This ERIC digest presents a summary of discussions from urban educators who addressed the issue of school violence at a National Education Association meeting held May 19, 1994. These educators note that American society is steeped in violence, particularly in urban areas, where children experience frustration, helplessness, and anger, and where…

Third-grade students generally lack the social skills needed to resolve conflicts. This report describes a program for improving the social skills of third graders attending a middle-class suburban school. The researcher selected a resolution program which would address those problems outlined by a classroom teacher in an incident report, a…

This study examined the sense of community felt by students and teachers at 24 elementary schools in 6 school districts in different regions of the United States. The study is based on the assumption that students who feel part of a caring community will adopt the community's norms and values. On a 38-item questionnaire, students indicated the…

This handbook provides an overview of legal issues pertaining to the safety of public schools. Following the introduction, chapter 2 describes the governance model and philosophy on which American education is based. Court decisions and federal and state legislation that mandate the right to a safe school are discussed in chapter 3. The fourth…

The Korean kindergarten curriculum involves a mixture of Japanese, American, and Korean methods. The Japanese influence is reflected in the use of large group instruction and an expectation of uniformity from the children, influences from the United States include a consideration for children's individual interests, and the Korean influence is…

In 1992, the state legislature in California voted to increase community college fees from $5 to $10 per unit, and to increase fees for students with bachelor's degree from $10 to $50 per unit. To better understand the fiscal, access, and equity issues associated with increased fees and declining enrollments in the San Diego Community College…

This project developed a conceptualization of higher order thinking, dimensions of classroom thoughtfulness, and an assessment exercise applicable to diverse topics taught in more than 70 classes in 11 high schools. Generic qualities of classroom thoughtfulness were not generally associated with the persuasiveness of student writing on a…

This longitudinal study examined the experiences of out-of-home preschool child care to performance and adjustment in elementary school. Subjects were 145 children in Goteborg, Sweden, who were on average 16 months of age when they were enrolled in this study. Within 4 weeks of enrollment in the study, 54 children began center-based day care, 36…

This study examined what occurs in cooperative learning groups that include students with mild disabilities in grades 3-6. Teacher interviews were combined with observations of 10 special and 10 regular education students' behavior in cooperative learning groups which used the Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition model. Results are…

Grounded in personal experiences of classroom teachers, this book discusses broad ideas concerning thinking and teaching of complex-level thinking, and the pragmatic realities of teaching thinking in the regular classroom. The book notes that creating the "thoughtful" classroom is akin to a journey of change from one style to another style of…

The Minnesota Student Survey was first administered in 1989 to students in grades 6, 9, and 12, when approximately 90,000 students completed the survey. The survey was administered to approximately 131,000 students in 1992. A comparison of the two administrations revealed that the adolescent student population had changed little between 1989 and…

As part of the program evaluation and review process at William Rainey Harper College (WRHC) in Palatine, Illinois, a follow-up study was conducted of students who had successfully completed four or more courses in the college's Food Service Management Program between 1985 and 1990. Questionnaires were mailed to 176 former students. Study…

In an effort to determine the needs and perceptions of students and faculty involved in evening and weekend classes at William Rainey Harper College (WRHC) in Palatine, Illinois, surveys were sent to 400 students randomly chosen from 100 course sections taught at WRHC in fall of 1991, and to 767 faculty teaching evening or weekend classes during…

This book notes that much of what children and adolescents know about life they learn from watching adult role models: teachers, parents, coaches, and clergy members. It was written to help adults examine their health-related beliefs and actions and evaluate how they model these beliefs and actions, consciously and unconsciously, to children. The…

Part of a national survey effort by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) conducted in Wisconsin public schools in 1997 is presented. The core of the survey measures 16 objectives set by CDC as part of its Year 2000 initiative. Additional questions were added specifically for Wisconsin.…