As new school leaders take over the district's top jobs this fall, they and their communities face transitions. Joshua P. Starr explains that too many leaders focus on entry and fail to engage in a thoughtful and comprehensive transition process. Transition isn't just about change; it's also about loss. Organizational transition is about how…

Middle school brings rapid developmental changes for adolescents, and parent engagement is as essential as ever. However, what worked for parent-teacher partnerships in elementary school doesn't fit so well in middle school. Adolescents are building their autonomy, and teachers must help empower parents' efforts to bolster students as independent…

Promoting cooperative social behavior is a major task of preschool teachers. Children are taught to be nice, be fair, and share. This mandate, however, runs up against the fact that young children are naturally egotistical and unable to appreciate the perspective of others. This leaves teachers with questions about how strongly they should push…

Racial stress and trauma negatively impact the psychological and academic outcomes of Black youth. Riana Elyse Anderson, Farzana Saleem, and James Huguley encourage parents and teachers to explore racial experiences and resulting stress and trauma through racial socialization, or competent conversations and behaviors regarding race and racism, to…

In commenting on the preceding article, the author notes that one might regard the "alienation" of youth not as an evil but as an accurate perception of broader social pathologies and as a sign of disaffection that could lead to reform. (Author/IRT)

This review of cross-national data on educational achievement indicates that the U.S. educational system has clearly been responsive both to the rapid changes in society and to its basic democratic ideology. (Author)

Their special role and the unusual demands placed on them isolate coaches from the rest of the academic bureaucracy. Athletes entering the field of coaching are so thoroughly socialized that they bring with them certain personality traits characteristic of athletes, distinct from other members of the faculty. (Editor)

Contrary to Wynne in another article in this issue, the correction of alienation lies in changing the structure and fabric of society rather than in better socialization of youth. (Author/IRT)

We still do not know what impact interscholastic sport has on the individual, on the student body as a whole, on the institution, and on the community. (Author/IRT)

In every case, and regardless of subsequent application, all rules, morals, and laws are established by one segment of a given population for application primarily to another segment of that (or some other) population. Men do not make laws with the primary object of restraining themselves. Thus, morality is not always healthy. (Author/JF)

Personal reminiscences about Bertrand Russell. (RA)

In this article, the author shares the lesson she learned from her young friend, Mirabel, whose mother was dying. By following the daily path of support taken by Mirabel, she learned that it does not matter whether schools have a hundred kids, a thousand kids, or several thousand kids. Teachers must make sure that they can make room for each one.…

Argues that if conformity is what culture demands, then schools that emphasize dull, fixed, ritualistic, and conformist behavior are functional. (Author)

The behaviorist view of man, that he is only another animal with some extraordinary features, places him at odds with the taming socialization process that goes on in the schools. Schools should offer an expansive environment, activity oriented rather than passive. (Author/WD)