Evaluations that combine social science and law have tremendous potential to illuminate the effects of governmental policies and yield insights into how effectively policy makers' efforts achieve their aims. This potential is infrequently achieved, however, because such interdisciplinary research contains often overlooked substantive and…

The principal focus of this study is an investigation of whether students' grade point average (GPA) is a viable criterion for forming student work groups in the undergraduate Legal Environment of Business course. More specifically, the research focuses on the impact of: (1) GPA-homogeneous (HO) and GPA-heterogeneous (HE) groups upon student…

Designed to facilitate effective planning by state courts for the future, this guidebook is the heart of the State Justice Institute's "Vision for the Courts" project. Its primary purpose is building state court capacity to draft clear, inspiring, and compelling descriptions of a "preferred future"--a future that its authors and proponents want to…

This paper is a chronologically-organized narrative history of law-related education (LRE) in the United States. The paper begins by delineating the differences between LRE and citizenship education and describing the motivations for the creation of LRE programs in the early 1960s. Turning to the analysis of LRE, the paper argues that there have…

In response to this survey, recent graduates of the Criminal Justice program at Sam Houston State University (Texas) evaluated both the University and the College of Criminal Justice highly. The research team received 277 completed responses from the 762 questionnaires distributed to all 1988, 1990, and 1992 recipients of baccalaureate degrees in…

The focus of this guide is on primary and secondary education law, both public and private. The guide is designed to assist the inexperienced education legal researcher through an efficient research process, making use of the variety of legal resources available in today's law libraries. The guide's introduction offers a brief overview of…

In 1987, the U.S. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention contracted with the Social Science Education Consortium to study how law-related education (LRE) programs become institutionalized and what factors influence institutionalization. Interviews were conducted in eight school districts in four states and narrative case studies…

The term gender bias was coined by the National Judicial Education Program to Promote Equality for Women and Men in the Courts and is defined as the predisposition or tendency to think about and behave toward people primarily on the basis of their sex rather than their status, professional accomplishments, or aspirations. An effective method for…

Recounts a criminology class exercise that consisted of staging a mock trial using the murders from Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood" as source material. Students research the case and role play various lawyers, jury members, and witnesses. Identifies and discusses four educational objectives attainable through the staging of mock trials. (MJP)

This issue of LRE Project Exchange provides information about the programs that pioneered law-related education (LRS) in juvenile justice settings, lists resources that have proven effective with youth in those environments, and examines some of the issues that face juvenile justice professionals in the 1990s. The articles include: "Juvenile…

Describes the course content, student response, and instructional effectiveness of an undergraduate psychology and law course built around a series of active learning projects. Students chose either to attend a jury trial or to interview three people involved in the legal system. These formed the basis for papers and presentations. (MJP)

"Literacy" is a hot buzzword for schools today. This is evident from the number of "literacies" that are making claims on the traditional subject-matter territory of the pre-college curriculum. Typically, each subject area of the school is asked to play a role in the achievement of these "literacies." Such is the case with "technological literacy"…

Reports on a study of 18 social studies teachers' concepts of justice. Finds that three dominant themes emerged: (1) justice as right and wrong; (2) justice as fairness; and (3) justice as an ideal or standard. Concludes that responses suggest that social studies teachers' education in political theory may be insufficient. (CFR)

This study attempts to examine and explain the citizenship choices made by the governments of Estonia and Lithuania. The report explains the factors driving the inclusiveness of the policies. The project attempts to discover those factors that lead the government of a newly independent state to develop a more inclusive or more exclusive…

This digest addresses the decline in the willingness of U.S. youth to participate in service to the community or nation and suggests service learning as a possible remedy for the decline. There are long-term benefits of service learning: (1) helping to build community support for education; (2) facilitating a closer bond between school, community,…