Measures of peer acceptance and peers' social reputation were administered to 8 and 10 year olds in Shanghai, China, and Ontario, Canada. Results indicated that sociability was correlated with peer acceptance, and aggression with peer rejection, in both countries. Shyness was negatively correlated with peer acceptance in the Canadian sample. (BC)

Role play is effective in cooperative learning because it reduces anxiety, promotes risk taking, and is versatile. Students share ideas, values, knowledge, and skills, creating mutual problem solving. Limitations include the time required and student personalization of roles. The article lists guidelines for enhancing role play, noting alternative…

Educators who introduced cooperative learning (CL) in their school district present their feelings, ideas, and experiences. They note that CL takes commitment, work, time, and practice. The rewards are improvements in learning, social skills, and achievement. They recommend CL because it addresses current educational needs. (SM)

Interviews with students and teachers at two Sheffield high schools and employers involved in work experience placements revealed clear differences in the value and outcomes of work experience. The primary gap was between the rhetoric of the benefits of work experience, its effect on curriculum, and the actual experience. (SK)

A survey of Oregon dentists (n=248) and dental hygienists (n=235) investigated frequency of patient-initiated sexual advances and methods of dealing with them. Up to 44 percent experienced 1 or more patient verbal advances, and 23 percent experienced physical advances during a 5-year period. Inclusion of related issues in professional curricula is…

Investigated social sensitivity and self-concept in junior high school, high school, and community college students (total n=90), one-half of whom had learning disabilities. Learning-disabled students at all grade levels were significantly less accurate at interpreting social situations than were their nondisabled peers and had significantly lower…

Outlines a model of positive management and its implications for training educational managers, highlighting five factors (demoralization, pessimism, insecurity, tiredness, and lack of knowledge) resulting from the current climate of change. Proposes positive management as a strategy for successfully overcoming the negative implications of these…

Considers individual differences in cognitive and social functioning and how and why those differences are measured. Presents some issues that are believed to be historically important to the development of testing, particularly intelligence testing, and consequently to the practice of school psychology. Discusses some continuing problems with…

This article reports on a deinstitutionalization project for children with severe multiple intellectual and physical disabilities, in which 98 hospital residents were relocated to small group homes. Relocation generally resulted in a more varied life-routine for residents, a broader range of social activities and greater contact with their…

The use of videotape recordings of resident-patient encounters for review of medical situations and issues is discussed. Practices at McMaster University (Ontario) are described, and two examples in which the recordings helped students develop objectivity are presented. It is proposed that the method is useful and feasible. (Author/MSE)

Affection activities (such as hugging, smiling, and saying positive things) can be added to typical preschool games and songs to encourage interaction between handicapped children and nonhandicapped peers. The intervention can be adapted for use with children with diverse handicapping conditions. Typical activities, modified directions for…

Lists a total of 32 references and resources on techniques for conflict resolution in the preschool classroom, most dated in the 1980s and 1990s. (LB)

This study of 14 children (ages 3-5) with disabilities participating in the Classwide Social Skills Program found that the program increased subjects' positive play and levels of teacher reinforcement, but these increases did not generalize to 3-month or 6-month follow-up periods nor to another play session in the day. (Author/JDD)

This article points out that the acculturation of students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds is achieved primarily through language socialization. It examines the types of variation that must be addressed in working with students from diverse backgrounds, such as language code differences, conversational discontinuities, and…

Cooperative learning can help children understand and accept children of other races. In cooperative learning, students work in small teams with students of differing abilities and help each other master material. The highly structured format involves five elements: positive interdependence, face-to-face interaction, individual and team…