs = 294, and number of subjects = 32) showed greater coherence, more concordance in specific paired links, more important specific conceptual relationships, and greater hierarchical organization than did the network constructed from maps of lower achievers (coherence measure = 0.12, linked pairs = 552, and number of subjects = 22). These differences are interpreted in terms of qualitative variation in knowledge organization by two groups of individuals with different levels of relative expertise (as reflected in achievement scores) concerning the topic of chemical equilibrium. The results suggest that the technique of transforming paired links in concept maps into proximity matrices for input to multivariate analyses provides a suitable methodology for comparing and documenting changes in the organization and structure of conceptual knowledge within and between individual students.

Acquiring meaning for decimal fraction symbols: A one year follow-up

Fourth graders with differing achievement records participated in a specially designed two week unit on decimal fractions. Students were encouraged to connect meaningful referents with decimal fraction symbols and use these meanings to develop procedures for adding and subtracting decimal numbers. One year later these students and a matched set of fifth graders were interviewed and given paper-and-pencil tests. Three questions were of interest: (1) Do short term changes in the processes students use to solve problems remain stable over time; (2) Do students who have been instructed in conceptually-based processes exhibit a higher level of performance one year later than their conventionally taught peers; and (3) What is the relationship between entry achievement level and the year-long effects of conceptually-based instruction? The results suggest that: (1) If students used the meanings of written symbols as a basis for solving problems immediately after instruction, they used these processes to solve problems one year later, regardless of entering achievement; (2) Compared to their conventionally taught peers, students in the lower achievement group benefitted relatively more from the conceptually-based instruction than students in the higher achievement group; (3) However, higher achieving students were more likely to exhibit use of conceptually-oriented processes one year later than the lower achieving students.

Spontaneous running activity in male rats: effect of age.

Alterations in the intensity and pattern of spontaneous running activity as rats increase in age from 7 wk to 1 yr was studied in male rats placed in exercise wheel cages. Daily running records were obtained on 27 rats for periods up to 12 mo, and 24-h activity recordings were made of selected runners to study the variation in activity during the day. The data indicate that for rats running over 2,940 revolutions (or 2 miles/day), the maximum intensity of running attained can be divided into a group of high achievers (approximately 8 miles/day) and moderate achievers (averaging 4.5 miles/day). For both groups, spontaneous running activity reached maximal rates after 4-5 wk. This maximal rate was sustained for 7-8 wk, then fell to levels approximately 60% of maximum for 4-5 mo, and then fell again to levels approximately 25% of maximum from 8 to 12 mo of age. The hourly pattern of running activity during the day was defined in rats of increasing age, who averaged 13,280, 6,662, 3,874, and 1,755 rev/day, corresponding to 9.0, 4.5, 2.6, and 1.2 miles/day, respectively. The overall patterns at each level indicated that the major running period occurred between 6:00 P.M. and 6:00 A.M., the greater activity of younger rats was paralleled by faster speeds and longer duration at each hour of the day, and the peak running activity for each group generally occurred between 7:00 and 9:00 P.M. In summary, there is a progressive loss in speed and duration of spontaneous running activity as male rats increase in age, with intensity of exercise falling below 2 miles/day after 7-8 mo of age.

The relationship between student ratings of course effectiveness and student achievement.

For many years student ratings have been used to assess the strengths and weaknesses of various courses and the teaching abilities of the instructors involved. Investigators have either supported or attacked the validity of this assessment procedure on the basis of the direction and degree of the relationship found between student rating of a course and student achievement in that course. This validation study supplemented correlation analysis with analysis of variance to compare groups at various achievement levels and to control for the possible confounding effects of overall group analysis. Medical students responded to a Likert attitude scale about aspects of an anatomy course. The mean attitude scores for a high and a low course achievement group were significantly different at the 0.005 level; the high achievement group had a more positive course attitude.

Relationship of Ethnic Groups Self-Esteem and Anxiety to School Success

Differences in measures of self-esteem and anxiety between children from three ethnic subgroups in each of three upper elementary grades, who had been divided by placing high or low on scores on tests of reading achievement, arithmetic achievement, and scholastic aptitude, were studied. In contrast to previous findings by Frerichs (1971), no self-esteem differences were noted in high vs. low reading achievement groups of Black children. Self-esteem and anxiety differences between subsamples of high vs. low achievement and of high vs. low scholastic aptitude were inconsistent across ethnic groups. Sample characteristics, differences in conditions for instrument administration, and varying child-adult relationships were suggested as possible sources of influences upon the findings.

Differences in the Vigilance Performance of Second-Grade Children as Related to Sex and Achievement

KIRCHNER, GRACE L., and KNOPF, IRWIN J. Differences in the Vigilance Performance of SecondGrade Children as Related to Sex and Achievement. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1974, 45, 490-495. 64 middleto upper-middle-class, white, second-grade children were tested on a visual vigilance task. They were selected on the basis of their scores on the Stanford Achievement Test in order to form high and low achievement groups. The vigilance task consisted of a 30-minute movie of a stationary jet plane. The children responded to a change in the star on the plane's fuselage, which occurred a total of 24 times at predetermined intervals of 30, 60, 90, and 120 seconds. The high achievers made a greater number of correct detections (p < .01) and a fewer number of false responses (p < .01), and there was a significant decline in the number of correct detections over time (p < .05). There were no sex differences in performance, and there was no relationship between performance and interval length.

The Interrelationship of Perceptual - Motor Achievement, Academic Achievement &amp; Intelligence of Fourth Grade Children

The relationship of perceptual-motor achievement, academic achievement, and intclligence was investigated. Eighty-six fourth grade boys and girls of normal intelligence were studied. On the basis of performance on the Stanford Achievement Test (SAT), 41 pupils were designated as low achievers and 45 were designated as high achievers. The California Test of Mental Maturity (CTMM) and a perceptualmotor battery consisting of 11 tests were also administered to the children. Scores on the perceptual-motor battery for all children correlated significantly with their CTMM and SAT scores. The combined group of male and female high achievers performed significantly better than the low achiever group on all subtests of the CTMM including IQ. They also scored significantly better on six of the 11 perceptual-motor tests. On the remaining five tests, no differences were noted.

A Comparative Analysis of Fantasy Need Achievement among High and Low Achieving Male Hawaiian-Americans

Fantasy need achievement scores were obtained from male high school students representing three ethnic groups: Filipino-Americans, Japanese-Americans, and indigenous Hawaiians who were further categorized into high-achieving and low-achieving groups. The only significant differences were between the Japanese and the two Hawaiian groups who had the lowest n Ach scores. More importantly, the two Hawaiian groups differentiated in terms of experience, ability, achievement, and social class did not differ significantly in terms of n Ach. These findings were interpreted as challenging the usefulness of the notion that Hawaiian children do well or poorly in school because they possess or lack n Ach.

Birth Order and Attainment of the Doctorate a Test of Economic Hypotheses

One of the often posed explanations for the repeated finding of an overrepresentation of earlyborn among high academic achievement groups has been that firstborn have greater access to family financial resources for education than do those born later. Data from a sample of 8,124 Doctorates whose fathers have little education are not as likely to be firstborn as are those whose fathers have greater educational accomplishments. Later-born who attain the doctorate are not found to be lacking older brothers more often than expected. High measured ability level does not appear to be a compensatory trait for those assumed to be in a position of relative financ al disadvantage. Alternative explanations of the pervasiveness of birth-order effects on achievement are noted, and the role of future birth-order research is discussed.