SUMMARY.Responses to the Terman-Merrill Vocabulary Test, Form L-M, of 100 children at each of five age-levels from 6 to 14 years in a judgment sample of 65 Northern Ireland schools were scored for 10 categories of definition. Factor analysis confirmed that two categories, Synonym and Explanation, might be combined as Abstract responses. Ordered stepwise regression confirmed the significance, as hypothesised, of age, occupation and joint age-by-occupation effects, in that order, for Abstract and Total responses. The joint effect was greater for Abstract responses, and showed that children of non-manual fathers differ progressively with age from children of manual fathers for those forms of definition, such as synonyms and explanations, that showed the strongest pattern of development with age.

For a sample of 301 8th- through 12th-grade students attending four rural schools located in Appalachia, an examination was made of the ability of several school-related variables including student self-evaluations, teachers' assessments, and grades to predict performance on two scales of the Differential Aptitude Test (DAT) (Verbal Reasoning-VR and Numerical Ability-NA). In addition, the accuracy of student self-evaluations on both the VR and the NA were considered. For the llth-grade sample (n = 149) step- wise multiple regressions employed teacher-estimates of student success, student self-assessments, and grades as predictor variables with VR and NA scores serving as criterion variables. VR scores were explained jointly by teacher-assessments of academic ability, student self-evaluation of verbal ability, and GPA (R2c = .39), while the most valid correlates of NA scores were student self-evaluation of numerical ability, teacher-assessment of probability of success, and GPA (R2C .42). With respect to the ability of students to estimate correctly their verbal and numerical performance intervals on the standardized tests, 8th- and llth-grade students tended to register the largest proportion of correct estimates (.62 and .62, respectively, on the verbal measure; .58 and .74, respectively, on the numerical test). Among those who did not correctly estimate their test performance, 8th graders tended to overestimate and 10th, 11th, and 12th graders tended to underestimate their respective scores while 9th graders tended to under- estimate their numerical performance.

Summary. The study was designed to establish, on a regional basis, the validity of a set of measures of social handicap as predictive of educational backwardness and to identify the characteristics of those schools which are most effectively compensatory in adverse social conditions. Backwardness was defined in relation to scores on standardised intellectual tests for 7‐year‐old and 10‐year‐old children attending 115 Northern Ireland primary schools. The proportion of backwardness was then predicted from thirteen demographic variables, commonly used in describing educational priority areas, by the application of step‐wise multiple regression analysis. Parental unemployment and the occupational status of the school neighbourhood emerged as the strongest pointers to educational backwardness. The social variables predicted backwardness least accurately in smaller, less well equipped and rural schools. The schools which were most effectively compensatory tended to be urban, to have less physically adequate classrooms, female principals, and a higher proportion of graduate‐trained teachers.

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The current study investigated the self‐esteem, achievement, and career choices of 218 high school students in a small rural school. The Self‐Esteem Inventory Scores tended to be low. Most students selected occupations traditional for their sex, regardless of their self‐esteem scores. Young women were more likely to consider nontraditional occupations.