Lamont A. Flowers

Factors Affecting Urban African American High School Students' Achievement in Reading

Data analyzed from the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002 indicate that the reading achievement of urban African American high school students is positively influenced by the amount of hours spent doing homework and by parents expectations of their childs future educational attainment. Implications for practice and research are provided.

Concurrent Validity of the Learning and Study Strategies Inventory (LASSI) A Study of African American Precollege Students

Concurrent validation procedures were employed, using a sample of African American precollege students, to determine the extent to which scale scores obtained from the first edition of the Learning and Study Strategies Inventory (LASSI) were appropriate for diagnostic purposes. Data analysis revealed that 2 of the 10 LASSI scales (i.e., Anxiety and Test Strategies) significantly correlated with a measure of academic ability. These results suggested that scores obtained from these LASSI scales may provide valid assessments of African American precollege students’ academic aptitude. Implications for teachers, school counselors, and developmental studies professionals were discussed.