Explores techniques for creating cohesive active learning communities in which information can be linked to real-world experiences. Discusses four types of interactions that take place in distance learning environments: learner-content, learner-instructor, learner-learner, and learner-interface. Offers strategies for overcoming common barriers to…

Assessed the quality of home and out-of-home care environments, child temperament, and the development of verbal abilities among infants at 18 months and then at 8 years of age. Found that both tested and rated cognitive abilities at age 8 were related to earlier measures of verbal ability and to paternal involvement during preschool years. (MOK)

Examines the origin and nature of student aggression, offering recommendations for refocusing the content of teacher education programs. The paper suggests refining the boundaries of professional development to engage all school personnel in combating aggression. Argues for strengthened university and public school collaboration to curb the rising…

Reports a study in which Israeli researchers examined school cultural differences between effective and average secondary schools. The 20 participating schools taught mainly disadvantaged students. Teachers completed the Perceived School Culture Inventory. Results indicated that schools varied in their cultural dimensions, and the variation…

Investigates whether 19th-century children of immigrants living in ethnic ghettos were less likely to attend school than their peers who lived elsewhere. It considers the sources of the relationship between neighborhood of residence and school attendance in Boston (Massachusetts) and Chicago (Illinois) by examining the structure of their markets…

Criticizes the adoption of business-originated Total Quality Management principles into school administration. Contrasts this with the establishment of learning communities, an approach that emphasizes engendering commitments in individuals as opposed to manipulation or control. Further outlines this approach and describes several successful…

Questions the very assumptions that teachers can identify the skills and the knowledge that students need and that learning itself is controllable. Proposes a theory of curriculum development where knowledge and the learning process exist as a co-emerging, mutual, and dynamic relationship between the students and teachers. (MJP)

Studied discrepancies between Canadian first-graders' home and school literacy contexts regarding the contexts' potential to promote self-regulated approaches to reading and writing. Examined the extent to which differences were reflected in the children's attitudes toward and engagement in reading and writing at school. Found some discontinuity…

The use of a self-monitoring strategy to increase on-task behavior was examined with a post-institutionalization 13-year-old child included in a regular school in Ireland. A functional assessment conducted prior to the intervention indicated the student engaged stereotypy unless involved in academic tasks. After implementation of the intervention,…

This article introduces a forum that provides information for assisting speech-language pathologists and audiologists in fulfilling their professional responsibilities in a variety of settings to children with hearing impairments who have cochlear implants. A preview of the following articles on services for children with cochlear implants is…

This epilogue to a forum on children with hearing impairments who have cochlear implants discusses innovation in implant technology and considers intervention issues. Key factors influencing outcomes are discussed, including educational programming, amount and length of communication intervention, and the targeting of both developmental and…

Investigated Israeli Jewish and Arab fifth- and sixth-grade student perceptions of and attitudes to writing in three learning environments: cooperative learning, computer-mediated communication (CMC), and a combination of the two. Concludes that the power of peer interaction in cooperative learning with CMC was greater than each learning…

Assessed Canadian young adolescents' peer relationships as students moved from grade 6 in small elementary schools to middle-level schools offering grades 7 to 12. Found that girls experienced greater instability in reciprocated friendships than boys. Found that girls, more so than boys, lost old friendships and formed new friendships with…

Examined the student normative support for Chickering and Gamson's (1987) seven principles of good undergraduate education. Findings from surveys of undergraduate college students indicated that there was empirical evidence of student support for three of the seven principles: faculty-student contact, cooperation among students, and high…

For 30 years, Project Adventure (PA) has created adventure education programs that help participants face their fears, understand how others feel, and build creative group process. School-based PA programs help students take responsibility for their own behavior, while PA techniques are widely used in adventure programs for at-risk and adjudicated…