This study found that microcomputer free time was a very effective consequence in decreasing the tardiness of a middle school boy, in improving his academic achievement, and in improving the student's attitude toward school and school assignments. (Author/JDD)

This article explores the social context surrounding Lloyd Dunn's 1968 paper on educational reform for children with mild disabilities, noting the subsequent adoption of resource specialist services in place of special day classes, changes in numbers of students with mild mental retardation and their behavioral characteristics, and the current…

Presents five integrated mathematics and science lessons in which students investigate the characteristics, behavior, lifecycles, and motion of mealworms and the feasibility of raising mealworms for profit. Purpose, time, materials needed, procedures, and extensions for each activity are provided. (MDH)

Presents answers from a teacher, a curriculum developer, and the educational literature to the question "How is hands-on learning evaluated?" Describes different approaches to performance-based assessments including performance tasks, observational checklists, and portfolios. (PR)

The article examines why women and young girls are predisposed to tobacco use, what gender-based variables are at play, what external variables facilitate the initiation of tobacco use, why women continue to smoke, and what intervention strategies can address females and at-risk subgroups. (SM)

A comparison of comprehensive college and university administrators' attitudes toward faculty behavior and of their institutions' reward systems found that, though administrators valued teaching and service, salaries rewarded research and publishing. (JB)

Reviews "Investigating Mathematics with Young Children" (Althouse); "Homecoming for Babies after the Neonatal Intensive Care Nursery: A Guide for Parents," with companion guide for professionals (Hanson and VandenBerg); "HIV/AIDS: A Challenge to Us All," with companion video (Pediatric AIDS Foundation); and "Modeling Healthy Behavior: Actions and…

Examines characteristics that lead to problems for Appalachian children entering urban schools. Describes cultural aspects that are challenged in northern schools and attitudes held by educators in those schools. Suggests ways to improve the quality of the education provided, and an approach whereby adjustment is viewed as a progressive and mutual…

Notes that school readiness screening tests can vary greatly in sophistication, and can easily be incorrectly applied and interpreted. Suggests that normal development is highly variable during kindergarten and first grade and that school programs should be flexible and adaptable to individual characteristics. (HTH)

Navajo children's silence in the classroom may be related to unwillingness to put themselves above peers and to the culturally defined role of pupil as silent observer. Interviews with 16 Navajo and non-Navajo teachers of Navajo children examined their attitudes toward student silence, classroom strategies used to accommodate silence, and teacher…

Presents a two-part article about the use of the Paideia Seminar approach in college and high school classrooms. Outlines the preparation and implementation of discussion seminars. Details student attitudes about the approach. Includes three tables with guidelines, rules, and communication suggestions for seminar leaders. (CFR)

Asserts that negative behaviors and attitudes prevent sustained academic environments. Recommends practical ideas and perspectives to bring changes that contribute to greater student success. Includes two figures depicting an information-constructivist model of school learning and four major components of curriculum decision making. (CFR)

Describes perspectives of several families whose children dropped out of school. Audiotaped interviews with 3 or more members of 12 families reveal hostile views toward schooling and a 2-generation history of poor academic performance. School was a series of academic failures, conflicts, disciplinary hearings, suspensions, and expulsions. Dropping…

Examined 39 mother-infant dyads to see whether qualitative differences in adolescent mothers are associated with differences in child functioning. Multiple measures of parental characteristics indicated that parenting expectations had a unique and differential power in explaining both objective child observation ratings and the mothers' Parenting…

Describes development and implementation of a school-based substance abuse preventive intervention "systems approach" strategy. Interventions are selected and linked to existing school program/personnel components for reinforcement based on local needs assessment survey data. Modifications are ongoing corresponding to the results of a substance…