This study explored stages of alcohol acquisition and risk factors associated with stages based on the Multi-Component Motivational Stages model. Subjects were 254 urban middle schoolers (90% black, 62% female). Questionnaire results indicated that most students were in a precontemplation stage for alcohol use. Alcohol use was found to be the best…

Discusses effects of violence on children, focusing on steps that educators and child development professionals can take to mitigate the effects of violence on the development of at-risk children. Suggests that educators and professionals need to foster a caring educational environment, promote self-discipline, provide children with outlets for…

Presents three surveys conducted at the University of Puerto Rico concerning college students' AIDS knowledge and their sexual and preventive behaviors. Findings show students had knowledge of how HIV is transmitted, but they also harbored misconceptions about ways the disease can spread. These misconceptions coupled with the machismo attitude…

An ongoing longitudinal study of 699 adolescents and their parents, begun when the adolescents were ages 13 to 16, found that, although black families had more single-parent households and lower family incomes than white families, black adolescents had higher abstention rates and lower rates of alcohol abuse and other deviance than white…

Contends that interest in Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) has led to an increase in the number of sociology courses on the topic. Describes course content, instructional materials, and class activities used in a college course titled "AIDS and Society." Includes two appendices with AIDS "riddles" and answers. (CFR)

Maintains that the inclusive classroom is one in which all students, regardless of differences can flourish. Discusses the role of cooperative learning in establishing and maintaining an inclusive classroom. Maintains that inclusion promotes tolerance. (CFR)

Describes the Instructional Software Design Project conducted in a LOGO-based learning environment in a Boston inner-city public school with fourth graders engaged in the design and production of educational software to teach fractions. Constructionist views of computers in education are discussed, and learning processes are examined. (Contains 58…

Observed the playground behavior and social interaction of 27 kindergarten children in a university laboratory school, focusing on the children's ability to successfully negotiate social interactions. Found that communication skills, ability to recognize and understand others' emotions and needs, and self-confidence are critical to positive social…

Discusses four pedagogical issues that arise in teaching policy analysis to undergraduates. Describes three components of the case method approach. Outlines areas where the case method approach improved student performance and identifies its limitations. (CFR)

Examined developmental and gender differences in relations between drug use and problem behavior. Found grade-related differences for 10 of the 18 substances investigated. Alcohol use showed the highest association with problem behavior. Girls who exhibited problem behaviors used or experimented with a wider variety of substances when compared to…

Social competence of elementary students (n=141) with learning disabilities, low achievement, or average to high achievement was examined. Ratings of social skills, peer acceptance, behavior problems, and self-perceptions were gathered from students, teachers, parents, and peers. Learning disability and low achievement groups were…

Obtained peer nominations, teacher reports, and self-reports for 423 sixth and seventh graders. Compared to sociometrically average status students, neglected students reported higher levels of motivation and were described by teachers as being more self-regulated, more prosocial, and better liked. Aggressive-rejected, but not submissive-rejected,…

This high school language arts teacher combined the ideas of Total Quality Management (TQM) with traditional and cooperative learning techniques in his Journalism I class. Students used the process to create a quality paper. Students exhibited fewer behavior problems and greater interest, enthusiasm, and pride in their work. (JB)

Argues that examinations and assignments shape the way students learn, read, write, and think, and that authentic testing is the most powerful step toward improved student learning. Assignments must pose real questions addressed by practitioners in the discipline in question, must make scholarly sense, and must challenge students to perform rather…

Examines how to translate health education's current shift to a community orientation into practical, replicable action steps forward in college peer health education, describing four assumptions in peer health education and explaining a curriculum to reshape the philosophy of peer health education programs into a community and service oriented…