Is There a Developmental Slump in Creativity in China? The Relationship Between Organizational Climate and Creativity Development in Chinese Adolescents

The major objectives of this study were to determine the characteristics of creativity development of Chinese children, the creative organizational climate of Chinese schools, and the relations among them. The results provided evidence that the creativity scores of children in elementary school were significantly higher than those of children in middle school. The teachers' evaluation of the creative organizational climate of the elementary school was significantly higher than that of the middle school. When the two variables were analyzed together, both the creative organizational climate of schools and the creative thinking development of children decreased during the children's development. Moreover, the creativity and climate scores were highly correlated, and the results from a path analysis suggested that a school's creative organizational climate has a significant impact on all seven dimensions of creativity measured in this study.     

School performance and IQ-test scores at age 13 as related to birth weight and gestational age

The cohort in the present longitudinal research program consisted of 873 children in an entire school grade, in a Swedish community. The present results showed a main effect of birth weight; low birth weight (LBW) children had lower school performance and intelligence-test (IQ) scores at age 13 than did normal birth weight (NBW) children irrespective of parental SES. Second, there was no significant main effect of gestational age (GA) on scholastic performance and IQ-test scores. Third, there was a significant main effect of the combination of birth weight and GA on scholastic performance and IQ-test scores. The LBW children born at term (38-40 pregnancy weeks; pw) had significantly lower scores and school grades as compared to the control group while the LBW children born with short gestational age (34-37 pw) and with very short gestational age (less than 34 pw) had significantly lower scores and marks in fewer areas of academic attainment.     

Sex differences in the original thinking of preschool and elementary school children

Abstract:

The purpose of this study was to assess the development of sex differences in the creative potential of preschool and early elementary school children. Preschool, first‐, and third‐grade children (N = 188) received the Multidimensional Stimulus Fluency Measure (MSFM). The MSFM assesses creative potential in terms of popular and original responses (ideational fluency). Comparisons of the three groups of children indicated that sex differences emerged throughout early elementary school. No sex differences were found within the preschool sample; but by third‐grade, boys were found to score significantly higher than girls on both popular and original responses. These findings were discussed with regard to evaluation, conformity, assimilative strategies, and the environmental factors which might affect creative potential.     

Creativity across Cultures: A Comparison between Ugandan and Italian Students

The purpose of this research was to compare the creative performance of students belonging to 2 different cultures, Italian and Ugandan. The participants were 462 children between the ages of 6 and 14 (231 in each group). The children were distributed across the age groups, between the 1st and 7th years of primary school. This study used a quantitative methodology and an intercultural perspective to explore the socio-cultural variables involved in defining and expressing creative action. To evaluate creative performance, Williams’s TCD (Test of Creativity and Divergent Thinking, 1996) was used along with a questionnaire to identify socio-anagraphical characteristics. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed no statistically significant difference between the averaged total scores of the two groups on creativity and divergent thinking tests. However, Ugandan and Italian students had statistically significant differences in the flexibility (FS) category, with Italian students earning higher scores than the Ugandan students, and also in fluency (FL), where the Ugandan children achieved higher scores than the Italian ones.     

Predicting educational achievement from genomic measures and socioeconomic status

The two best predictors of children's educational achievement available from birth are parents’ socioeconomic status (SES) and, recently, children's inherited DNA differences that can be aggregated in genome‐wide polygenic scores (GPS). Here, we chart for the first time the developmental interplay between these two predictors of educational achievement at ages 7, 11, 14 and 16 in a sample of almost 5,000 UK school children. We show that the prediction of educational achievement from both GPS and SES increases steadily throughout the school years. Using latent growth curve models, we find that GPS and SES not only predict educational achievement in the first grade but they also account for systematic changes in achievement across the school years. At the end of compulsory education at age 16, GPS and SES, respectively, predict 14% and 23% of the variance of educational achievement. Analyses of the extremes of GPS and SES highlight their influence and interplay: In children who have high GPS and come from high SES families, 77% go to university, whereas 21% of children with low GPS and from low SES backgrounds attend university. We find that the associations of GPS and SES with educational achievement are primarily additive, suggesting that their joint influence is particularly dramatic for children at the extreme ends of the distribution.     

Independent effects of bilingualism and socioeconomic status on language ability and executive functioning

One hundred and seventy-five children who were 6-years old were assigned to one of four groups that differed in socioeconomic status (SES; working class or middle class) and language background (monolingual or bilingual). The children completed tests of nonverbal intelligence, language tests assessing receptive vocabulary and attention based on picture naming, and two tests of executive functioning. All children performed equivalently on the basic intelligence tests, but performance on the language and executive functioning tasks was influenced by both SES and bilingualism. Middle-class children outperformed working-class children on all measures, and bilingual children obtained lower scores than monolingual children on language tests but higher scores than monolingual children on the executive functioning tasks. There were no interactions with either group factors or task factors. Thus, each of SES and bilingualism contribute significantly and independently to children’s development irrespective of the child’s level on the other factor.     

Parenting among Hispanic and Anglo-American mothers with young children

The authors examined parenting practices and developmental expectations among 38 Hispanic and 38 Anglo-American mothers living in the United States. Mothers of children 3 to 5 years of age completed the Parent Behavior Checklist (R. A. Fox, 1994), a 100-item measure of parents' developmental expectations, discipline, and nurturing practices. In addition, the authors appraised the Hispanic mothers' acculturation and selected them for participation if their scores on an acculturation scale indicated (a) that their lifestyle was predominantly Hispanic and (b) that they had not been assimilated into the dominant culture. The 2 ethnic groups were also divided by socioeconomic status (SES). There were significant main effects for ethnicity and SES on the discipline and nurturing scores but not on the expectations scores. The Hispanic and higher SES mothers reported higher discipline and lower nurturing scores than did the Anglo-American and lower SES mothers. An unexpected finding was the tendency for higher SES Hispanic mothers to report more frequent use of discipline than the other 3 groups.     

儿童认知发展水平诊断工具IPDT的动态化编制及其在低社会经济地位儿童中的应用

“皮亚杰认知发展量表” (IPDT)中的守恒与关系领域经动态化改编后已被证实适用于小学低年级儿童的潜能评估。在此基础上, 本研究旨在构建适用于小学高年级儿童的IPDT表征、分类、规律领域的动态测验; 并运用所构建的IPDT动态测验对低社会经济地位(SES)儿童进行认知潜能评估; 而后经过对低SES儿童的推理认知干预, 进一步考查认知干预在低SES不同潜能儿童的认知能力和数学成就中的促进作用。结果发现：(1)改编的IPDT表征、分类、规律领域的动态测验包含“前测—干预—迁移—后测”4个阶段, 所构建的逐级提示干预方案合理适切, 可以有效区分不同认知潜能水平的小学高年级儿童, 特别是弱势儿童; (2)推理认知干预对由IPDT动态测验细致区分出的不同潜能水平的低SES儿童作用不同, 尽管他们在认知能力与数学成就上均有进步, 但低SES高潜能儿童比低SES低潜能儿童从干预中获益更多。     

Not Only Jumps,Slumps, but also Mini Plateau. Creative Potential Assessed by the Test for Creative Thinking-Drawing Production. A Cross-Sectional Study of Polish Students Aged from 7 to 18

The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to examine the developmental trajectory of creative potentials of Polish students. A total of 1,522 Polish students aged between 7 and 18 from lower and upper primary school, middle school, and high school participated in the study. Creative potential was measured by means of the Test for Creative Thinking-Drawing Production. The findings showed that older students achieved higher scores than the younger ones, drops in mean scores among students aged 13 and 16 were noted, and levelling of scores was found among students aged from 10 to 13, with a slight drop at the age of 13. Moreover, a phenomenon was discovered which was described as a mini plateau, i.e., an emergence of similar mean scores in 2 consecutive age groups. Possible explanations of the results are discussed, including interpretations in the context of the CMC and educational and environmental conditions which act as inhibitors or stimulators of the development of creative abilities.     

The effect of school-based kindergarten transition policies and practices on child academic outcomes

This study examined the effect of school-based kindergarten transition policies and practices on child outcomes. The authors followed 17,212 children from 992 schools in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten sample (ECLS-K) across the kindergarten school year. Hierarchical linear modeling revealed that the number of school-based transition practices in the fall of kindergarten was associated with more positive academic achievement scores at the end of kindergarten, even controlling for family socioeconomic status (SES) and other demographic factors. This effect was stronger for low- and middle-SES children than high-SES children. For low-SES children, 7 transition practices were associated with a .21 standard deviation increase in predicted achievement scores beyond 0 practices. The effect of transition practices was partially mediated by an intervening effect on parent-initiated involvement in school during the kindergarten year. The findings support education policies to target kindergarten transition efforts to increase parent involvement in low-SES families.     

Disentangling the Relations Between Different Components of Family Socioeconomic Status and Chinese Preschoolers’ School Readiness

Family socioeconomic status (SES) has been frequently linked to children’s early development. Treating SES as an aggregated variable has many issues, as different components of SES may relate to child outcomes through divergent mechanisms. The purpose of the study was to examine whether parents’ engagement in home learning activities and children’s participation in extracurricular activities (EAs) would function as pathways through which individual SES components related to children’s school readiness. A total of 588 families with preschool‐aged children were recruited from Guangdong province in China. Children’s receptive vocabulary, Chinese reading, and early math skills were individually assessed at three time points, and children’s social skills were rated by parents. Parents reported their engagement in home learning activities with children and their children’s participation in EAs. The results showed that all three components of family SES were related to multiple aspects of children’s school readiness, but through different pathways. Parental income was related to children’s school readiness through EA participation only; parental education and occupational status were associated with school readiness via both parental engagement and child EA participation. The findings suggest that considering SES components separately will produce a more nuanced understanding of the divergent pathways through which family SES may relate to children’s school readiness. Chinese government may provide parent education programs focused on cognitive stimulation for low‐SES families to promote children’s school readiness. Furthermore, the government needs to ensure children’s equal access to EAs to prevent increasing the developmental gap among children from discrepant socioeconomic backgrounds.     

An empirical evaluation of a scale to measure occupational aspiration level

Data from 34,118 American high school students are used to evaluate the Occupational Aspiration Scale (OAS). The OAS is successively reevaluated for each of 16 subsamples (cells) generated by cross-classifying respondents by grade in school (9–12), sex, and socioeconomic status (SES). In each cell the OAS is found to be essentially unifactorial, and that factor is identified as level of occupational aspiration (LOA). The reliability of the OAS is slightly lower among females ($\text{r}$_kk = .681) than among males ($\text{r}$_kk = .756); it does not vary appreciably by grade or SES. The mean scores are lower for youth from low SES families than for those from high SES families, in accord with previous research. Mean OAS differences due to sex and grade are small. No important differences by age, sex, or SES are found in the standard deviations of the test scores. This and previously published data from small, local samples indicate that the reliability and validity of the OAS are sufficient for research on high school youth of both sexes and from both higher and lower SES levels.     

Parenting Among Hispanic and Anglo-American Mothers With Young Children

Abstract

The authors examined parenting practices and developmental expectations among 38 Hispanic and 38 Anglo-American mothers living in the United States. Mothers of children 3 to 5 years of age completed the Parent Behavior Checklist (R. A. Fox, 1994), a 100-item measure of parents' developmental expectations, discipline, and nurturing practices. In addition, the authors appraised the Hispanic mothers' acculturation and selected them for participation if their scores on an acculturation scale indicated (a) that their lifestyle was predominantly Hispanic and (b) that they had not been assimilated into the dominant culture. The 2 ethnic groups were also divided by socioeconomic status (SES). There were significant main effects for ethnicity and SES on the discipline and nurturing scores but not on the expectations scores. The Hispanic and higher SES mothers reported higher discipline and lower nurturing scores than did the Anglo-American and lower SES mothers. An unexpected finding was the tendency for higher SES Hispanic mothers to report more frequent use of discipline than the other 3 groups.     

学校群体构成对流动儿童数学学业成就的影响:一项多水平分析

学校群体构成是影响儿童学业成就的重要环境变量,并对流动儿童具有不同于本地儿童的特殊效应。本研究数据来自"中国儿童青少年心理发育特征调查"项目建立的数据库,被试是我国发达地区32个区县141所学校的4960名2-6年级儿童,流动儿童所占比例为14.5%。结果发现:(1)无论流动儿童还是本地儿童,学校社会经济地位越高,儿童的数学学业成就越好;学校流动儿童比例对儿童的数学学业成就没有影响;(2)学校社会经济地位越高,短期流动儿童相对于本地儿童的数学学业劣势越大;(3)学校流动儿童比例越高,长期流动儿童相对于本地儿童的数学学业劣势越小。     

The Role of Neighborhood Context and School Climate in School‐Level Academic Achievement

In recent years, the quality of education available to children has become increasingly dependent on the social and economic demographics of neighborhoods in which the children live. This study assesses the role of community violence in explaining the relation between socio‐economic status (SES) and academic outcomes and the potential of positive school climate to promote academic achievement. With a sample of 297 Chicago public elementary schools, we examine community‐level and school‐level data and use Geographic Information Systems (GIS) mapping to illustrate how school academic achievement coincides with neighborhood economics and crime statistics. Results support the hypothesized mediation, such that lower SES was associated with lower academic achievement, and violent crime partially mediated this relation. School climate was positively associated with academic achievement, and student safety significantly moderated the relation between SES and academic achievement. Implications for theory, research, and intervention are discussed.     

The Role of Socioeconomic Status in SAT-Grade Relationships and in College Admissions Decisions

This article examines the role of socioeconomic status (SES) in the relationships among college admissions-test scores, secondary school grades, and subsequent academic performance. Scores on the SAT (a test widely used in the admissions process in the United States), secondary school grades, college grades, and SES measures from 143,606 students at 110 colleges and universities were examined, and results of these analyses were compared with results obtained using a 41-school data set including scores from the prior version of the SAT and using University of California data from prior research on the role of SES. In all the data sets, the SAT showed incremental validity over secondary school grades in predicting subsequent academic performance, and this incremental relationship was not substantially affected by controlling for SES. The SES of enrolled students was very similar to that of specific schools' applicant pools, which suggests that the barrier to college for low-SES students in the United States is a lower rate of entering the college admissions process, rather than exclusion on the part of colleges.     

Motivational factors,school atmosphere,and SES: Determinants of children's probability task performance

Motivational aspects of probability learning performance were examined in 106 third- and fourth-grade children, sampled from three schools. Several measurement modalities were used to assess children's motivational levels. The relationship between probability learning scores and motivational constructs was found to be strongly influenced by socioeconomic status (SES) as well as by school atmosphere Unlike their middle-class counterparts, lower SES children with an internal locus of control made fewer maximizing responses, displaying an unwillingness to settle quickly for lower amounts of reinforcement. Additionally, in the most strict of the three schools, children with high success expectancies made fewer attempts at different patterns of response, reflecting lower tendencies to explore in searching for maximal reinforcement. The effects obtained were interpreted in terms of sociodemographic influences on children's motivational structures, and in terms of possibility varying cannotations of probability learning scores across different subject populations.     

The role of early fine and gross motor development on later motor and cognitive ability

The aim of this study was to determine whether information obtained from measures of motor performance taken from birth to 4 years of age predicted motor and cognitive performance of children once they reached school age. Participants included 33 children aged from 6 years to 11 years and 6 months who had been assessed at ages 4 months to 4 years using the ages and stages questionnaires (ASQ: [Squires, J. K., Potter, L., & Bricker, D. (1995). The ages and stages questionnaire users guide. Baltimore: Brookes]). These scores were used to obtain trajectory information consisting of the age of asymptote, maximum or minimum score, and the variance of ASQ scores. At school age, both motor and cognitive ability were assessed using the McCarron Assessment of Neuromuscular Development (MAND: [McCarron, L. (1997). McCarron assessment of neuromuscular development: Fine and gross motor abilities (revised ed.). Dallas, TX: Common Market Press.]), and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Version IV (WISC-IV: [Wechsler, D. (2004). WISC-IV integrated technical and interpretive manual. San Antonio, Texas: Harcourt Assessment]). In contrast to previous research, results demonstrated that, although socio-economic status (SES) predicted fine motor performance and three of four cognitive domains at school age, gestational age was not a significant predictor of later development. This may have been due to the low-risk nature of the sample. After controlling for SES, fine motor trajectory information did not account for a significant proportion of the variance in school aged fine motor performance or cognitive performance. The ASQ gross motor trajectory set of predictors accounted for a significant proportion of the variance for cognitive performance once SES was controlled for. Further analysis showed a significant predictive relationship for gross motor trajectory information and the subtests of working memory and processing speed. These results provide evidence for detecting children at risk of developmental delays or disorders with a parent report questionnaire prior to school age. The findings also add to recent investigations into the relationship between early motor development and later cognitive function, and support the need for ongoing research into a potential etiological relationship.     

Short Term Intervention Model for Enhancing Divergent Thinking among School Aged Children

Creative ability can be developed and improved through intervention and training. This study presents a unique and innovative intervention program for enhancing creative thinking among children, focusing on divergent thinking skills. The program was designed as a short-term (10 weeks) training and conducted with 150 school students ranging in age from 9 to 13 years. The training included in a series of assignments, inspired by theoretical and practical concepts of mindfulness, theory of mind, and perspective taking. Divergent thinking was measured by fluency and uniqueness scores according to Tel Aviv Creativity Test (TACT). Results showed that children who participated in the program scored significantly higher on the divergent thinking tests after the intervention took place and that they showed higher creative achievements compared to children in the control groups.     

Examining the core: Relations among reading curricula, poverty, and first through third grade reading achievement

Policy changes at the federal and state level are endeavoring to improve student achievement at schools serving children from lower-SES homes. One important strategy is the focus on using evidence-based core reading curricula to provide a consistent framework for instruction across schools. However, rarely have these curricula undergone rigorous comparative testing. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to compare the effects of six core reading curricula on oral reading fluency growth, while appraising whether these effects differ by grade level and for children living in lower socioeconomic (SES) households. Over 30,000 students in first through third grade Florida Reading First classrooms comprise this academically and economically diverse cross-sectional. Hierarchical Linear Modeling was used to model latent growth curves for students' reading fluency scores over the school year. Growth curves revealed differences across curricula as well as between students of lower and higher SES, suggesting that reading fluency growth trajectories for curricula varied depending on student SES and grade level. Findings indicate that while there are similarities among curricula, they sometimes differ in their ability to promote reading skill growth. Differences by grade level and SES were also detected. However, many of these differences were small. Implications for the use of curriculum as a conduit for improving reading instruction are discussed.