For interdisciplinary teams to function effectively, members must be cognizant of the effects of group dynamics on team decision-making. Individual characteristics, group characteristics, and situational factors are discussed as they relate to the processes teams use in carrying out their goal of providing early intervention services to children…

Teachers struggle to meet the needs of individual students and the group, to promote children's self-knowledge as well as knowledge of the curriculum. An elementary school teacher describes how she creates the "middle ground," a setting that gives room and time for the making of knowledge, where children can make new and richer sense of themselves…

Observations of playground behavior of kindergarteners and second- and fourth-grade students suggested that rough-and-tumble play led to games-with-rules for popular children, and to aggression for rejected children. Findings are discussed in terms of possible effects of the sociometric composition of rough-and-tumble play groups. (RH)

The advantages of group consensus testing are discussed, procedures for preparing and testing students by this method are outlined, and research supporting consensus testing is reviewed. (MSE)

Varied composition of three-man military teams (N=64) by assigning members according to team composition in all possible combinations of ability and motivation. Found both ability and motivation had an additive effect on crew performance, thus leading to conclusion that when teams perform highly interdependent tasks, performance is apparently…

Two researchers present their views on effective strategies for ability grouping, pointing out how grouping both low- and high-ability students together can help both to achieve better when they are grouped heterogeneously. (CB)

Ratings of the importance of each team member's contributions by team participants (N-235) during multidisciplinary team assessments of handicapped children showed that professions most often participating on such teams were also those rated most important. Professions' importance rating also varied as a function of the child's suspected…

Discusses how the use of folders and kits provides effective ways of promoting conversational practice within small groups in beginning Spanish classes. The types of tasks used simulate the circumstances found in most language learning outside the classroom. (one reference) (Author/CK)

Reviews the articles on peer and intrafamily conflict in this issue, focusing on ways in which conflict in these two different settings might be related to one another. Notes that although conflict-resolution styles may carry over to some extent from conflict among family members to conflict among peers, there are some important differences. (MDM)

Describes characteristics and nature of games, which are a type of experiential learning useful for personal and group development. Discusses the four phases of game sessions (planning, introducing, action, and debriefing or processing); roles that leaders must enact to be effective; and some common problems that leaders encounter. (TD)

Argues that processes of evaluating and assigning membership of categories within given collectives may be identified as operating across diverse social contexts. The maintenance of social identity boundaries is dependent on "knowing" the status of one's own category membership and accomplishing this membership through the interactional work of…

States that students in writing response groups have to work through conflicting sets of role expectations, one connected to response to writing in general, the other created by the unequal power relations in classrooms. Discusses how students manage to juggle the demands of conflicting roles and how teachers can guide them to do so productively.…

This paper discusses the dialectics of creativity, especially in group behavior; notes how stabilizing influences result in hard-programed behavior; outlines habits of thinking, learning, and behaving that help in developing creative potential; and presents exercises to encourage flexibility in the group creative process and counter inhibiting…

Argues that humanistic approaches to group instruction make group leaders act as endlessly supportive facilitators and ignores unconscious motives and responses. Awareness of the unconscious and the depths, complexities, and ambiguities of group work can challenge and encourage students to take responsibility for their own learning. (SK)

Key community members should always be included in any strategic planning process involving public education. After finding 18 to 24 representatives, the administrator should direct the group to discuss need for educational change, explore what changes might increase school effectiveness, adopt a mission derived from shared educational beliefs and…