Whether there were differences in motivational and learning environment perceptions of students selected based on their performance on the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) was studied over 3 years in a public school district in Texas. The degree to which affective elements of student behavior varied according to their success on this…

A goal of the St. Paul (Minnesota) Head Start/Public School Early Childhood Transition Demonstration Project is to promote the implementation of developmentally appropriate practices (DAP) in kindergarten through third-grade classrooms through teacher training and the provision of related materials. This project is 1 of 31 sites participating in a…

The ways that the assessment practices of student teachers are formed by their experiences in methods courses and practicum classrooms were studied. By contrasting the approaches of two groups of student teachers to pupil assessment, the case study research described shows how student teachers emphasize the dimensions of assessment that…

This study explores continuities and discontinuities between patterns of question use during lessons in a bilingual classroom and in the homes of two Spanish-dominant Puerto Rican kindergartners. Ethnographic techniques, including participant observation, audiotaping, and interviews were used to collect data in the classroom and the homes over the…

This paper discusses nonverbal communication and its implications and relevance for teachers. The first form of nonverbal language is proxemics, which describes the physical arrangement of space within a classroom and the space we allow between ourselves and others. The second form, coverbal behavior, describes physical movement, such as gestures,…

This report, fifth of eight in a series, highlights the views of California parents and other adults about issues affecting the health of adolescents, the role communities play in helping young people grow up well, and policies to address behaviors that undermine their health. Six in 10 parents surveyed by the California Center for Health…

"Second Step" is a curriculum designed to reduce impulsive and aggressive behavior in children aged 9 through 12 years, increasing their levels of social competence by teaching skills in empathy, impulse control, and anger management. This guide is part of the "Second Step" series, which includes curricula for…

"Second Step" is a curriculum designed to reduce impulsive and aggressive behavior in children in grades 6 through 8, increasing their levels of social competence through empathy training, interpersonal cognitive problem solving, behavioral social skill training, and anger management. This guide is part of the "Second Step"…

This case study presents findings from a year-long ethnographic study of a principal at a dilapidated rural elementary school with arid, dusty surroundings. It concludes one of seven studies conducted in elementary and intermediate schools in urban, suburban, and rural settings to investigate the instructional management roles of principals.…

The revised edition of "The New Model Me" is an affective curriculum based on Ojemann's "Causal Approach to Behavior" that assists youngsters to understand how needs and personal resources interact within a particular immediate physical setting to produce behavior. In addition, the curriculum attempts to teach key concepts and…

A study investigated the viewing behavior of a sample of public television supporters, specifically examining the relationship of their social characteristics to viewing and to knowledge about Africa as presented in the series "The Africans." Subjects, 120 District of Columbia adults drawn from the membership lists of a local public TV…

Focusing on the personality of the reading disabled child, this booklet is designed to encourage researchers to move past the circular debate concerning student reading difficulties and to help teachers improve the reading performance of students with disabling stress reactions to reading. The first section examines research related to emotional…

Focusing on how television viewing fits into a general model of consumer consumption patterns, a study examined (1) the extent to which the viewing of certain television content can be considered a "norm" of society, (2) similarities and differences between the norms for adults and those for children, and (3) some of the antecedents of…

Focusing on purpose in the writing of college freshmen, a study examined the writing processes and how they related to the conceptions of purpose of four freshmen enrolled in a composition course at Indiana University. Discourse-based interviews were conducted before and after the students completed three tasks designed to vary their choice of…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 5 titles deal with the following topics: (1) the influence of background knowledge on non-native students' memory for reading passages, (2) the development of a reading textbook with a teacher's manual for English as a second…