Based on large-scale surveys of high school seniors in the classes of 1975 through 1984, this paper presents findings which have a bearing on the quality of life of young people. Most seniors planned and hoped for marriage, children, and material well-being; however, the last few graduating classes showed increased concern about attaining those…

Recent research suggests that small (1:15) classes in the primary grades improve a student's chance to obtain a solid educational foundation. Funding has proved a major hurdle to definitive class size research. Also, many class size studies are inconclusive, since few are longitudinal. Tennessee is weighing its burgeoning welfare and correctional…

Classroom and playground behaviors of 95 integrated mildly intellectually handicapped and mildly disabled students were compared with those of 95 nonhandicapped, age- and sex-matched regular class students. All subjects attended state government primary schools and were between 8 and 13 years of age. Subjects' behavior was observed in the…

Classroom observation of four student teachers during the first, seventh, and fourteenth weeks of their teaching semester focused on their management of transition periods between lesson segments. Videotapes and stimulated recall analysis of the differences revealed that: (1) the most effective student teachers averaged fewer transitions per…

The Monitoring the Future project was created to assess the changing lifestyles, values, and preferences of American youth on a continuing basis. Trends in marijuana use and related attitudes were investigated, and alternative hypotheses about the linkage between attitudes and behaviors were examined. Data were obtained using questionnaires…

QUILL, a set of microcomputer-based writing activities for students in grades two through twelve, is based on the recent research on the composing process. To help students become more experienced writers, QUILL includes two tools for writing: a planner, which helps students plan and organize their pieces, and a writer's assistant or text editor,…

The perception of typical U.S. college students toward the Reagan administration's foreign policy is that it is based on the principle that Communism must be stopped at any cost. Students' beliefs are defined according to their reactions to specific U.S. foreign policy initiatives. Three areas have aroused considerable campus reaction and…

A study was made of 39 secondary schools which had implemented new programs that had a research base in the effective schools/classrooms literature, that were well-defined, and that emphasized improvement effort at the building level. A discussion presenting the aims and methods of the study includes a working definition of the effective schools…

A study was designed to identify patterns or relationships among test items used to measure teacher stress and develop a measure of teacher stress using a Likert-type scale. The subjects of the study were 89 experienced elementary and secondary school teachers, who rated 50 items related to events in a classroom situation or school setting, using…

A survey was conducted in l979 of teachers who had taken a course on behavior problems to determine the course's effectiveness. Information was sought on teachers' concerns about discipline, perceptions of causes of discipline problems, and effectiveness of various techniques presented in the course for classroom application. A group of teachers…

This study examined the relative effectiveness of two variations of an elective course on self-control and study behavior in modifying academic performance of freshmen undergraduate students enrolled in the independent studies program of the Universidad Simon Bolivar, in Venezuela. Of the 29 freshmen students selected to participate in this study,…

Containing five sections, this paper deals with motivational processes in reading. The paper first discusses motivation and unmotivated behavior. It then examines contributions from psychology, which include views concerning the nature of variables and processes involved in motivation and behavior; a hypothetical motivational sequence; and…

This document offers perspectives on the concepts of environment and order related to the classroom setting. Environment is explained as the physical milieu, action structure, and the fit between these phenomena. Order can refer to the system being "in order" or to the participants being on task. Examples are presented of relationships…

A discussion of space utilization, material availability and use, and adult-child interactions as factors related to the quality of education found in several preschools. (SDH)