Almost from the start of the public schools system in America, students have been leaving school without high school diplomas. However, the dropout issue did not rise to the level of significance it has today until the early 1980s, when social pressures, along with business leaders, leveraged their influence on educators to address the dropout…

Scientists, educators, and parents of teens have long recognized the potency of peer influences on children and youth, but until recently, questions of how and why adolescents emulate their peers were largely overlooked. This book presents a framework for understanding the processes by which peers shape each other's attitudes and behavior, and…

Alcohol use is legal for persons age 21 and older, and the majority of people who drink do so without incident. However, there is a continuum of potential problems associated with alcohol consumption. This brief addresses the definition of an "alcohol problem" and problems associated with "risky drinking." It also addresses the…

The high school dropout problem has been called a national crisis. Educators, researchers, and policymakers continue to work to identify effective dropout prevention approaches. One important element of such prevention efforts is the identification of students at highest risk for dropping out and then the targeting of resources to keep them in…

Short-term memory deficits are examined as precursors of learning disabilities in early childhood. The theories of Jean Piaget, Robbie Case, and Joseph Torgesen are reviewed to construct a theoretical framework. Supportive experimental studies are described, followed by implications for remediation and intervention. (Author/JDD)

This handbook is designed to teach communities how to develop an effective juvenile firesetter intervention program. The six chapters of this handbook can be viewed as the six building blocks essential to construct a successful program. The cornerstone of the blueprint is understanding the personality profiles of juvenile firesetters and their…

The increasingly serious nature of juvenile criminal behavior has led to greater efforts to understand the roots, causes, and correlates of juvenile violence and chronic delinquency, as well as develop more effective means of identifying at-risk youth and treating serious and violent juvenile offenders. This book examines the realities and…

In the wake of several highly publicized school shootings, the problem of school violence has increasingly become a focus of concern for the general public as well as teachers, school officials, and students. Drawing on case studies from publicized violent incidents as well as from the authors private practice, this book provides techniques for…

This booklet addresses the difficulties of comparing and drawing meaning from dropout data prepared by different agencies, and examines the characteristics of students--and of schools--that place students at risk for leaving school prematurely. The booklet describes prevention programs and presents evidence on their effectiveness. It reviews…

This publication, written in English, explains why women are at greater risk for depression than men. Types of depressive illnesses are explained along with the symptoms. It states that some women are predisposed genetically to depression but biochemical, environmental, psychological, and social factors also contribute to its occurrence.…

This guide discusses using Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA) to find out why a student is behaving inappropriately and to enable the provision of appropriate positive behavior intervention. It stresses that a FBA goes beyond looking at antecedent behavior and consequence to review everything in the entire environment of the student.…

This publication, written in Spanish, explains why women are at greater risk for depression than men. Types of depressive illnesses are explained along with the symptoms. It states that some women are predisposed genetically to depression but biochemical, environmental, psychological, and social factors also often contribute to its occurrence.…