Readiness; Sex Differences

A year-long cooperative study examined school readiness and academic achievement of normal and at-risk students. Subjects were 360 Russian and 400 American first-graders. A Russian-developed diagnostic screening instrument was used to identify at-risk individuals. Data were then collected through achievement tests at the beginning and end of the school year, teacher ratings of students, and surveys of schools, teachers, and families, following standard Russian research procedures. Results indicated that: (1) at-risk students scored less well on achievement tests as a whole than the control group; (2) American students had higher overall scores than the Russians; (3) Russian control students overtook their American counterparts on academic achievement tests by the end of the school year; (4) there was a wider variation in achievement scores between the Russian at-risk and control groups than the American at-risk and control group; and (5) boys were more likely than girls to be diagnosed as at-risk, although this gender difference was less pronounced among the Russian students than the Americans. Issues related to the cooperative nature of the study and Russian research techniques and instruments are also discussed. (MDM) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document