Discusses how sociobiology (the study of the biological bases of animal and human social behavior) can help education adapt to social change and provide students with a more relevant world view. (DB)

This study sought to determine if student behavior was as great a problem in 18 California alternative high schools as it is reported to be in regular high schools. Results showed that discipline was rarely a major concern in the alternative schools. Fourteen possible reasons were hypothesized. (Author/SJL)

Teachers can learn to describe unacceptable student behavior, without judging it, and to define classroom conflicts as problems to be solved, not battles to be won. Two studies demonstrate that this type of democratic classroom environment decreases misbehavior and absenteeism. (SJL)

The author contends that research in the social sciences has witnessed a depersonalization of blame for individual misbehavior, and examines the process by which the blame for school discipline problems has been transferred from individual students to external factors. Recommendations are made for future research approaches. (Author/JAC)

This case study of three university departments was designed to generate substantive theory about decision-making in academic departments. Homans' social systems theory was used as a framework, and it is shown that the rate of interaction affects the crystallization of norm structures and processes of influence and decision-making. (Author/LBH)

If the political science discipline is to succeed in conveying sound intelligence to the policy process and in providing training for students in nonacademic careers, major curriculum reforms will be needed. A policy science track with emphasis on applied policy analysis research skills and nonacademic career orientation should supplement the…

The causes of vandalism are communitywide in nature, and only by marshalling the resources in the community can vandalism be overcome. (Author/MLF)

Offers a systematic review of various attempts to reach beyond the individual student to account for school behavior problems. Concentrates on family background, peer group influence, teaching quality, the school system, and society-in-general. (Author/RK)

Sociological models of professionalization are applied to recent events in program evaluation to study the development of the field and to predict future events. The focus is on problems that might arise and the necessity of ameliorating them. Available from: Pergamon Press, Maxwell House, Fairview Park, Elmsford, New York 10523. (Author/ GDC)

The emphasis of this article is on students and the evolving character of their affiliation with schooling. It compares school conditions of the 1890s with those of 1970s, and presents a brief and selective review of professional literature on school discipline published during this 80-year span. (Author/RK)

Describes some of the benefits of systematic behavior modification at the elementary level. Elementary school discipline is examined, not as a set of responses to deviancy and delinquency, but as an integral part of generic concepts of classroom management and instruction. (Author)

Attempts to present reasons for using negotiation to resolve school conflicts, using a model based on the understanding of conflict and the cognitive and affective response to conflict. Describes the research upon which the model is based, how school personnel may be trained to use negotiation, and discusses briefly the relationship of negotiation…

Disciplinary groups of faculty in small liberal arts colleges hold significantly different perspectives on teaching-learning goals and approaches for achieving them. The pattern of differences identified seems more complex than attitudinal dichotomies previously advanced by researchers studying faculty views across diverse types of institutions.…

The ingredients of an academic program development plan, with special attention to the processes and criteria supporting decisions on program priorities, are delineated. External and internal inputs to decision-making are discussed and three case examples are given. Major considerations involved in integrating budgetary decisions are identified.…

Shows how the use of proper materials and the development of a positive classroom climate can aid teachers in improving students' reading ability and in avoiding classroom discipline problems. (GW)