[Social competence in children with social adjustment disorders]. / Soziale Kompetenz bei Kindern mit sozialen Anpassungsschwierigkeiten.

Teachers and parents of a sample of 1774 students at three grade levels (4th, 6th and 8th grades) were asked to judge the social competence of the children by means of the social competence questionnaire by Buhrmester et al. (1988). These ratings were correlated with the social status of the pupils, with peer statements on aggressive behavior and victimization and with the teachers' ratings of behavior in class and towards fellow pupils. Teachers proved to be more critical than parents, crediting boys with less social competence than girls, though this difference diminished in the higher grades. Ratings of social competence differed significantly both with regard to respective social status, as well as to frequent involvement in aggressive disputes as reported by peers. Children rated by the teachers as hyperactive were no less socially competent than aggressive or aggressive-hyperactive children. Victims of peer aggression and particularly shy and withdrawn children were rated the least socially competent by parents and teachers. Implications for the training of the social skills of children with peer relationship problems are discussed.

[Aggressiveness and social status in the class social structure]. / Aggressivität und soziale Stellung in der Klassengemeinschaft.

Both aggressive behavior and an outsider position in the peer group can be regarded as risk factors for the social development and long-term adjustment of children. The aim of the present investigation was to analyze the influence of these two factors on the social experiences of students in secondary school. The presence of aggressive behavior was determined by means of peer ratings and self-ratings. Classroom climate, i.e. the quality of the sense of community in a class, was considered as a modifying factor. In a first step, from 96 classes in the first and third grades of secondary school two extreme groups of 24 classes each were formed on the basis of student evaluations of the cohesion in the class and the frequency of aggressive arguments between students. At this time the students also rated other aspects of their social experiences at school. In a second step, sociometric data were obtained in the selected classes on the most liked and least liked classmates and on certain behaviors to determine the social position of the students in their peer group and their involvement in aggressive arguments. The social experiences attitudes and values of the students were highly correlated with the frequency of their involvement in aggressive arguments. There were some marked discrepancies between peer ratings and self-ratings of behavior, but both types of rating appear to have some clinical relevance. Beside the social status in the peer group the classroom climate had considerable impact on the social experiences of aggressive children. In addition, there were indications that the classroom climate plays a role in the social status of aggressive students in the class.

[To what extent do school and class-specific factors contribute to aggression in schools?]. / Wieweit tragen schul- bzw. klassenspezifische Faktoren zur Aggression an den Schulen bei?

In a representative study conducted in Vienna and Lower Austria, 14-year-old students from one class each in 79 different schools (N = 1594) answered a questionnaire about their experiences at school, the main focus being on aggressive acts that occurred at school. In a parallel investigation, the students' teachers (N = 554) completed a similar questionnaire. The reports on the frequency of aggressive behavior differed widely among the classes. A comparison of classes with different levels of aggressive behavior showed that solidarity within the classroom and the relationship between teachers and students were closely associated with the frequency of aggressive behavior. In classrooms with frequent aggressive acts there was a negative attitude towards outsiders and the students were less inclined to intervene in an unfair fight. Furthermore, they were more critical of discussions with their teachers. Even after social and familial factors were controlled for, the influence of school-specific factors on the frequency of aggressive behavior at school was quite large, explaining about 25% of the variance. The consequences for counseling of schools and for teacher education are discussed.

[What are the differences between average readings with writing difficulties and children with reading and writing difficulties? Follow-up, kind of writing errors and learning prerequisites]. / Wieweit unterscheiden sich durchschnittliche Leser mit Rechtschreibschwierigkeiten von Kindern mit Lese- und Rechtschreibschwierigkeiten? Verlauf, Art der Rechtschreibfehler und Lernvoraussetzungen.

As part of the Viennese longitudinal study on the development of reading and writing skills, children with spelling problems were differentiated from children with combined reading and spelling problems. It could be shown that children with spelling problems only are a rather inhomogeneous group with regard to their further development. At the end of the eighth grade some children still have circumscribed spelling problems, whereas others have overcome their early problems, and still others have also fallen behind in their reading skills. These groups of children can be differentiated early on by the type of spelling errors they make, by their cognitive abilities and by social factors. Children with combined reading and spelling problems are characterized especially by a lack of phonemic awareness.

[Is reading and writing performance of boys more dependent on quality of education than the performance of girls?]. / Sind die Lese- und Rechtschreibleistungen der Buben stärker von der Unterrichtsqualität abhängig als jene der Mädchen?

In a longitudinal study of the reading and spelling development stable differences between classes were observed. These differences could be explained only in part by differences in the mean of intelligence. In reading and spelling skills the girls were about the same level in all classes, whereas the boys in the low-achievement classes were much poorer readers and spellers than those in the high-achievement classes. The question whether the differences between classes in achievement level could be explained as the consequences of differences in the quality of reading instruction is discussed as well as the additional question whether the larger differences between boys in different classes than between girls might be due to an interaction of factors at school and outside of school.

[Learning to read and write in compulsory education: a longitudinal study of the incidence and stability of reading and writing difficulties in a Vienna school district]. / Lesen- und Schreibenlernen während der Pflichtschulzeit: Eine Längsschnittuntersuchung über die Hüfigkeit und Stabilität von Lese- und Rechtschreibschwierigkeiten in einem Wiener Schulbezirk.

In a longitudinal study, the development of reading and spelling skills was analyzed in about 500 Viennese school children from first through eighth grade. Performance in reading and spelling was tested at least once a year through grade four and then again at the end of eighth grade using standardized reading and spelling tests. The differences among the children in reading and spelling skills were found to be very stabile over time, and if there was difficulty with reading and spelling early on this usually persisted. Only a few of the children who had problems with reading in second grade improved enough so that they attained average scores at the end of eighth grade. The poorest readers read at the same level at the end of fourth grade as average readers did at the end of first grade. At the end of eighth grade these children had attained the level of average readers at the end of second grade. Similarly, poor spellers showed less improvement over time than children with average spelling skills. By the end of eighth grade these children had fallen way behind their peers.