A physics teacher with inner-city-high-school teaching experience contends that spillover violence, due in large part to gang activity in the neighborhood, affects the performance and career choices of inner-city young people and contributes to the paucity of minority students in science classes. This in turn contributes to their lack of…

A study found African-American students at a predominantly white university who participated in a freshman peer mentor program were likely to raise concerns with peers as they would not in programs promoting help-seeking. Participants reported promising rates of problem resolution following mentor interventions, had higher two-year retention rates…

Students in two desegregated urban high schools agreed on the definition of a good student but disagreed on the acceptability of the model for blacks. Six black high achievers, within these contrasting environments (middle-class versus working-class) show how they respond to the conflict of being black and a model student. (MMU)

Investigated factors associated with gang involvement among rural and urban adolescents using data from a sample of 1,183 Nevada students in grades 7 through 12. There was no significant difference in gang membership or pressure to join gangs between the rural and urban samples, but there were differences on other gang and violence indicators.…

Evaluates the extent to which social class conditions, peer group influence, parenting, and student behavior are key factors in causing black student underachievement in Great Britain, noting that these factors are typically overlooked by researchers. Discusses recommendations from the Macpherson report (which investigated the murder of a black…

Used an ecological model to examine different factors impacting school completion and dropping out for Mexican American students, highlighting: the microsystem (individual settings), which emphasizes daily interactions represented by the family, the classroom, and peer relationships; the mesosystem (setting interactions); the exosystem (community…

Investigated the effects of a peer network strategy on the duration of social interaction and social communication skills for three elementary students with autism. Results indicate increased social interaction time and use of an augmentative communication system for all three students, with increased expressive language for two students.…

A sub-group of at-risk learners consists of students who have demonstrated academic capability yet begin to fail in their senior years. Describes the achievement perspectives of three such students using qualitative interviews. Results reveal that academic, social, family, and peer factors influenced their decision making. Suggests ways to modify…

Investigates the effectiveness of peer facilitator interventions with disruptive middle school students. Provides evidence that eighth-grade peer facilitators can be effective with sixth-grade problem behavior students. Facilitators demonstrated that they could help students who are having problems adjusting to school, especially in terms of their…

Investigated linkages between aspects of emotional competence and preschoolers' social skills with peers, as well as parental emotion socialization practices as predictors of social skill. Found that emotional competence variables were meaningfully related to the peer variables and that, for non-constructive anger reactions, maternal reports of…

Examined the mechanisms of peer influences on fifth-grade children's drawings. Observed the socio-collaborative processes by which children influence each other's artistic styles; found gender differences in content, technical quality, and meaning. (JPB)

Examines the historical and conceptual foundations of friendship research. Areas addressed include functions of friendship, study of peer relations and peer systems, associated methodological and measurement challenges, and the study of friendship today. The discussion is framed around the "Harry Potter" (by J. K. Rowling) phenomena. (SD)

Using structural equation modeling and data on 10th-grade students from the Longitudinal Study of American Youth, a model was developed to show the relationship to career aspiration of eight indicators of "educational productivity": mathematics achievement; motivation; instructional quantity and quality; home, class, and peer environment; and mass…

Compared impact of maternal influences and impact of peer influences on eating problems among Japanese adolescent girls. Found greater impact of peer interactions in grades 10 and 11, while maternal influence was stronger in grades 8 and 9. Measured participants' sensitivity to social evaluation and found no effects of grade in this area. (SD)

Describes how to motivate students to learn by having them teach back to the class what they have just learned from the teacher. Students break into small groups and brainstorm how to teach what has just been presented, then the teacher picks one group to teach back to the class. (SM)