Social-emotional, cognitive, and demographic determinants of poor school achievement: Implications for a strategy of intervention.

Abstract

Investigated the effect of 3 classes of variables (preschool cognitive functioning, preschool social-emotional functioning, and background-demographic variables) on early elementary school achievement. 209 black and white boys from lower- and middle-class backgrounds were evaluated during the preschool period and received achievement tests during the 2nd yr of elementary school. Each of the 3 classes of variables accounted for a significant proportion of the variance of the criterion measures (e.g., Kohn Social Competence Scale, Kohn Problem Checklist, Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale, and the Metropolitan Achievement Test). When the classes of variables were examined using a hierarchical regression technique, the social-emotional and cognitive variables yielded the most information for programs of psychological intervention. Intervention directed at the social-emotional components of cognitive performance is discussed. (20 ref)

Teachers’ Judgments About Their Students: The Effect of Cognitive Simplification Strategies on the Rating Process

“…More recent research has tended to support Schaeffer's conclusion. Thus, similar factors have been found when teachers were rating child psychopathology (Achenbach & Edelbrock, 1978), social-emotional development (Kohn & Rosman, 1974), or classroom behavior (Solomon & Kendall, 1977).…”

The Roles of Cognitive Processing and Language Development in Emergent Literacy

“…The remaining 7 8 % may be attributed to factors that were not measured in this study, including auditory perception (Abrahamson et al, 1979;Belka & Williams, 1979;Stanovich, Cunningham, & Cramer, 1984), visualperceptual and perceptual-motor (Lindgren, 1978;Satz, Taylor, Friel, & Fletcher, 1978), behavioral-emotional factors (Birrell, Phillips, & Scott, 1985;Kohn & Rosman, 1974), and demographic variables (Butler, Marsh, Sheppard, & Sheppard, 1982;Satz et al, 1975).…”

“…Indeed, there is growing evidence (Lazar & Darlington, 1982) that remediation at this time does reduce the incidence of later school failure. Thus, in an effort to identify the early warning signs of subsequent school failure, researchers have studied the predictive validity of various preschool measures of auditory perception (Abrahamson & Bell, 1979), cognitive abilities (Stevenson & Newman, 1986), perceptual-motor skills (Lindgren, 1978), affect (Kohn & Rosman, 1974), and demographic variables (Satz, Friel, & Goebel, 1975). However, to date, there is little agreement as to the relative effectiveness of any of these measures in predicting subsequent academic performance (Tramontana, Hooper, & Selzer, 1988).…”

How Do Teachers Define Students at Risk?

“…Two particularly salient factors appear to be family baickground and socioemotional functioning (Kohn and P.osman 1974). Underachievement has been consistently associated with a single-parent or broken family structure, and with a nonsupportive family environment (Kohn and Rosman 1974; Kosiey and Davies 1982;Thompson 19j35). Underachievers have also demonstrated a distinct patt em of dysfunctional social behavior that Kohn (1977) has described in terms of two bipolar factors: interest-participation vs. apathy-withdrawal, and cooperation-compliance vs. anger-defiance.…”