Presents various signs that may indicate emotional problems in children or teens, noting that if children exhibit any of the warning signs, it is important to talk to a doctor, counselor, or mental-health professional. The warning signs are categorized as things that trouble the child, things that limit the child, behavior problems, and sudden…

Two cohorts of students attending an alternative school for chronically disruptive youth received either the standard program or the standard program with additional family involvement. The experimental group experienced statistically significant improvements in locus of control, grade point averages, attendance, and reduced dropout rate, relative…

Describes incidents of school violence in the Northwest, the young killers' personalities, characteristics of extremely aggressive children, and factors that reduce such children's potential for violence. Highlights from "Early Warning, Timely Response: A Guide to Safe Schools" (August 1998) list early warning signs, what schools can do, and what…

Examined classroom processes in urban elementary schools identified as effective/efficient (E/E) and ineffective/inefficient (I/I), noting differences regarding students' behavior, motivation, and perception of classroom learning environment. Data from observations and student surveys indicated several classroom process differences between E/E and…

Asserts that today's students must cope with considerable hostility and find the courage to survive aggression (e.g., through organized religion). Without religion in schools, educators lose values that teach children to be ethical, contributing citizens. Teachers must be leaders in moral development in order to help students understand how their…

Examined the effects of a three-year tobacco education curriculum, which included five lessons per year, on urban elementary students' knowledge, attitudes, and intentions. Pretesting and posttesting of experimental and control students indicated that experimental students' posttest knowledge and attitude scores were significantly higher than…

Argues that a high priority should be placed on creative expression in early childhood settings, including the visual arts, music, dance, poetry, and drama. Stresses that creative potential must be nurtured and carefully cultivated, and argues that there can be no true artistic expression without freedom, and there can be no true freedom without…

Examines what junior high teachers believe they manage in their classrooms and how they perceive and use strategies in this management. Observations and interviews highlight three themes that convey the complexity of teacher management and strategies: teachers' management classroom space, the energy of people and pedagogy within classroom space,…

Examines the ways in which teachers expected their students to use, or to know how to use, certain reading skills. Reveals a significant interaction between ability and reading component in an analysis of variance (grade x ability x component). Suggests that teachers' expectations about students' reading skills are related strongly to the ability…

Investigated prosocial behaviors of five-year olds interacting within different learning-activity centers in a multiage preschool setting. Subjects and their younger classmates were observed for a total of 45 hours. Found significantly more proximity seeking, helping, and sharing behaviors than other kinds of prosocial behaviors in the setting.…

A study of African American college students compared students' health-related behaviors with their perceptions of corresponding health issues. Students had low smoking rates but higher alcohol consumption. Most students did not practice good nutrition or daily physical activity. Over half managed stress well, and three-quarters were sexually…

Reports a study that examined the relationship between high school students' smoking under stress, psychological distress, and social support. Survey data indicated that white students were more likely to engage in stress-related smoking than black students, as were adolescents with higher psychological distress and lower social support scores.…

Examines the combined effects of race and gender on teachers' perceptions of students' social behaviors. Responses from 984 black and white teachers who rated 6- to 11-year-old black and white children suggest teachers' perceptions are predicted by race and gender. Positive perceptions generally aligned themselves according to teachers' race and…

Using the Revised Behavioral Checklist, teachers rated at-risk adolescents from an urban alternative school. Researchers compared these students to normal and severely emotionally disturbed (SED) children in order to develop a definition of at-risk students. Results indicated that at-risk students differed significantly from normal children,…

Describes evolving efforts to promote African American children's social and emotional competencies, examining moral competence. Proposes a cultural psychology framework to highlight the theme of communalism and morality of care. Identifies various moral events, offering knowledge of moral emotions and moral self-efficacy as key constructs.…