In recent years, issues affecting children and youth have received increased attention at the national and local levels, with numerous reports detailing challenges and offering solutions. Targeted toward policymakers, practitioners, scholars, and those seeking understanding of ideas for social and educational reform, this book focuses on promising…

Instructional design (ID) case studies that pose authentic ill-defined design problems in realistic environments can help instructional design students bridge the gap between novice and expert practice. Over the past 3 years, the authors have explored aspects of this educational approach through the development of World Wide Web-based…

This report details findings of a national survey of the attitudes and plans of American adolescents. Completing the questionnaire were non-home-schooled students 14 to 18 years of age from 1,334 households in a nationally representative sample. To permit regional comparisons, the questionnaires were mailed to representative households within each…

This paper will review several important constructs in the area of social and emotional development of children in grades 2-5. The importance of social and emotional development has become increasingly evident in light of new research on the brain and the development of programs to prevent social and behavioral disorders in youth. This review will…

Reading skills are crucial to the academic achievement of students at the middle and high school levels. Do your students have the strategic reading skills they need to succeed? Do your teachers effectively integrate reading instruction into their classes? What do your teachers do if they have students who have difficulty reading? This third…

Educators create the culture of success in schools through the effective implementation of classroom management and discipline. Creating a proactive learning environment relies heavily on the training of new teachers in classroom management. Having new teachers find a management style which is consistent within the culture of the school and in…

Examines the application of Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences at the middle school level. Suggests that planning, teaching and assessment should be based upon learner's individual needs and intelligences, aiming to help develop particular intelligences and strengthen the existing ones. Proposes several learning activities for…

Incentive structures were observed in mainstream classes enrolling students labeled as low achieving, average achieving, and learning disabled (LD). Incentive structures were labeled academic engagement and behavioral management. Students with LD engaged in intermediate amounts of content-related process relative to other students. Teachers used…

Describes a middle school program that integrates history/social studies, language, and visual arts. Describes how the program links two different middle schools through electronic mail in their study of world cultures. Includes examples of student writing and descriptions of classroom activities. (CFR)

Examines the reasons given by professional and paraprofessional librarians for participating in continuing education programs offered by the North Carolina Library Staff Development Program. Use of the Participation Reasons Scale is discussed, and four underlying components for participation are described: (1) personal concerns, (2) patron…

Examines relationships between student interests and aptitude in selected academic fields and their success in intensive courses on these subjects. Discusses a two-year study of 33 mathematics students and 32 literature students in the eighth and ninth grades in the Soviet Union. Shows that differentiated, intensive study did not strengthen…

Reports on a "What Works Workshop," held at Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana. Explains that the program brought together researchers and music teachers to explore problems of applying research findings to music classroom practice. Examines examples of research utilization that the workshop clarified. Lists strategies that workshop…

Describes two programs (College-for-a-Day and Scholars Club) to encourage higher education as a realistic goal and to promote scholarship and leadership among middle and high school minority youth in Lee County (Florida). College-for-a-Day is operated in collaboration with University of South Florida and Edison Community College. (SM)

Explores the cumulative impact of repeated standardized testing on student attitudes and motivation. By high school, a large number of students, especially low achievers, become disillusioned about tests, are less motivated to give genuine efforts, and increasingly use inappropriate test-taking strategies, undermining test validity and genuine…

This article reports on the results of a planning grant studying the effects of a highly rated curriculum unit on a diverse student population. The treatment was introduced to 1500 eighth grade students in five middle schools selected for their ethnic, linguistic, and socioeconomic diversity. Students were given pre-, post-, and delayed posttests…