A Social Psychological Model of the Schooling Process over First Grade.

Children's experiences during the first grade, as they pass through a key life-cycle transition, are an especially critical but generally neglected period in the sociology of child development. This paper examines the process of educational achievement for a birth cohort of Baltimore children followed prospectively over their first-grade year. Employing a social-psychological model of the early schooling process. the analysis identifies some of the personal. interpersonal, and situational factors that influence cognitive development during this period of transition from "home child" to "school child." Gains on standardized tests of verbal and mathematical competence are used as achievement criteria. Black children experienced more transition shock than white children in making the move into full-time schooling, as indicated by their lower initial report card marks and slower pace of cognitive growth during the year. The processes determining the achievement of the two groups also were somewhat different. Personality/temperament variables turned out to be very important for early schooling: evidence was found as well for the efficacy of parents as "significant others." Self-expectations had effects only on verbal test performance; there was no indication of peer influence during this important settling-in period. Implications of these findings for models of development and for understanding the social psychological basis of the achievement process are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]