Compared the effectiveness of a social consequence curriculum to health effects curriculums in a high school smoking prevention program. Results showed none of the programs was significantly more successful in reducing smoking onset or encouraging cessation. Teacher-taught programs were as effective as those taught by college students. (JAC)

In pointing out the problems involved in evaluation by administrators, the author presents a strong argument for collegial evaluation and presents a proposal outlining a flexible system for peer evaluation of teachers. (MD)

The purpose of this study was to determine if there was an association between HIV sexual risk and substance use behaviors among a sample of inner-city African American youth. As part of a larger study, youth (n=193) competed questionnaires that measured sexual risk as well as substance use. Participants were separated in to high risk and low risk…

Uncovering the effects of school racial composition on academic achievement is difficult, because racial mixing in the schools represents a complex mixture of government and family choices. While the goals of school integration legally inspired by Brown v. Board of Education are very broad, this paper focuses on the contribution of school racial…

This study examines the process through which the Commission on Public Secondary Schools of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC/CPSS) accredits the public high schools of New England. The commission is one of five that compose the association. Recent efforts of government agencies to hold schools accountable by testing…

This paper studies the impact of the Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunities (METCO), a desegregation program that sends mostly black students out of the Boston public school district to attend schools in more affluent suburban districts. It examines METCO's impact on the test scores of third, fifth, and seventh graders in a large…

Educational policy usually overlooks Cambodian American students as a unique ethnic group, attending instead to the positive statistics that aggregate Asian American students into a single group of successful students. Reflecting the reality of underachievement in this population, much of the existing research on Cambodian Americans has focused on…

In this literature review on school violence, over 4,000 sources were found in government reports, journal articles, editorials, and texts. This review is offered as a reference, with the implication that it represents only a cursory overview of this field of study. The paper begins by quoting articles that define school violence and theories as…

This document summarizes findings from the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention's National Cross-Site Evaluation of High-Risk Youth Programs, which identified characteristics associated with strong substance abuse prevention outcomes in 48 prevention programs. It provides concrete guidance regarding what elements of design and implementation are…

Since Malaysian school children spend a considerable portion of their lives in school, whether in activities arranged for them, or interacting with peers, there is a great deal to learn about their perceptions of schooling and classroom experiences. This paper discusses the meaning of schooling to these students, particularly, how all these school…

Educators concerned with the preparation of adults are aware that students engage in lengthy discussions with their peers. Increasingly, this is encouraged in educational settings through formal pedagogy. However, little is known about its value to adult cognition. In a phenomenological study investigating the professional development of degree…

Examines the intervening and/or conditioning roles of integration into peer groups (a traditional socializing agent) and access to new video technology via home cable viewing (a new socializing agent) in the relationship between television viewing and adolescents' sex-role images. (Author/CMG)

Self-ratings of 23 learning disabled (LD) and 27 nondisabled junior high school students were assessed to determine their willingness to conform to peer pressure to engage in antisocial and prosocial actions. LD students rated themselves more likely to engage in antisocial actions with friends. (Author/SEW)

Examined the amount of support, encouragement, and discouragement 470 women received from others when considering enrolling in a male-traditional vocational course. Results revealed nontraditionals consistently received more support and encouragement than traditionals. Nontraditionals and those who considered the male-dominated program received…

Two studies assessed the effectiveness of a health education curriculum geared toward teaching resistance to pressure to smoke. One study investigated pupil ability to identify persuasion and resistance skills portrayed in videotaped recordings. The other study examined the effectiveness of videotapes as a teacher training device. (CJ)