Review of the literature on aspects of human behavior relevant to library media center design discusses personal space, territoriality, privacy, variety, and color. Suggestions for media center design in the areas of color, carpeting, seating, private spaces, variety in spaces, ownership, and control are offered; and research needs are identified.…

Principles of teaching students with special needs the processes for self-regulation of their behavior are offered, for the four components of self-instruction, goal setting, self-monitoring, and self-reinforcement. Forms of self-instruction are described, with examples, and sample recording systems are provided. (DB)

Researchers followed up on fourth graders from Project STAR, a reduced class size experiment. Using norm and criterion-referenced achievement tests and teacher ratings of student effort, initiative, and behavior, they found significant small class carry-over effects on every achievement measure and significant participation differences in small…

Presents findings of an analysis of job stress among secondary school teachers in Malta. Reports that one-third of 545 respondents rated teaching as stressful or very stressful. Identifies pupil misbehavior, poor working conditions, poor staff relations, and time pressures as leading contributors to stress. Examines the influence of demographic…

Presents timesaving tips to help elementary teachers make the most of every minute in the classroom. The article includes suggestions for using bulletin board space, creating student jobs, keeping track of items and assignments, recording grades, preparing makeup work, switching subjects, and timing student tasks. (SM)

The Ecobehavioral Assessment Systems Software (EBASS) is a computer-assisted student observational system which contains three instruments widely used in special education research. This article describes the background, instruments, supporting technology, validation research, and barriers to the use of computer-assisted observational assessment.…

Surveys of nonreferred students in grades 7 through 12 found that girls endorsed more depressive symptomatology than did boys, but the magnitude of the effect was trivial. Over one-third of the sample reported suicidal ideation. It is suggested that effect-size analyses may advance understanding of normative research on depression. (RJM)

Reports a study that assessed high-risk/low-risk safer sex behaviors among homosexual and heterosexual college students. Surveys indicated most students engaged in high-risk sexual behaviors that put them at risk for HIV infection regardless of their sexual orientation or fraternity/sorority affiliation. (SM)

Describes a study that examined elementary teachers' perceptions of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Researchers surveyed teachers with and without experience and training who were teaching students with ADHD. Results indicated teachers considered four barriers to providing effective instruction very important. Differences between…

Information is presented to familiarize school psychologists with (1) behavioral effects and side-effects associated with stimulant medications used for the Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD); (2) factors to consider in recommending medicine trials for individual children; (3) methods to assess treatment response within schools; and…

Relations among observed family interaction patterns, preadolescent boys' classroom self-restraint, and academic achievement were studied in a sample of 65 intact families. Findings identify behavioral self-restraint, a form of social competence, as a noncognitive mediator between the quality of family functioning and academic achievement in early…

Discusses the effectiveness of a group self-management procedure (involving opportunity to perform a behavior, performance self-assessment, matching with the teacher, and reinforcement contingent on a student-teacher match) for increasing the on-task behavior of four disruptive preschool boys. Presents results regarding child engagement behavior,…

Studied 28 pairs of fourth graders using an educational software game under cooperative conditions, in which students played against the computer, and competitive conditions, in which students played against each other. The cooperative environment resulted in more correct answers than the competitive environment. The only strategies related to…

Students in grades 7 (n=4), 9 (n=9), 10 (n=13), and 11 (n=12) were interviewed to compare the use of intuitive and taught methods of problem solving. Results indicate grade 9 students could efficiently use taught methods as well as intuitive methods, whereas grade 10 and 11 students reverted to basic problem-solving methods and were reluctant to…

Presents two case studies from a book by Lusiane Weyl-Kailey in which she addresses the learning problems of 14-year-old boys from either a psychoanalytic perspective or a mathematical perspective, depending upon her diagnosis of the boys' problems. (MDH)