This training guide and reference manual helps educational leaders learn to be facilitators in the program called "Improving the Human Environment of Schools" (IHES), a participative problem-solving method designed to improve a school's "quality of life." An introductory chapter reviews the history of IHES and outlines IHES…

The evaluation of long-range goals of the Race/Human Relations Program of the San Diego City Schools consisted of observations to determine the degree to which racial mixing was occurring at school sites and the quality of interactions among students and adults. Fifty district employees were trained in the use of the Contextual Evaluation Form. A…

The computerized group decision making system has potential to become an important part of an organization, but the research done thus far in this area is unfocused, lacks rigor and a theoretical base, and disregards the communication component of the technology except on the most pragmatic, fundamental level. A review of the research makes clear…

For the internship site visit to be the most effective vehicle of evaluation for the director, and for open communication between intern and supervisor, the director must be aware of both the communicative relationship issues and the content of the interactions. In all six phases of the site visit--pre-site visit, site visit entry, intern…

Research conducted in the United States has found that people exert more effort when they perform a task individually than when they do so in a group. This phenomenon has been labeled social loafing. To examine the transcultural generality of social loafing, 20 male and 20 female Chinese school children in Taiwan were selected from grades 2, 3, 6,…

This paper addresses the use of one technique, role play, in the resolution of conflictual situations at various levels in the school system. While a variety of options for dealing with conflict are discussed, primary emphasis is given to that method which resolves the conflict and leaves the relationship intact. The method of role play and its…

To understand how computer conferencing can be used to meld communication and education among remotely located high-level professions, an ongoing exploratory study started to collect data from participants in an advanced adult education course conducted primarily via computer-mediated communication in the area of top level management. The…

This document describes the process by which a consortium of media professionals was brought together to develop a graduate level, competency based, educational program for school media specialists. It is divided into four sections: (1) process description of program design, (2) competencies for the school media specialist, (3) an annotated…

This essay considers how prosocial behavior can be learned in the classroom and whether it can be transferred from this setting to others. It also focuses on two aspects of such behavior which the authors consider important: (1) the development and enhancement of the self-concept; and (2) the development of productive interpersonal relations,…

The objective of this study was to examine the interaction between professional and bureaucratic decisional environments in schools and discover the impact of this interaction on the processes of educational governance. A case study methodology was used to gather data; the analysis was conducted within a conceptual framework of organization…

In a study of the relationships between school racial composition and intergroup hostility in 123 desegregated elementary schools, four measures of racial hostility were considered: (1) white attitudes toward desegregation; (2) whites' friendliness toward blacks as perceived by blacks; (3) white attitudes toward voluntary social interaction with…

A thorough and integrated approach to classroom management can enable teachers to prevent most discipline problems and handle those that do occur. Some students, however, may have intensive personal or behavior problems requiring individualized treatment in addition to group management techniques. Many teachers may also want to pursue student…

Reflections are offered on the challenge of teaching a foreign language to academically gifted adolescents. At the introductory levels, able students are impatient with materials that are too simplistic. To hold their attention, they need exercises that involve choice, complex structural changes, and creativity. Colloquial dialogues and culturally…

This study investigated the relationships among student and group characteristics, group interaction, and achievement in cooperative small groups. Seventy-seven students in two junior high school mathematics classrooms learned a two-week unit on exponents and scientific notation in mixed-ability or uniform-ability groups. Interaction in the groups…

After 24 triads of college students discussed hypothetical situations of serious and moderately serious acts of plagiarism by either high or low status individuals, they designated a punishment. The hypothesis was that the severity of the sanction would be a joint function of the severity of the act, the attribution of responsibility for the act,…