Center for Research on the Education of Students Placed at Risk: Report #44

The Center for Research on the Education of Students Placed at Risk (CRESPAR) was established in 1994 and continued until 2004. It was a collaboration between Johns Hopkins University and Howard University. CRESPAR’s mission was to conduct research, development, evaluation, and dissemination of replicable strategies designed to transform schooling for students who were placed at risk due to inadequate institutional responses to such factors as poverty, ethnic minority status, and non-English-speaking home background.The purpose of this study was to gain descriptive insights into the routines, practices, perceptions, and interactions that constitute the everyday ecology of classrooms serving African American children from low-income backgrounds.Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI), U.S. Department of Education (R-117-D40005

Intelligence: Knowns and Unknowns

In the fall of 1994, the publication of Herrnstein and Murray's book The Bell Curve sparked a new round of debate about the meaning of intelligence test scores and the nature of intelligence. The debate was characterized by strong assertions as well as by strong feelings. Unfortunately, those assertions often revealed serious misunderstandings of what has (and has not) been demonstrated by scientific research in this field. Although a great deal is now known, the issues remain complex and in many cases still unresolved. Another unfortunate aspect of the debate was that many participants made little effort to distinguish scientific issues from political ones. Research findings were often assessed not so much on their merits or their scientific standing as on their supposed political implications. In such a climate, individuals who wish to make their own judgments find it hard to know what to believe. Reviewing the intelligence debate at its meeting of November 1994, the Board of Scientific Affairs (BSA) of the American Psychological Association (APA) concluded that there was urgent need for an authoritative report on these issues--one that all sides could use as a basis for discussion. Acting by unanimous vote, BSA established a Task Force charged with preparing such a report. Ulri

Center for Research on the Education of Students Placed at Risk: Report #42

The Center for Research on the Education of Students Placed at Risk (CRESPAR) was established in 1994 and continued until 2004. It was a collaboration between Johns Hopkins University and Howard University. CRESPAR’s mission was to conduct research, development, evaluation, and dissemination of replicable strategies designed to transform schooling for students who were placed at risk due to inadequate institutional responses to such factors as poverty, ethnic minority status, and non-English-speaking home background.For many African American children from low-income backgrounds, cognitive performance can be enhanced in contexts thematically characterized by aspects of Afro-cultural ethos. This report presents and describes the results of six experimental studies (two studies on each) on three cultural themes of primary interest, namely movement, communalism, and verve.Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI), U. S. Department of Education (R-117-D40005

Center for Research on the Education of Students Placed at Risk: Report #43

The Center for Research on the Education of Students Placed at Risk (CRESPAR) was established in 1994 and continued until 2004. It was a collaboration between Johns Hopkins University and Howard University. CRESPAR’s mission was to conduct research, development, evaluation, and dissemination of replicable strategies designed to transform schooling for students who were placed at risk due to inadequate institutional responses to such factors as poverty, ethnic minority status, and non-English-speaking home background.This report examines certain home cultural factors, cultural orientations, and learning preferences of African American school children from low-income backgrounds in order to document the relationship of prior cultural socialization experiences to enhanced cognitive, performance, and motivational outcomes.Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI), U. S. Department of Education (R-117-D40005

Center for Research on the Education of Students Placed at Risk: Report #68

The Center for Research on the Education of Students Placed at Risk (CRESPAR) was established in 1994 and continued until 2004. It was a collaboration between Johns Hopkins University and Howard University. CRESPAR’s mission was to conduct research, development, evaluation, and dissemination of replicable strategies designed to transform schooling for students who were placed at risk due to inadequate institutional responses to such factors as poverty, ethnic minority status, and non-English-speaking home background.The achievement gap between low-income African American students and their White counterparts remains substantial. To address this, researchers have begun to examine the impact of culture on cognitive performance among African American students (Lee, 2001; Foster, Lewis, & Onafowora, 2003). The findings from this work suggest that when aspects of students’ home culture are incorporated into academic learning contexts, strong academic performance and motivation result. This report presents the results of two experimental studies incorporating the cultural theme of communalism. For both studies, a general literature review is provided, along with statistical analyses and results specific to the procedures and measures used in each.Grant (No. R117-D40005) from the Institute of Education Sciences (IES, formerly OERI), U.S. Department of Educatio