Rosalyn A. Rubin

Prevalence of Teacher Identified Behavior Problems: A Longitudinal Study

In a longitudinal study from kindergarten through grade 6, teachers annually rated the behavior of 1,586 children who were normally distributed on measures of IQ, socioeconomic status, and school achievement. In any single year, from 23% to 31% of the subjects were judged by their teachers as manifesting behavior problems. Long term cumulative prevalence rates were much higher. Among subjects receiving three or more annual ratings, 59% were considered as having a behavior problem by at least one teacher, and 7.4% were considered as having behavior problems by every teacher who rated them. Results indicate that behavior that at least one teacher is willing to classify as a problem is the norm rather than the exception for elementary school children, which raises serious questions about contemporary expectations regarding childrens behavior in school.

Self-Esteem and School Performance.

Self-esteem was found to have a moderate relationship with, but not a strong independent effect on, school achievement and behavior for a sample of 530 twelve-year-olds. From multiple correlation coefficients predicting school outcomes from measures of socioeconomic status, IQ, and self-esteem, it was concluded that much of the relationship between self-esteem and school performance for the general school population can best be explained as reflecting common underlying factors such as ability and background.

Neonatal serum bilirubin levels related to cognitive development at ages 4 through 7 years.

instances of cryptococcosis. 4 Salyer et al ~ have proposed that the pathogenesis of primary pulmonary cryptococcal infection may be similar to that of primary pulmonary tuberculosis; the subpleural nodule often found at autopsy represents the initial focus of infection, and spread to the hilar lymph nodes follows. Our patient had no clinical evidence of parenchymal lung infection but did have paratracheal adenopathy. Since direct inoculation of the skin may produce cutaneous cryptococcosis2 our patients scalp lesion may represent the portal of entry, with subsequent preauricular adenopathy. There was, presumably, hematogenous spread, as evidenced by the inguinal adenopathy, subcutaneous nodules, and liver granulomata. Confronted with cryptococcal infection, the clinicians impulse is to search for a predisposing condition, such as a malignancy, prolonged steroid therapy, or diabetes. However, none will be found in about 50% of patients. 7-9 Traditionally the treatment for cryptococcosis has been amphotericin. Recently 5-fluorocytosine has been used experimentally, even for meningitis, in patients unable to tolerate amphotericin. 9- 10 Because our patient was clinically stable and ambulatory, and had no evidence of meningitis, a trial of 5-fluorocytosine was begun, to avoid amphotericin toxicity. There was rapid and definitive resolution of all evidence of cryptococcal disease. Because some patients will not respond to a relatively low dose (60 mg/kg) of 5-fluorocytosine, they may need either a higher

Stability of Self-Esteem Ratings and Their Relation to Academic Achievement: A Longitudinal Study.

In a sample of 380 children, self-esteem as measured by the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory (SEI) became more stable and more highly correlated with school achievement as the children grew older. Subjects taking the SEI at ages 12 and 15 showed greater test-retest consistency (r = .64) than did subjects tested at ages 9 and 12 (r = .42). Correlations between SEI and school achievement scores also increased over the age range from 9 to 15. Childrens self-perceptions appear less firmly established, and therefore may be more responsive to intervention, at earlier ages.

Learning and Behavior Disorders: A Longitudinal Study.

In a survey of school learning and behavior problems manifested in a longitudinal study population of 967 children in kindergarten through third grade, it was found that 41 percent of the subjects (50 percent of the boys and 31 percent of the girls) were classified in one or more of the following categories: (a) special class placement, (b) retention, (c) receipt of special services, and (d) problems of behavior and attitude. Special placement or services had been instituted for 24.3 percent of the study population. Since previous testing yielded essentially normal scores on measures of school readiness, language development, and intelligence, the large proportion of educationally relevant problems identified raises serious questions regarding the ability of our present educational system to adequately accommodate the broad range of individual differences found within the typical school population.

Infant Neurological Abnormalities as Indicators of Cognitive Impairment

In a prospective longitudinal study, 1319 children who had received three neurological examinations during their first year of life were administered measures of cognitive development and academic achievement up to and including 12 years of age. With both social class and birthweight statistically controlled, children identified as neurologically suspect or abnormal on more than one of the infant examinations (N = 22) consistently performed far below control children on measures of intelligence, motor skills, language development and school achievement. Children who had been neurologically suspect or abnormal on only one infant examination (N=165) performed significantly less well than those never suspected of neurological abnormality in infancy (N=1132).

Factors in Special Class Placement

In an effort to identify factors associated with placement in classes for the educable retarded, comparisons were made between a group of 17 low IQ (< 80) regular class subjects and three groups of special class subjects: (a) 18 low IQ (< 80) subjects, (b) 9 average IQ (≧80) subjects, and (c) the total group of 32 special class subjects. No differences were found between regular and special class subjects on preschool readiness and language development or on achievement prior to differential placement. Significant socioeconomic status differences favored the regular class subjects. Both low socioeconomic status and poor school behavior were associated with special class placement of average IQ children. At 9 years of age, significant differences favoring regular class subjects were found on measures of academic achievement. These differences were attributed to the effects of differential school placement.

Perinatal Influences on the Behavior and Learning Problems of Children

For more than a century there has been speculation that the antecedents of mental retardation, learning disabilities, personality disorders, and similar educational and behavioral problems may be associated with anomalies of pregnancy, birth, and infancy. While most of the substantive research in this area has taken place during the past 25 years, its antecedents can be directly traced to the late 19th century. Systematic observation appears to have begun in 1862 with Little, who maintained that birth difficulties—specifically asphyxia, prematurity, and abnormal labor—were directly related to mental deficiency and cerebral palsy.

Preschool Application of the Metropolitan Readiness Tests: Validity, Reliability, and Preschool Norms

910 subjects were followed from pre-kindergarten through the latter part of first grade. It was found that scores on the Metropolitan Readiness Tests (MRT) obtained prior to kindergarten entrance correlated .65 with MRT scores obtained one year later, at pre-first grade level. Pre-kindergarten MRT scores predicted late first grade achievement in reading, spelling, and arithmetic approximately as effectively as did MRT scores obtained at pre-first grade level. Pre-kindergarten MRT norms based on the study sample are presented.