This study examined the associations among child demographic variables, teacher perceptions of parent-teacher and student-teacher relationship quality, and teacher perceptions of children's academic abilities in an ethnically diverse sample of 607 academically at-risk first grade children. Relative to relationships with African American children and parents, teachers rated their relationships with White and Hispanic children and parents more positively. Measures of relationship quality added unique variance to teachers' perceptions of children's abilities, controlling for parent educational level and measured ability. Relationship variables fully mediated the association between African American status and teachers' perceptions of children's abilities. Implications of the findings for teacher in-service and professional development and for parent involvement programs are discussed.

This multi-method research linked the Big Five personality dimensions to aggression in early adolescence. Agreeableness was the personality dimension of focus because this dimension is associated with motives to maintain positive interpersonal relations. In two studies, middle school children were assessed on the Big Five domains of personality. Study 1 showed that agreeableness was associated with both indirect and direct aggression. In addition, the link between agreeableness and aggression was strongest for direct strategies. Study 2 examined the hypotheses that agreeableness predicts social cognitions associated with aggression, peer reports of direct aggression, and teacher reports of adjustment. Agreeableness predicted peer reports of aggression and social cognitions associated with aggression. In addition, aggression mediated the link between agreeableness and adjustment. Results suggest that of the Big Five dimensions, Agreeableness is most closely associated with processes and outcomes related to aggression in adolescents.

This multimethod research linked the Big-Five personality dimensions to interpersonal conflict in childhood. Agreeableness was the personality dimension of focus because this dimension has been associated with maintaining positive interpersonal relations in adolescents and adults. In two studies, elementary school children were assessed on the Big-Five domains of personality. Study 1 (n=276) showed that agreeableness was uniquely associated with endorsements of conflict resolution tactics in children as well as parent and teacher reports of coping and adjustment. Study 2 (n=234) revealed that children's perceptions of themselves and others during conflict was influenced by their agreeableness regardless of their partner's agreeableness. Observers also reported that pairs higher in agreeableness had more harmonious, constructive conflicts. Overall findings suggest that of the Big-Five dimensions, agreeableness is most closely associated with processes and outcomes related to interpersonal conflict and adjustment in children.

This study investigated whether children's empathic accuracy is associated with their peer relationships and adjustment. It also examined whether, and how, empathic accuracy moderated the known influence of peer relations on adjustment. Participants were 116 (58 boys) fifth-through eighth-graders. At school, child participants completed measures assessing their peer relationships. In the lab, child participants completed a performance-based measure of empathic accuracy and measures of adjustment. Teachers and parents also provided assessments. Results revealed that children who were less adept at inferring other people's thoughts and feelings were more likely to experience adjustment problems. Empathic accuracy acted as a buffer against adjustment problems when peer relationships were poor: Previously found links between poor peer relationships and poor adjustment were found for adolescents with low empathic accuracy but not for those with high empathic accuracy.

Using latent variable structural equation modeling, we tested a theoretical model positing that grade retention has a positive effect on children's teacher-and peer-rated academic competencies and on sociometric measures of peer acceptance. We also expected that the positive effect of grade retention on peer acceptance would be mediated by children's ability to meet academic challenges in their classrooms. Participants were 350 (52.6% male) ethnically diverse and academically at-risk first graders attending 1 of 3 school districts in Texas. An individually administered test of academic achievement, teacher-report and peer-report measures of academic competence, and peer-report measures of peer acceptance were collected on children in first grade and 1 year later, at which time 63 children were repeating first grade and 287 were in second grade. The hypothesized model provided a good fit to the data. Children's academic competencies, as perceived by peers and teachers, fully mediated the effect of retention on subsequent peer acceptance.When a child does not exhibit certain minimum academic competencies, teachers and parents face a dilemma. The child can be promoted to the next grade, with the hope that the child will somehow acquire the necessary competencies. This option is known as "social promotion." An alternative is to retain the child in grade to give the child another opportunity to master academic skills for that grade. This option is known as "grade retention." Passage in 2002 of the No Child Left Behind Act, with its emphasis on mastery of minimum grade-level competencies as a condition for promotion, has renewed discussion of grade retention in the public arena. However, many researchers have examined the effects of grade retention during childhood and adolescence (Alexander, Entwisle, & Dauber, 1994 BeebeFrankenberger, Bocian, MacMillan, & Gresham, 2004;Holmes & Matthews, 1984;Jimerson, 1999Jimerson, , 2001Jimerson, Carlson, Rotert, Egeland, & Sroufe, 1997;Mantzicopoulos, 1997;Mantzicopoulos & Morrison, 1992;McCoy & Reynolds, 1999;Meidel & Reynolds, 1999;Meisels & Liaw, 1993;Rumberger, 1995;Shepard & Smith, 1990).Generally, research has suggested that grade retention has a negative effect on the developmental trajectories of children; however, there are several inconsistencies in the graderetention literature. For example, Jimerson (2001) conducted a meta-analysis of 20 studies published between 1990 and 1999 that reported the effects of grade retention on academic and socioemotional development in retained students and a comparison group of promoted students. These 20 studies yielded 175 analyses reporting academic outcomes and a mean effect size (Cohen's d, based on averaging outcomes for each study and weighing each study equally) of −.39. However, effects across studies were varied. Only nine analyses suggested that retained students performed better academically than promoted students. Conversely, 82 analyses indicated that promoted students performed better than retained students, and 8...