Trevor E. Sewell

Growth and Academic Achievement in Inner-City Kindergarten Children The Relationship of Height, Weight, Cognitive Ability, and Neurodevelopmental Level

Measures of height, weight, nonverbal cognitive ability (Ravens progressive matrix), visual-motor-perceptual ability (Beery-Buktenica test of Visual Motor Integration [VMI]), the imitation-of-gestures technique, and academic achievement (Stanford Early Achievement) were obtained for a sample of 82 children from a poor inner-city community. In contrast to prior reports from the United States and about other developed countries, anthropometric measures were related both to academic achievement and to these measures of neurodevelopment. They were not consistently related to measures of nonverbal cognitive ability. Regression analyses revealed that general cognitive ability contributed more variance (39%) to predictions of achievement than all other variables, including weight for age (13%) and VMI (6%). Children with reduced somatic growth were likely to do poorly in school, but the data do not show that undernutrition causes learning failure. Rather, they suggest that environmental problems affecting the development of thought processes and nutrient intake precede both growth and learning failure.

High School Dropout Psychological, Academic, and Vocational Factors

The correlates and presumable causes for dropping out: The phenomenon is more complex than might have been expected.

Intelligence and Learning Tasks as Predictors of Scholastic Achievement in Black and White First-Grade Children.

Abstract The predictive effectiveness of intelligence tests and learning tasks was examined for black and white subjects. Specifically, the focus was on the relative merits of learning tasks in contrast to traditional IQ tests in predicting scholastic achievement of children of markedly different experiential backgrounds. Learning tasks were drawn from three learning assessment procedures: (a) diagnostic teaching, (b) paired-associate, (c) learning-potential assessment using the Ravens Coloured Progressive Matrices in a pretest-coaching posttest format. Results indicated (a) IQ correlated moderately but significantly with achievement for both groups; (b) the IQ was a more reliable predictor for the white subjects than for the blacks, and (c) for the black group, certain learning tasks were more effective than IQ as predictors. The study is seen as providing evidence for the further exploration of alternative assessment procedures that offer prescriptive directions.

Test of an Arousal Theory of Delinquency Stimulation-Seeking in Delinquent and Nondelinquent Black Adolescents

It was predicted from a theoretical analysis of delinquency that adjudicated delinquents would be significantly greater in stimulation-seeking than nondelinquents matched on age, sex, race, and SES. Stimulation-seeking in 32 delinquent black adolescents and 32 nondelinquent black adolescents matched on age, sex, and SES was compared using the Sensation-Seeking Scale. In support of the theory, the delinquents were significantly higher in stimulation-seeking than the nondelinquents. Discussion centered on comparison with data for white adolescents and on the direction future tests of the theoretical analysis should take.

Effects of race and social class on preschool performance on the developmental test of visual-motor integration

The visual-motor integration of preschool children who varied in terms of race, sex, and socioeconomic status was assessed using the Beery-Buktenica Test of Visual-Motor Integration (VMI). An analysis of covariance revealed that there were significant main effects for race, sex, and socioeconomic status. Since, at the three- and four-year level, the VMI was normed only on white suburban children, the results of this study seemed to indicate the need for norms for black children at the preschool level. Thus, the second part of this paper reports normative data for black preschool children on the VMI.

A comparison of the WPPSI and Stanford-Binet intelligence scale (1972) among lower SES black children†

The study compared the performance of 35 lower SES black kindergarten children on the WPPSI and the 1972 Norm Edition of the Stanford-Binet, Contrary to the findings of previous investigations before the restandardization of the Binet, the WPPSI was found to yield a significantly higer mean IQ than the Binet. While there were no sex differences. significant age-related differences were found. Results were interpreted as suggesting that the WPPSI might be a more appropriate measure of cognitive ability for black children of lower socioeconomic status.

Comparison of Scores of Normal Children on the WISC-R and Stanford-Binet, Form LM, 1972.

Correlations of .86, .71, and .86 were obtained for 106 children, aged 6–0 to 16–10, between Verbal, Performance, and Full Scale IQs and the Stanford-Binet. On both tests mean IQ of the younger group was higher.

The relationship of estimated learning potential to performance on a learning task and achievement

The Estimated Learning Potential (ELP), a score obtained through the System of Multicultural Pluralistic Assessment (SOMPA), is purported to be a more appropriate index of potential for socioculturally different children. Prior studies have suggested a lower correlation with academic achievement than that of the traditional IQ score. The validity of the ELP has, therefore, been questioned. This study attempted to determine whether the ELP or IQ score would be the better predictor of performance on a learning task for 31 black and 32 white EMR children. The learning task was presented in a test-teach-test paradigm. Results suggest that the ELP did not correlate more highly with learning task performance than did the IQ score. However, the ELP may be more differentially sensitive to declassifying black children as retarded. The validity and the social consequences of the use of the IQ, ELP, and performance, after teaching, on the learning task for classification decisions also are discussed.

The Bannatyne Recategorization Assessment Procedure: Is it Valid for Individual Diagnosis of LD Children?

The WISC-R subtest scores of 159 black LD children of low socioeconomic status were recategorized into Spatial (Sp), Conceptual (C), and Sequential (Sq) scales as recommended by Bannatyne (1974). As a group, the sample displayed the classic Sp > C > Sq pattern. However, only 18 of the subjects (11.3%) were identified in accordance with the requirement that the differences between categories be statistically reliable for each individual. This subgroup was matched with LD controls not demonstrating the Bannatyne pattern. Analyses of longitudinal reading and math scores revealed no differences between groups. It was concluded that the diagnostic utility of the Bannatyne pattern is questionable.

The Effects of Material and Symbolic Incentives on the Learning Ability of Low Ses Black Children

Summary The hypothesis was advanced that ethnic consciousness would be superior to monetary and social rewards in facilitating performance on school-related tasks. The S s were low-socioeconomic-status black children drawn from fourth and fifth grades of a public elementary school in a large urban center. Ss were assigned to four experimental groups: social rewards, ethnic consciousness, monetary reward, and control (no incentive). The Raven Coloured Progressive Matrices and a paired-associate task were the dependent measures. Results indicate that ethnic consciousness enhanced performance at a significantly higher level than did the monetary reward and no-incentive conditions. Monetary and social rewards did not differ significantly. We need to re-examine the notion that material incentive is more effective than symbolic rewards in influencing the motivational system of black children.