Evidence from interviews with 87 mothers of mentally handicapped children indicates that anxiety scores and perceptions of family problems are not consistently related to children's handicaps. It also questions whether "protectiveness" by mothers of the severely handicapped should be considered "overprotectiveness" since this…

The effects of open-plan and conventional classrooms upon patterns of friendship and levels of creativity, extraversion and neuroticism were studied in samples of 11-year-old middle-school children, matched for socioeconomic background in two schools with the different layouts but similar philosophies and teaching styles. (Author)

This paper summarizes previous research findings concerning truants, then looks at a group of 22 young people who, as a result of their continued truancy, were attending an alternative education center. They were asked about their former schools, courses, and teachers and about their feelings toward the center. (Author/SJL)

In the early 1990s, the Quality Assurance Unit of Strathclyde (Scotland) Education Department involved parents in the school inspection process by surveying over 34,000 parents of school and preschool students. Survey responses concerning satisfaction with the parent-school relationship and educational quality are analyzed and interpreted in terms…

At the school-leaving age of 16, most Scottish students who continue with their education choose to remain in secondary school rather than switch to a further-education college. A survey suggests that students view colleges as welcoming places where students are treated as adults but are reluctant to leave the security of the known secondary…

This study of 2430 pupils, aged 15-16, examined differences between those in favor of raising the school-leaving age and those opposed. Results showed clear social class, academic and attitudinal differences. Using a subsample, an attempt was made to identify specific advantages and disadvantages seen for "staying on." (SJL)

When schools consult with students about their educational experiences, students exhibit increased self-confidence, independence in learning, and commitment to school. Teachers become aware of students' creativity, insightfulness, and responsibility. At the school level, student consultation can change assumptions about student capabilities and…

Statistical evidence, 1980-95, on Scottish secondary students' attainment, achievement, rates of staying on in postcompulsory education, and rates of entering higher education indicates sharp reductions in differences between advantaged and disadvantaged students. Improved access to expanded curricula has been supported by a deeply embedded social…

A questionnaire administered at Edinburgh's Moray House College of Education examined attitudes toward education/schools/teachers, indicated student social and community workers found school less expressively/instrumentally rewarding than did student primary teachers. Concludes that some problems of interprofessional communication between teachers…