This book presents practical strategies to help secondary teachers succeed in their first year of teaching. The 16 chapters include the following: (1) Learning Your Way Around the School (getting oriented, making friends, learning rules and traditions, meeting others); (2) Organizing Your Room (taking inventory and assessing flow, movement, space,…

This descriptive study examined the meaning of student responses to computer-mediated communication in a distance learning setting. The theoretical framework of the study was based on social and collaborative learning theories within a constructivist perspective. Participants were 13 studio and 24 off-site students enrolled in a distance learning…

Many adolescents need basic health care and other services that address risky behaviors such as sexual activity, violence, alcohol and drug abuse, and the consequences of these behaviors. This publication summarizes laws and resolutions on adolescent health issues passed in 1997 state and territory legislative sessions. No 1997 legislative session…

The concept of emotional competence entails resilience, self-efficacy, and acting in accord with one's sense of moral character. This suggests argues that emotional competence is demonstrated by the self-efficacy in emotion-eliciting encounters and identifies eight key emotional skills that support its acquisition in interpersonal contexts. The…

this monograph presents the proceedings of a symposium on early childhood special education. The proceedings stress: (1) the importance of a family-centered approach in early intervention; (2) the need for more parents' participation; and (3) the value of continuity and coordination in service provision. After the text of a brief opening speech by…

This practicum aimed to increase parental involvement in an elementary school through the fourth grade. Objectives were that: (1) parental attendance at PTA meetings would increase by 25 percent; (2) the number of parent chaperons per field trip would increase from zero to two; and (3) one parent would help out with classroom activities each week.…

This report discusses a project to develop, test, and disseminate the SNAP (Smart Needs Assessment Program) system for needs assessment and inservice training of regular educators to work with students with disabilities. The SNAP system is an expert system that defines the training needs of individual teachers and links these needs with training…

The findings of numerous empirically based research studies reflecting the views of teachers, students, and administrators can be used to identify a "core of techniques" associated with effective community college teachers. Community college teaching is generally more student-centered than four-year college instruction, with the choice of teaching…

In 1990-91, 20 countries (Brazil, Canada, China, England, France, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Korea, Mozambique, Portugal, Scotland, Slovenia, Soviet Union, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, and the United States) surveyed the mathematics and science performance of 13-year-old students (and 14 countries also assessed 9-year-olds in the same…

This compilation presents five papers on issues and research in special education. "Qualitative Research in Special Education: An Evaluative Review" (Charles A. Peck and Gail C. Furman) explicates some of the epistemological assumptions underlying qualitative research methods, reviews examples of qualitative research, evaluates the contributions…

The purpose of this ethnographic study was to determine the norms and rules of behavior in a multi-ethnic seventh-grade classroom in an inner-city school. Data were gathered through classroom observations and interviews with the teacher. The teacher in this class stressed ethnic pride, and because the majority of the students (as well as the…

This book focuses on the development of principles and treatment procedures that enable special education teachers to teach students with behavior disorders how to control their own social and academic behavior in the school setting. Recommended treatment is largely based on a self-management and social skills training model. The first chapter…

American River College's (California) Peer Assisted Learning (PAL) project is a 2-year project initiated in 1992 to improve the retention and performance of minority students and others in math, biology, and chemistry through increased contact and involvement with their peers. PAL involves a cadre of 24 student Learning Assistants (LA's) who have…

To best deal with the issue of law enforcement officers in the school, educators should establish a written policy. Two previous issues of this journal offered a model policy. In light of intervening legal and educational developments, a revised 1994 model is offered. Local education officials are prohibited from sharing student records with law…

"The Study Skill Competency Program of the Tri-County Master Tutors Network of South Carolina" (ED 347 145) was designed to equip students with study skills that will improve the quality of their academic work. That document, originally written for use by professional educators within a private tutoring environment, has been tailored for use in…