Used writing samples, informal observations, and formal interviews and observations over 6 weeks to document a 4-year-old's emergent writing process. Found that the subject made the transition from the pre-phonetic to the semi-phonetic writing stages at an early age. Also found that young children's low tolerance level for frustration has…

Uses participatory ethnography to interview lay persons about the role of religion and the church in personal meaning-making. Probes the motives that call people to theology, the theological methods people use, how people engage in religious knowing, and how the church helps these efforts. Suggests shortcomings in present religious education. (DSK)

The author recounts personal experiences with socio-politically structured racism, especially in education and religion; and the growth gained in confronting this nemesis. A career ranging from pastor to counselor to counselor educator has brought understanding of the link between religion, education, and counseling and a commitment to…

In a world where socially constructed categories of race are misconstrued as biological, the author, a light-skinned "Black," found herself unacceptable to both sides. From exploring her own Blackness to owning both her Whiteness and her Blackness, her story explores the biracial experience that goes beyond racial identity models. (EMK)

Human beings tell stories to make sense of their experiences. Implications of this position for counseling are explored, using the author's experiences as the son of a Native American. His decision at age 11 to leave home for a better life is described as a critical incident. (EMK)

Determines the best predictors of compositional creativity among a set of selected variables for upper elementary students in order to demonstrate the importance of students' musical experiences outside of school. Finds that the best predictors were musical achievement and academic grades, while the strongest predictor was informal musical…

Examined relations between phonological processing and emerging individual differences in math computation skills. Found that phonological memory, access rate to phonological codes in memory, and phonological awareness were uniquely associated with growth in number of computation procedures mastered from 92.5 to 134.8 months. Phonological…

A study examining the contributions of service learning to students' cognitive, affective, civic, and social development surveyed 801 ninth-grade students in 6 school districts over 2 years. Personal development and civic involvement ratings were significantly higher for students who engaged in all three types of service activity: volunteerism,…

Summer of Service, a national summer service learning program for early adolescents is described. The three tenets of this program--intentional design, youth empowerment, and the opportunity to be of use--combine to make a powerful learning experience. Student input is involved at every stage of the program, and learning is incorporated through a…

Since the world has been transformed through technology and global competition, children of the twenty-first century need much higher literacy and mathematical skills than their grandparents. Yet, at the same time, children need time to play and time to develop at a natural pace. In this article, the author shares and explains "triangulated…

This qualitative study explored the intersection between social class and college outreach. The service-learning experience was perceived differently by students of different social classes. The benefit was that the interactive classroom forum allowed diverse students to exchange views. Regardless of their personal backgrounds, students shared a…

Intentionally linking the assessment of student learning outcomes of service-learning with reflection allows each to inform and reinforce the other. This paper traces the evolution of a strategy that uses reflection products as data sources to assess and improve both individual student learning and program-wide approaches to reflection. Two tools…

What are "full-service community schools," and what do they have to do with youth development? Community schools are those that have been intentionally transformed into neighborhood hubs and that are open all the time to children and their families. In these buildings, a range of support services is provided by community agencies to help…

The National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) accredits more than half of the colleges of education in the United States. Several of its standards require teacher preparation programs to emphasize diversity in their curricula and to demonstrate that they are developing a professional environment wherein acceptance of varying…

In response to the 2000 Virginia state writing prompt, eighth grade students wrote a letter of advice to a sixth grader coming to middle school for the first time. A purposeful sample of more than 10,000 writing responses was collected. Content analysis of a random sample of 350 responses revealed themes of advice for students negotiating the…