Fifth- and sixth-grade students and teachers were interviewed about their perceptions of the general aspects of cooperative small group instruction. Students' and teachers' perceptions were found to be fairly well aligned; differences were found regarding emphasis given to curriculum, group, and individual accountability. (SM)

Urban elementary school teachers completed a checklist designed to determine a profile of the most significant factors that caused students to be at risk. Results indicated there were eight important factors: academic risk, behavior and coping skills, social withdrawal, family income, parenting, language development, retention, and attendance. (SM)

Reports on a study of the impact of a transformative curriculum in social studies among 96 11th-grade students in a New York City high school. Illustrates problems teachers face when they assume that students are making the intellectual connections expected of them. (CFR)

Gender differences were examined in 182 freshman college students who had completed a packet of questionnaires and inventories to address the impact of separation from parents and to test relevance of self-in-relation theory. Differences indicated that women reported establishing more of all kinds of support. Other results are reported. (JBJ)

Describes one elementary teacher's experience when a minor event (a student forgetting to bring a permission slip and lunch for a field trip) resulted in a major class lesson in responsibility. Another teacher and a social worker present their perspectives on the situation and provide suggestions for teaching responsibility. (SM)

A typology of adolescent media uses is presented, discussing five uses--entertainment, identity formation, high sensation, coping, and youth culture identification--in relation to adolescent socialization. Media differ from other socializing agents in that adolescents have greater control over their media choices, resulting in substantial…

Three articles present suggestions to help elementary teachers promote student development. The first describes games that encourage a sense of community. The second deals with making parent teacher conferences a positive experience. The third discusses how to give confused children who are involved in custody battles an alternative to acting out.…

Presents strategies for counteracting the following barriers to classroom discussions: student nonparticipation or inattentiveness to others; teacher behaviors of initiating, soliciting, responding, and reacting; argumentative encounters; and inability to communicate mathematically. (MKR)

Maintains that conflict and violence among students, and between students and educators, are problems in many schools. Discusses how the increasing cultural diversity at school can create conflict and violence. Encourages greater use of informal means of social control through relationship-building intervention. (CFR)

The health needs of adolescent Mexican Americans are not adequately addressed by the health care system. The article presents a sociodemographic profile of this group, describing how degree of ethnic identification, acculturation, and other risk factors may contribute to problem behavior. Recommendations to increase culturally appropriate…

Surveys examined whether psychosocial factors (psychosocial distress, drug use, family stress, and school performance) would distinguish adolescents endorsing high suicide ideation from those who did not, focusing on potential school dropouts. High-risk students with suicide ideation had more psychosocial distress, drug involvement, family stress,…

Explored within-group effects of mother-infant attachment and day care on children's social and emotional development in a high-risk, low income sample of mothers and infants who entered day care early, and a home-reared, middle-class sample of infants and their mothers. Found that the effects of early day care are influenced by security of…

This paper examines levels of participation in and correlates of AIDS-related risk behavior for adolescents in high risk communities. Seventh through ninth graders completed surveys regarding attitudes, behaviors, and resistance skills related to sexual intercourse and substance use. Grade, race, and sexual activity correlated with drug use.…

Randomly assigned 246 African American adolescents either to an educational program or to an 8-week intervention that combined education with behavior skills training. Results indicate that, compared with the education program, youth in behavioral skills training lowered their infection risk to a greater degree, maintained risk reduction changes…

Reports on a simulation used in intercultural communication in an English-as-a-Second-Language/English-as-a-Foreign-Language teacher education program. The simulation created an uncomfortable cultural atmosphere, similar to that in a foreign environment, and focused on helping the teachers in training recognize themselves as cultural beings whose…