Search

Utilizing a longitudinal sample of Finnish children (ages 6-10), two studies examined how early linguistic (spoken vs. written) and spatial skills predict later development of arithmetic, and whether counting sequence knowledge mediates these associations. In Study 1 (N = 1,880), letter knowledge and spatial visualization, measured in kindergarten, predicted the level of arithmetic in first grade, and later growth through third grade. Study 2 (n = 378) further showed that these associations were mediated by counting sequence knowledge measured in first grade. These studies add to the literature by demonstrating the importance of written language for arithmetic development. The findings are consistent with the hypothesis that linguistic and spatial skills can improve arithmetic development by enhancing children's number-related knowledge.

Only a few studies have examined the direction of associations between academic achievement, interest, and self-concept of ability simultaneously by using longitudinal data over several school years. To examine the cross-lagged relationships between students' interest, self-concept of ability, and performance in mathematics and reading, longitudinal data from Grade 1 to Grade 7 of comprehensive school was gathered from 216 students. The results showed that, in both reading and math, performance predicted students' subsequent self-concept of ability. Some evidence was also found that math performance predicts subsequent interest in mathematics, and that self-concept of math ability mediates the impact of math performance on interest. No evidence was found for the assumption that self-concept of ability or interest would predict subsequent academic performance.

We examined the double deficit hypothesis (Wolf & Bowers, 1999) and literacy development in a longitudinal dataset of 1,006 Finnish children who were nonreaders at school entry. A single phonological awareness (PA) deficit was a predictor of pseudoword spelling accuracy and reading fluency, and a single rapid automatized naming (RAN) deficit was a predictor of reading fluency. The group with both PA and RAN deficits experienced the most extensive reading and spelling difficulties. However, all groups included both poor and average Grade 2 readers and spellers. Poor letter knowledge and vocabulary, task avoidance, attention difficulties, hyperactivity, and lack of teaching at home were additional risk factors for reading and spelling problems, but their impact varied depending on the presence of PA and RAN deficits.

We examined the cross-lagged relations between children's task-avoidant behavior and their performance in reading and spelling in Chinese. Eighty Grade 2 and 103 Grade 4 Mandarin-speaking Taiwanese children were assessed on measures of nonverbal IQ, task value, reading accuracy, fluency, and spelling. A year later, the children were reassessed on the literacy tasks. The teachers also assessed the children's task-avoidant behavior at both testing times. The results indicated that task-avoidant behavior was a significant predictor of spelling and to a lesser extent of reading accuracy, even after controlling for the effects of the previous level of literacy skill, nonverbal IQ, and task value. Cross-lagged relationships were found only in the younger age group and only when spelling was the literacy outcome. These findings suggest that, in the context of Chinese, task-avoidant behavior is an important antecedent of performance in demanding tasks such as spelling. (Contains 1 table and 1 figure.)

We examined the developmental dynamics between task-avoidant behavior and different literacy outcomes, and possible precursors of task-avoidant behavior. Seventy Greek children were followed from Grade 4 until Grade 6 and were assessed every year on reading fluency, spelling, and reading comprehension. The teachers assessed the children's achievement strategies at all testing times. In addition, in Grade 4, the children responded to a task value questionnaire and the parents reported their beliefs and expectations about their children's academic performance. The results revealed that task avoidance was reciprocally related only to reading comprehension. In addition, only parental beliefs predicted task avoidance. These findings complement those of previous studies in transparent orthographies and suggest that the role of task avoidance on literacy development depends on the time when the literacy skills are assessed and the type of literacy outcome. (Contains 2 tables and 2 figures.)

This study examined the extent to which first grade teachers adapt their reading instruction to the literacy skills of particular children in their classroom, and investigated whether teacher and classroom characteristics influence such adaptation. Three hundred seven Finnish children were tested with regard to their literacy skills at the end of their kindergarten year. At the beginning of the first grade, the teachers of these children filled in a questionnaire on the reading support they had given each child. The results showed, first, that the poorer the literacy skills a child showed at the end of kindergarten, the more personal reading instruction the teacher gave the child in grade 1. Second, teachers who were less experienced or had fewer teaching assistants in the classroom adapted their instruction on the basis of children's literacy skills to a greater extent than other teachers did. (Contains 1 table and 3 figures.)

This study examined the extent to which mothers' trust toward the classroom teacher of their child in first grade is related to observed teaching practices in Finland and Estonia. Sixty-six teachers (32 in Finland, 34 in Estonia) were observed using the Early Childhood Classroom Observation Measure (ECCOM; Stipek & Byler, 2004). Mothers in Finland (n = 266) and in Estonia (n = 348) filled in questionnaires measuring their trust in their child's first grade teacher. The connection between mothers' education, child gender, and classroom size in relation to mothers' trust was also investigated. The results of multilevel modeling showed that mothers in both countries trusted more in teachers who were characterized by a higher level of child-centered teaching practices than teacher-directed teaching practices. Furthermore, Estonian mothers showed greater trust in more experienced teachers. The results emphasize the importance of teaching practices in promoting mothers' trust in their child's teacher. (Contains 2 figures and 4 tables.)

This study examined the role of reading disability (RD) risk and environmental protective factors in reading fluency in grade 4. The sample consisted of 538 Finnish-speaking students. Kindergarten measures included the students' risk for RD based on poor achievement in phonological awareness and letter knowledge as well as information on the three control variables: nonverbal ability, level of parental education, and gender. Measures in grades 1-3 included environmental protective factors: classmate reports of peer acceptance; teacher reports of positive affect for the student; and mother, father, and teacher reports of partnership between the home and the school. The students were also tested on their reading fluency in grade 4. The results showed, first, that environmental protective factors, namely, high levels of peer acceptance and positive teacher affect, uniquely predicted students' improved reading fluency in grade 4, after controlling for RD risk, nonverbal ability, level of parental education, and gender. Second, when controlling for the effects of single environmental protective factors, a higher overall number of environmental protective factors predicted students' improved reading fluency in grade 4. Third, RD risk predicted lower peer acceptance, less positive teacher affect, and lower parent-teacher partnership in grades 1-3. Finally, the effect of RD risk on subsequent reading fluency was partially mediated through the overall number of protective factors in the student's interpersonal environment.

This study examined the associations between parenting styles, teacher interactional styles, and children's reading and spelling skills. The sample consisted of 864 Finnish-speaking children and their parents (864 mothers, 864 fathers) and teachers ("N" = 123). Children's risk for reading disabilities and reader status were assessed in kindergarten. Children were also tested on reading and spelling skills in Grades 1 and 2. Parenting styles and teacher interactional styles were measured using parents' and teachers' self-reports in Grade 1. First, the results indicated that both an authoritative parenting style and authoritative teacher interactional style positively predicted children's spelling skill development. Second, authoritative parenting was particularly beneficial for the spelling skill development of children who were at risk for reading disabilities. Third, authoritative teaching promoted spelling skill development particularly among children who were nonreaders in kindergarten but had no risk for reading disabilities. Finally, some evidence was found that authoritative teaching could compensate for the negative impact of nonauthoritative parenting on reading development among kindergarten nonreaders. (Contains 3 tables and 3 figures.)

This study investigated the extent to which autonomous motivation, effort and progress relating to current educational goals predict success in dealing with the challenging transition to university. Our study included two measurement points: (1) before the entrance examination, at which point participants (n = 280) documented ratings of their autonomous motivation, effort and progress regarding their educational goals; and (2) after receiving the results of the examination, at which time their success or failure of passing the entrance examination was checked by referring to the university archives. The results of the path model showed that when young adults pursued their educational goals for autonomous reasons, they invested special effort in their goal, and this led to a high level of goal progress. Goal progress, in turn, predicted their successfully passing the university's entrance examination.

I-states-as-objects-analysis (ISOA) is a person-oriented methodology for studying short-term developmental stability and change in patterns of variable values. ISOA is based on longitudinal data with the same set of variables measured at all measurement occasions. A key concept is the "i-state," defined as a person's pattern of variable values at a specific time point. All i-states are first subjected to a classification analysis that results in a time-invariant classification characterized by a number of "typical i-states." Each person is then characterized at each time point by the typical i-state he/she belongs to. Then the person's sequences of typical i-states are analyzed with regard to structural and individual stability and change. Extensions of ISOA are presented where: (1) some methods for checking the assumption of a time-invariant classification are indicated; (2) information about the degree of dissimilarity between typical i-states is used as an aid in interpreting the findings; and (3) attention is given to "closed paths"--that is, typical i-state sequences that do not occur at all. To demonstrate the methods, an empirical example is given that concerns the development of children's achievement-intelligence patterns between ages 10 and 13. (Contains 4 tables and 2 figures.)

Purpose: In the present study, the authors examined the prospective associations among early language skills, behavioral regulation skills, and 2 aspects of school-age social functioning (adaptability and social skills). Method: The study sample consisted of children with and without a familial risk for dyslexia. The authors analyzed the relations among children's language (at age 2;6 [years;months] and age 5;0), behavioral regulation skills (at age 5;0), and social functioning (at age 8;0) using structural equation modeling. Subgroups of children with respect to language and behavioral regulation skills (at age 5;0) were identified through the use of mixture modeling. Results: Among at-risk children, behavioral regulation skills mediated the association between early language skills and social outcomes. A subgroup of children with poor regulatory and weak language skills scored lower in adaptability, whereas a subgroup having only poor language skills (with normal behavioral regulation) did not differ from a group with age-appropriate skills. Conclusions: The present findings indicate that behavioral regulation skills play an important role in predicting social outcomes among children at risk for language difficulties. Furthermore, it is suggested that various aspects of social functioning may be influenced differently by self-regulation skills and that predictive relationships vary with the degree of language development deficits and accompanying risks.

People's personal goals interact with their life situations in many ways. This study examined the appraisals of personal goals during a transition from education to work and their interplay with stress in different domains of life. Finnish young adults (N = 265, 60% female) reported on their goals in the work domain, and related appraisals of importance, attainability, and progress, and the amount of stress they experienced with regard to economic situation, time, and work. The results showed that those individuals who appraised their work goals as important, attainable and progressing well, benefited from their goal striving as evidenced in less stress in all three domains. Moreover, individuals who initially experienced elevated stress levels due to their economic and work situation adapted their work-related goals, such that they later set goals which were more attainable and showed better progress. For these individuals, pursuing work goals remained highly important, whereas for others work goal importance declined. (Contains 2 figures and 2 tables.)

The present study examined the extent to which mothers' and fathers' expectations for their offspring's future education, their level of education, and adolescents' academic achievement predict adolescents' educational expectations. To investigate this, 230 adolescents were examined twice while they were in comprehensive school (in the 7th and 9th grades). Their parents also filled in questionnaires at the same time points. The results showed that high parental expectations concerning their offspring's future education predicted high educational expectations among adolescents and they became more similar in the 9th grade compared to 7th grade. Parents' high level of education predicted both mothers' and adolescents' high level of educational expectations in the 7th grade, which then contributed to adolescents' high expectations in 9th grade. (Contains 5 figures and 3 tables.)

This longitudinal study investigated the associations between the frequency of parents' reading-related activities at home and their children's reading-related skills during the transition from kindergarten to Grade 1. Longitudinal data were obtained for 1436 Finnish children (5- to 6-year-olds at baseline) and their mothers and fathers. 684 girls and 752 boys participating in the study represented four Finnish municipalities. The reading skills of the children were measured four times: at the beginning and at the end of their kindergarten year, and at the beginning and at the end of Grade 1. In kindergarten, decoding tests were administered individually. In Grade 1, group tests in reading fluency were performed. The children's mothers and fathers filled in questionnaires on the frequency of their teaching of reading and the frequency of shared reading with their children in the kindergarten year and in Grade 1. The results showed that the better word reading skills children showed in kindergarten, the more shared reading parents reported. Also, the better word reading skills boys evidenced in kindergarten, the more teaching of reading parents reported. However, in Grade 1, it was children's poor skills in reading that activated more frequent parents' teaching of reading and more frequent shared reading. (Contains 4 tables and 1 figure.)

This study examined the extent to which a student's academic performance in first grade contributes to the active instruction given by a teacher to a particular student. To investigate this, 105 first graders were tested in mathematics and reading in the fall and spring of their first school year. At the same time points, their teachers filled in a questionnaire on five successive days on the active instruction they have given a particular student. The results showed that the poorer the performance in reading a student showed in fall, the more active instruction teachers reported giving a student in spring. Moreover, the poorer the performance in mathematics a student showed in fall, the more active instruction less-experienced teachers reported giving that particular student in spring. The giving of active instruction by less-experienced teachers also contributed to an increase in children's subsequent performance in mathematics. (Contains 3 tables and 3 figures.)

Based on a two-year and three-wave longitudinal sample of 118 Chinese preschoolers, the present study examined the cross-lagged associations between teacher-child relationships and social competence, and the cross-system generalization of social competence between home and school. At each of the three waves, teachers rated the children's teacher-child relationships and social competence in school, and mothers rated the children's social competence at home. The results showed that high closeness and low conflict in teacher-child relationships at three months after preschool entry (T1) predicted children's social competence in school at the end of the first preschool year (T2). T1 teacher-child closeness also predicted social competence at home at the end of the second preschool year (T3). Although early home competence did not predict later school competence, T2 school competence was associated with T3 home competence. Finally, T2 school competence fully mediated the path from T1 teacher-child closeness to T3 home competence. (Contains 3 tables and 2 figures.)

Research Findings: The aim of the study was to examine the applicability and psychometric properties of the Early Childhood Classroom Observation Measure (ECCOM; D. J. Stipek & P. Byler, 2005) outside the United States. The ECCOM was used to observe 83 kindergarten teachers (49 in Finland and 34 in Estonia) in classroom situations. Self-ratings were obtained of teachers' teaching practices, curriculum goals, efficacy beliefs, instructional activities, work experience, and group size. The analyses indicated 1-factor solutions for each of the ECCOM dimensions (i.e., Child-Centered, Teacher-Directed, and Child-Dominated) and high reliabilities for all dimensions, subscales (i.e., Management, Climate, and Instruction), and scale items. Evidence was also found for criterion validity. Practice or Policy: The findings of the present study provided support for the ECCOM as a valid and reliable measure of quality of kindergarten classroom processes and practices in cultural and educational settings outside the United States. In addition to being a research tool the ECCOM has high applicability in teacher education and in-service teacher training in professional development programs and interventions aimed at enhancing specific components of teachers' own practices. (Contains 4 figures, 3 tables, and 1 footnote.)

The present study investigated the role of best friends in educational career development from adolescence to adulthood. Participants' (N=476) reciprocal best friendships were identified at age 15, while their educational attainment was investigated in early adulthood (age 26), their intelligence (IQ) at age 13, and parental education, educational expectations and academic achievement at age 16. The results revealed that adolescent best friends ended up pursuing similar educational careers in adulthood. Furthermore, three kinds of partner-effects were found when adolescents' prior career behaviors were controlled for: (1) best friends' intelligence predicted adolescents' later academic performance; (2) best friends' parental education predicted adolescents' educational expectations; and (3) best friends' educational expectations predicted adolescents' educational attainment in early adulthood. (Contains 1 table and 3 figures.)

This study aims to validate a teacher-report measure of children's task-avoidant behavior, namely the Behavioral Strategy Rating Scale (BSRS), in a sample of 352 Finnish children. In each of the four waves from Kindergarten to Grade 2, teachers rated children's task-avoidant behavior using the BSRS, children completed reading and mathematics tests, and trained testers rated children's task-avoidant and social-dependent behavior after the test situation. Mothers also rated children's task-avoidant behavior in the last two waves. The results showed that a two-factor model including one factor representing task avoidance and one method factor accounting for wording effects among the negatively phrased items fitted the data best. The scale demonstrated strict measurement invariance across all four waves and satisfactory convergent and discriminant validity. Teacher-reported task avoidance was negatively associated with performance in reading and mathematics. The results suggest that the BSRS is a reliable, valid, and developmentally suitable instrument. (Contains 2 figures and 5 tables.)

This longitudinal study spanning 18 years examined the role of social strategies in early career adaptation. The aim was to find out whether individuals' social strategies measured during their university studies had an impact on work burnout and work engagement measured 10-18 years later. A sample of 292 university students completed the SAQ questionnaire three times while at university and the work burnout inventory three times and the work engagement inventory twice during their early career. According to the results, the higher the initial level of social optimism and the more it increased during university studies, and the lower the initial levels of social withdrawal and social handicapping and the more they decreased, the lower was the level of work burnout and the higher the level of work engagement in the early career. The effects of the level of social strategies were stronger on the professional efficacy subscale of burnout. (Contains 2 tables and 3 figures.)

This study examined 39 adolescents during their transition to university. In standardized weekly diaries over several weeks (M=8.13) adolescents reported on engagement in career exploration (in-breadth and in-depth self and environmental exploration), their parents' transition-related involvement (frequency of conversations, support, and interference), and their satisfaction with how the transition progressed. The results showed that exploration largely fluctuated across weeks, whereas parent involvement was more stable. Family members' engagement varied according to the phase of the application process the adolescent was involved in. The more adolescents explored during a given week, the more they talked to their parents, and the more supportive parents were. Associations between interference and exploration differed by type of exploration. Both exploration and support contributed to higher satisfaction. (Contains 3 tables.)

To examine whether learning difficulties play a role in depressive symptoms, 658 Finnish adolescents were asked to complete scales for depression three times during the transition to post-comprehensive education. They also reported on their learning difficulties and feelings of inadequacy as a student. The results showed that learning difficulties prospectively predicted depressive symptoms. Moreover, the impact of learning difficulties was mediated via inadequacy as a student: learning difficulties predicted feelings of inadequacy as a student which, in turn, contributed to greater increases in depressive symptoms. Finally, gender moderated the association between learning difficulties and depressive symptoms: both being a girl and having a high level of learning difficulties predicted a higher initial level of depressive symptoms. (Contains 2 tables and 2 figures.)

We examined the importance of children's achievement strategies in different literacy outcomes in three languages varying in orthographic consistency: Chinese, English, and Greek. Eighty Chinese-speaking Taiwanese children, 51 English-speaking Canadian children and 70 Greek children were assessed on measures of phonological awareness, rapid automatized naming, reading fluency, and spelling. The children's use of a task-focused versus task-avoidant achievement strategy in the classroom context was rated by their teachers. The results indicated that the teacher-rated task-focused behavior was a significant predictor of spelling and to a lesser extent of reading fluency and that its effects were comparable across languages.

The present study investigated whether the members of adolescents' peer groups are similar in reading and spelling disabilities and whether this similarity contributes to subsequent school achievement and educational attainment. The sample consisted of 375 Finnish adolescents whose reading and spelling disabilities were assessed at age 16 with the Finnish dyslexia screening test. The students also completed a sociometric nomination measure that was used to identify their peer groups. Register information on participants' school grades also was available, and educational attainment in secondary education was recorded 5 years after completion of the 9 years of basic education. The results revealed that the members of adolescent peer groups resembled each other in reading disabilities but not in those of spelling. Reading disabilities and academic achievement shared within the peer group also contributed to educational attainment in secondary education. Finally, reading disabilities played a larger role in educational attainment among males than among females. (Contains 2 figures and 4 tables.)

This study examined the extent to which kindergarten children's academic pre-skills are associated with their teachers' subsequent teaching practices. The pre-skills in reading and math of 1268 children (655 boys, 613 girls) were measured in kindergarten in the fall. A pair of trained observers used the Classroom Assessment Scoring System instrument to observe 49 kindergarten teachers on their emotional support, classroom organisation and instructional support in kindergarten in the spring. The results of the multilevel modelling showed that low levels of academic pre-skills in kindergarten classrooms in the fall predicted high classroom quality in the classrooms later on. The results suggest that the overall level of children's academic pre-skills in the classroom plays an important role in the ways in which teachers adapt their instructional practices to the needs of a particular classroom. (Contains 2 tables and 2 figures.)

Altogether 1,285 Finnish children were followed up from the end of kindergarten through Grade 1. All were nonreaders at school entrance. The aim was to delineate predictors of resistance to treatment that are evidenced as little or no reading progress during Grade 1. On the basis of reading achievement in Grade 1 spring, four subgroups were formed. These were fast, average, and slow reading acquisition and slow progress in both reading and math. Kindergarten spring scores in phonological awareness, letter knowledge, rapid naming, and number skills differentiated well among the groups, the latter two being more robust predictors. Task avoidance added to the prediction over and above cognitive skills. Its effect disappeared when parental history of reading and math difficulties was included in the equation. The present results depict poor response to instruction as a general learning problem rather than a specific reading difficulty. Poor response to instruction differs from dyslexia also in that treatment resisters start school with cognitive prerequisites that do not indicate severe reading and math problems. (Contains 3 tables and 2 figures.)

This paper examined the relative influence of selection and socialization on alcohol and tobacco use in adolescent peer networks and peer groups. The sample included 1419 Finnish secondary education students (690 males and 729 females, mean age 16 years at the outset) from nine schools. Participants identified three school friends and described their alcohol and tobacco use on two occasions one year apart. Actor-based models simultaneously examined changes in peer network ties and changes in individual behaviors for all participants within each school. Multi-level analyses examined changes in individual behaviors for adolescents entering new peer groups and adolescents in stable peer groups, both of which were embedded within the school-based peer networks. Similar results emerged from both analytic methods: "Selection" and "socialization" contributed to similarity of alcohol use, but only "selection" was a factor in tobacco use. (Contains 2 tables.)

This study investigated whether adolescents' appraisals of their education-related goals change during the transition from comprehensive school to postcomprehensive secondary education (academic vs. vocational track) and how such appraisals contribute to their self-esteem. Six hundred and seven 16-year-old adolescents were surveyed three times: (1) at the beginning, (2) at the end of the final spring term of comprehensive school, and (3) one year after the transition to postcomprehensive secondary education. They were asked to appraise their education-related goal in terms of intrinsic and extrinsic reasons for goal striving, goal progress, effort, and stress. The results showed that, when adolescents ended up in a mode of education that was congruent with their skills, their intrinsic reasons for goal strivings and goal progress increased. Moreover, progress towards goal attainment contributed to self-esteem, and self-esteem also predicted goal progress. Furthermore, the higher the self-esteem in comprehensive school, the lower the level of extrinsic reasons for goal striving after the transition. (Contains 2 tables and 3 figures.)

This study examines variability in patterns of peer group antipathy. Same-grade adolescent peer groups were identified from sociometric nominations of preferred affiliates in a community sample of 600 Finnish ninth-grade middle school students (mean age = 15.0 years). Hierarchical linear modeling determined characteristics of youths in actor groups (nominators) that predicted antipathy for youths in target groups (nominatees) on the basis of target group characteristics. Most antipathies were based on dissimilarity between groups representing the mainstream culture and groups opposed to it. The higher a peer group's school burnout, the more its members disliked students in peer groups with higher school grades and students in peer groups with higher sports participation. Conversely, the higher a peer group's school grades, the more its members disliked students in peer groups with higher school burnout. Students in peer groups with less problem behavior disliked students in peer groups with more problem behavior. There was some evidence of rivalry within the mainstream culture: The higher a group's school grades, the more its members disliked groups whose members participated in sports. (Contains 5 figures and 3 tables.)

The purpose of this study was twofold: (a) to examine the effect of task-focused behaviour on reading fluency, spelling and comprehension; and (b) to examine the role of the different literacy skills in subsequent task-focused behaviour. Two hundred and seven Finnish-speaking children were followed from preschool until their fourth year at school and were tested for reading fluency, spelling and reading comprehension. The teachers also rated the children's task-focused behaviour. The results showed that task-focused behaviour was a significant predictor of later reading comprehension and spelling skills. However, all three literacy skills predicted subsequent task-focused behaviour.

This study examined adolescents' career goal-related social ties during the transition from compulsory to post-compulsory education and during transition from post-compulsory education to working-life or further studies. A total of 687 Finnish adolescents aged 15-16 were surveyed of whom 654 also participated at the second measurement point one year later, and 497 three years later. Differences in career goal-related social ties were found according to gender, GPA, family structure, and SES. Moreover, social ties were associated with educational track after compulsory school above and beyond SES, GPA, and family structure. Adolescents who named a teacher or a romantic partner were more likely to enter vocational track, while adolescents who named their father were more likely to enter academic track. (Contains 3 tables.)

The aim of this three-wave cross-lagged longitudinal study was to examine the prospective relationships between women's goal-related spousal support and their relationship satisfaction during the transition to parenthood. Two-hundred and forty-six Finnish women who were either married or cohabited (45% primiparous; 55% multiparous) filled in questionnaires on personal projects (Little, 1983) and related spousal support, relationship satisfaction (Spanier, 1976), and background data three times: in their early pregnancy; one month before childbirth; and three months after childbirth. Among the primiparous women the results showed a cumulative cycle of goal-related spousal support and relationship satisfaction: goal-related spousal support in early pregnancy predicted higher relationship satisfaction just before childbirth, and, vice versa, relationship satisfaction in early pregnancy predicted higher goal-related spousal support just before childbirth. In turn, among the multiparous women only relationship satisfaction predicted goal-related support later on. In addition, the results showed that women perceived low spousal support for individualistic goals, such as self-related goals, and high support for shared goals, such as family-related goals. (Contains 3 tables and 2 figures.)

We examined the importance of children's classroom activity, defined as task-focused versus task-avoidance behavior, on different literacy outcomes in an orthographically consistent language. Greek children (n=95) were tested in kindergarten, grade 1, and grade 2 on measures of general cognitive ability, phonological awareness, RAN, and short-term memory. The teachers of the children also assessed their task-focused behavior. Nonword decoding, reading fluency, spelling, and reading comprehension measures were administered in grades 2 and 3. The results indicated that task-focused behavior accounted for unique variance in spelling and reading comprehension, even after controlling for the effects of autoregressor, non-verbal IQ, and phonological processing. (Contains 3 tables.)

In recent years young people's lives have been characterized by postponement of developmental timetables, inconsistencies of transitions, and loss of direction in life. Data from a longitudinal study of Israeli young adults show that the capacity for setting realistic work and love goals reflects inner strengths and is associated with adaptive outcomes. Less-articulated love and work goals are associated with underlying personality difficulties and are predictive of less stable and less adaptive outcomes. The interplay of goal constellations and personality constructs, and its association with adaptive and less adaptive outcomes is presented and discussed. (Contains 1 figure.)

The chapter first introduces the concept of emerging adulthood as a period of life that is characterized by instabilities and fluctuations. Then, the role of goal setting and aspirations in individual development during this stage of life is discussed. Following this, seven chapters of the present special issue are introduced, and the ways in which goal processes affect individual trajectories and outcomes are discussed. The chapter concludes with a discussion of future perspectives in the field, such as the need to investigate the relationships between goals and goal adjustment, the need to carry out cross-cultural comparisons, as well as the need to develop intervention based on goal and aspiration framework.

Research Findings: This study examined the validity and reliability of the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS; R. C. Pianta, K. M. La Paro, & B. K. Hamre, 2008) in Finnish kindergartens. A pair of trained observers used the CLASS to observe 49 kindergarten teachers (47 female, 2 male) on two different days. Questionnaires measuring teachers' efficacy beliefs, exhaustion at work, and classroom interactional style (i.e., affection, behavioral control, and psychological control) were completed by the teachers. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that when the item measuring Negative Climate was excluded, the 3-factor solution assuming three positively correlated latent factors (i.e., Emotional Support, Classroom Organization, and Instructional Support) described classroom quality well. The CLASS also showed high item and scale reliabilities. Evidence for concurrent validity was indicated by the positive association between observed classroom emotional support and teacher-rated affection and self-efficacy. Teacher-rated affection was also associated with observed classroom organization. Practice or Policy: The findings provide support for the CLASS as a valid and reliable measure of classroom quality in kindergartens and in cultural contexts outside the United States. (Contains 5 tables and 2 figures.)