The purpose of this practicum was to resolve conflict in a peaceful and constructive manner in the sixth-grade. Students participated in a conflict resolution and peer mediation program designed to enable friendships to grow and to reduce the number of violent acts within the school setting. Thirty students initially began in the program. During…

A practicum project implemented a program designed to reduce negative behavior in the hallways and cafeteria of an urban middle school. The objectives of this program were to reduce by 15% the number of infractions in the cafeteria and in the hallway and to reduce by 15% the number of students suspended out of school. The target population was a…

This action research project implemented and evaluated a 12-week program using cooperative learning and Multiple Intelligences to increase student motivation for learning. The targeted population consisted of elementary and middle school students in a low-socioeconomic community in northern Illinois. The problem of motivation was documented in the…

This paper reports on a practicum that was designed to improve the behavior of at-risk youth. It targeted seventh- and eighth-grade students who attended a 12-week middle school violence prevention program which utilized a multisensory approach in conjunction with group counseling. This practicum included an educational component for parents and…

This practicum report describes a 15-day in-room suspension strategy designed to reduce the increasing number of principal-initiated student suspensions resulting from inappropriate conduct. The program's distinguishing features entailed a central figure who predetermined the candidates by means of a pre-suspension interview, parental-student…

This research project implemented and evaluated a program in interpersonal skill development designed to increase the use of applied social skills at a middle school located in northeast Illinois. Evidence of inappropriate interpersonal skills was gathered by using observation checklists, teacher and student surveys, and discipline referrals.…

This practicum used parent partnerships to increase parent involvement, student attendance, and appropriate school behavior at an alternative middle school for 100 at-risk students located in an impoverished rural area. The goals of the project were to: (1) increase parent involvement in the day-to-day activities of the school; (2) provide…