This technical report describes the development, pilot testing, and revision of a survey instrument designed to measure secondary school teachers' perceptions of their efficacy working with students from diverse backgrounds. A brief review of relevant literature frames the current study in the context of survey development that is technically…

People write because they have something to say, when they have a rich experience to share, or when they have ideas to clarify and record. Effective writers learn how to communicate. This applies to adults as well as children. Teaching writing is about building on the language skills that children bring with them to school. Pupils need a rich…

Governors and state and local education officials assumed that raising student achievement in the elementary and middle grades would solve the problems with high schools--but it hasn't. Why? Good information is the basis for successful improvement, and high school reform lacks accurate information about what students are to learn and about how…

For more than a decade, many researchers and practitioners have endorsed a "positive youth development" approach, which views adolescents as active contributors to their own development and as assets to their communities. As part of this shift, youth are increasingly being invited to engage in community governance. In youth…

Racial differences in the reporting accuracy of parental status characteristics by White and Black high school seniors were investigated using Joreskog's general framework for simultaneous covariance structure analyses of multiple populations. Reliability estimates for Whites were significantly higher than for Blacks due to differences in true…

Defines stress, explains a dynamic model of stress, and provides strategies for reducing stress in teachers. Describes a two-prong inservice program to be led by counselors. The first prong is a series of inservice workshops. The second prong is a professional support group led by the school counselor. (Author)

Presents three different papers: (1) mathematical models and understanding in science; (2) attitude shaping in the training of science teachers (a role-playing strategy for laboratory safety and mini teaching as opposed to micro teaching); and (3) a technique in the analysis of technical writing to improve reading skills of students. (SK)

The Open University Younger Student Pilot Scheme, a five-year research project is discussed. Project objectives included: testing the suitability of students in the 18 to 20 year age group, developing predictive indices of success and failure, and assessing the level and nature of the demand for places. (Author/MLW)

The authors focus on the need for administrators to deal with the problem of teacher burnout as it relates to the implementation of Public Law 94-142 (the Education for All Handicapped Children Act). (Author)

Data from a 1974 national survey on career interests and influences of high school seniors were used to develop a theoretical vocational interest model. Results of factor analysis of one dimension ("Realistic Services") of vocational interest indicated that sex was an important predictor of interest in this vocational dimension. (MF)

The paper defines and discusses various social learning theories. Central to most theories of how an individual acquires socially acceptable behaviors are the processes of imitation, or observational learning, and identification, or modeling. The effectiveness of each process is noted. (SB)

A competency-based curriculum model for teaching geriatrics in a family medicine residency is described that divides competencies under four major goals: understanding principles, obtaining and interpreting data, managing geriatric patients, and working in a health care team. Sample objectives, instructional methods, and student evaluation are…

The concepts of work, careers, and career education are discussed as they relate to higher education concerns. An idealistic model is presented illustrating what would constitute a comprehensive career education effort in an institution of higher education. (AF)

The high school diploma is attacked as providing inadequate evidence of student development, socialization, and achievement. Discussed are major potential consequences of the movement towards "competency-based education" affecting college admissions, curricula, graduation requirements, and student learning. (AF)

Character education is a deliberate, whole-school effort to create a community of virtue, where moral behaviors such as respect, honesty, kindness, hard work, and self-control are modeled, taught, experienced, and practiced in everyday operations. High schools can mobilize the peer culture by involving students and parents in setting personal,…