A guide to help students from other countries pursue graduate education in chemistry in the United States is presented. The process of gaining admission to U.S. universities is emphasized, and the nature of graduate education is briefly explained. It is noted that students majoring in chemistry are expected to have a sound background in…

Two major events affecting American education as a whole are the recent Supreme Court decision on tuition tax credits and the appearance of reports that have placed education at the top of the national agenda. A third major development is the appreciation of the teacher as essential to education, an orientation that has arisen from the awareness…

A workshop was developed based on the work of Jacob Kounin, who identified many variables that are representative of teacher style and are strongly correlated with children's behavior in recitation settings. His work reviewed "desist" techniques employed by teachers to stop children's misbehaviors. The first step in developing the…

Research on educational standards and school discipline shows that curriculum reform may also improve discipline by engaging students in a challenging environment. The widespread decline in high school standards seems to have come from diluting both the high school and college liberal arts curricula of the past, with students abandoning careers in…

A successful inservice program designed to improve teachers' classroom discipline procedures and establish school-wide policies for behavior and conduct in an elementary school is described. The program's positive effects on both teachers and students was attributed to the following reasons: (1) The program was school-based, school-wide, and…

Ethnographic data on schools are used as the basis for commenting on two issues that concern British educational policy-makers: the crisis of control in the classroom, and the cut-back in initial teacher training. An ethnographic review of classroom control indicates that physical and verbal aggression by students is rare, and that such aggression…

Extending an earlier analysis by Giovannoni and Becerra (1979) that compared attitudes of Blacks, Hispanics, and Whites toward child abuse and neglect, this discussion provides an in-depth analysis of responses by Black parents. Vignettes describing situations of potential risk to children were rated by 129 Black respondents. The vignettes…

Increasing consideration is being given in the the United States to moving away from corporal punishment as a discipline alternative. Therefore, it is important to look at the experiences of countries such as Norway that have abolished corporal punishment. In this study, questionnaires regarding classroom management techniques were completed by…

This module, developed by the Research Applications for Teaching (RAFT) project, introduces the undergraduate student to practices of teachers in effective schools which facilitate the climate for learning in the classroom. Used with Canter's materials on assertive discipline, the preservice teachers should have an opportunity to reflect carefully…

Student absenteeism has become a major concern of educators, parents, and communities. Accordingly, this paper presents a series of annotations of articles addressing three aspects of this problem: (1) explanations of student absenteeism, including descriptions of the habitual offender, along with school, peer, and community influences; (2)…

Classroom discipline is one of the biggest difficulties in teaching. This book describes a system of classroom management that combines the characteristics of a good teacher with those of a successful disciplinarian. The main message is that responsibility for good behavior belongs with the students and that teachers should spend more time…

The parent education materials in this packet are intended for use by professionals, and some paraprofessionals, who work with children from birth through 5 years of age and with their families. Included are guidelines for choosing playthings for children of any age, and lists of suggested toys for children of various ages, and, in particular,…

Written for child caregivers, this booklet provides very basic information about child abuse and neglect, discusses early warnings that signal when a family is in trouble or when a child is at risk, and indicates how caregivers can helpfully intervene. Also suggested are ways caregivers might protect themselves against the charge of child abuse.…

Three approaches to classroom management--assertive discipline, cooperative learning, and behavior management/mastery learning theory--are described. Assertive discipline was observed in a fifth-grade class taught by a teacher who would not allow students to interfere with her teaching or another child's learning. The assertive discipline approach…

A brief questionnaire examining how teachers' rules of conduct facilitate learning was answered by 20 teachers in a Northeastern urban elementary school. Only two of these, from the upper levels, posted written rules. Verbal rules regarding inappropriate talking and seat leaving behavior were most frequently issued across all grades. Also issued…