Two 45 item instruments designed to measure attitudes toward school are presented. In the first, for grades 1-3, the student answers yes or no to statements describing attitudes toward school. In the second, for grades 4-6, students respond to each item by marking responses ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree on mark sense cards. For…

When the Rincon Valley School District realized that a sixth-grade teacher's lengthening absences were due to Acquired Immune Deficiency Disease, the district and the teacher chose to handle the case in the open. The experience with the school, students, families, and the community has been positive while providing a supportive environment for the…

A Pride Month program with miniactivities and in-depth projects designed to help students take a serious look at themselves and their environment is suggested. Four themes for the month are offered: Pride in Self, School Pride, Community Pride, and National Pride. (MT)

Representative studies demonstrating an association between television and children's behavior in the following areas are reviewed: (1) children's aggressive behavior; (2) racial and sex-role stereotypes; (3) decreased interest in reading and school activities; and (4) poorer health habits and attitudes. (Author/CL)

After visiting an elementary school, a secondary teacher comments on the classroom organization, language arts activities, and school attitudes and values. (HOD)

Notes that some children's literature echoes many criticisms of the U.S. educational system and presents school as a place to be avoided. Suggests that such books have a place at all levels of the curriculum, for young readers as well as would-be teachers, because such criticism is part of a dialectic that keeps organisms healthy. (RS)

As part of the instrumentation to assess the effectiveness of the Schools Without Failure (SWF) program in 10 elementary schools in the New Castle, Pa. School District, this 30-item School Attitude Scale was developed to measure children's attitudes toward school in grades 1-3. A faces response form was used. Reliability for this form averaged .89…

A study of 8 children (ages 5-7) with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia found returning to school was a major milestone and that school serves as the mechanism by which young survivors approach the process of living each day. Attendance obstacles are discussed, along with guidelines for maintaining school as a priority. (Contains references.) (CR)

The Stanford Reading and Television Study was undertaken to research the relationship between children's television viewing and their acquisition of reading skills. This progress report outlines the design of the study, describes the nature of the data which were collected, and summarizes key analyses of the data. The results reported indicate a…

This study investigated the attitudes, behavior, and mathematics achievement of 200 second- through fifth-grade children who received a midmorning snack of nuts and raisins. It was hypothesized that a nutritious snack would counter low blood sugar in children who consumed a high-sugar breakfast or had no breakfast at all. Experimental subjects…

Two hundred-sixteen fifth- and sixth-graders were dichotomized on attitude toward school (positive or negative) and randomly assigned to three conditions in which they were instructed that they were about to take either an Intelligence, Achievement, or a Routine test. Results of analysis of variance on Kuhlmann-Anderson scores revealed significant…

Summaries are provided for 16 measures of school-based attitudes. All of the instruments are paper and pencil, self-report inventories. Some are designed for children 4-8 years of age; others are for students in grades 12-14. Each of the instruments is presented in the following format: Title, Description, Subjects, Response Mode, Scoring, and…

Lists Project EXCEL's 10 Commandments for Schools and presents an interview with Jesse Jackson in which he discusses why and how principles for promoting excellence should be applied in elementary schools. (JMB)

Elementary school children were interviewed about their perceptions of school in two domains. The action domain tapped perceptions of their actual and ideal prerogatives with respect to privacy, territoriality, and decision making. The value domain addressed children's evaluations of the school as a safe, just, responsive, important, and liked…