Students can benefit from structured in-school helping relationships in which peers assume formal teaching roles as tutors. Both the student helper and the student learner benefit from peer tutoring. Guidelines for developing effective peer tutoring programs are provided. (BJV)

Two distinctive populations, 262 high school students and 137 college students, were administered questionnaires to determine whether public high school students could perceive neutrality if school authorities permitted prayer clubs to meet on school premises before or after school. The data indicate that high school students cannot perceive…

A learning-disabled adolescent male who exhibited inappropriate behavior, poor academic work, and inadequate social skills is described. His teacher devised a disruptive behaviors checklist, conducted a reliability check, and decided on a motivational intervention whereby the subject's behavior determined consequences for the entire class. The…

Corporal punishment and suspension are cruel and discriminatory. School social workers can help to implement more humane strategies such as the following: (1) in-school suspension; (2) timeout procedures; (3) assignment to alternative schools; (4) behavior contracting; (5) use of peers and parents; and (6) social and cognitive skills training. (VM)

Identifies and discusses factors that affect the development of food preferences in preschool children, including familiarity, age, parents, peers, teachers, and programs designed to influence food habits. Makes recommendations to preschool and day care programs for creating an atmosphere conducive to trying new foods. (Author/DST)

Summarizes author's expert witness testimony in West Virginia court case (1985) involving prayer in public schools. Covers the constitutional issue of separation of church and state, the specific issue of school prayer, the particular law under legal challenge, and the perceptions of a Catholic boy and a Jewish girl directly affected. (NH)

Questionnaires administered to 2,589 adolescents attempted to determine usage of various substances. Significant relations were found between substance use and (1) susceptibility to peer pressure, (2) self-esteem, and (3) internal health locus of control. (CH)

A survey examined the degree to which the attitudes of undergraduates diverge from those they impute to their parents and converge with those they impute to their friends. The results showed a surprising degree of agreement with parents, especially in relation to substance abuse and conventional morality. (KH)

Describes the revision strategies of basic and competent twelfth-grade writers as they wrote for their teachers and their peers. (HOD)

A study simulated information students would be provided when registering for courses. 395 students in business classes indicated willingness to enroll in classes depending on professors' communication skills, grading practices, and likeableness. Lack of other information led to stereotyping and avoidance of foreign-sounding names. (SK)

Examines relationships among gender constancy, preferences for same- or opposite-sex playmates, and sex-typed activities in preschool children. Findings suggest that, at least for females, gender concepts may have an organizing role in sex-role development by motivating children to seek social contexts in which to acquire and practice…

The Chicago Heart Health Curriculum Program (CHHCP) is a cardiovascular disease risk reduction program designed for students and families. Results of a study of CHHCP suggest that future programs conveying heart health knowledge should consider student learning in the context of self-esteem, independence of peers, and teacher humanism. (Author/MT)

This study examined the relative influence of changes in orientations toward peers and parents on the drug-use patterns of a panel of rural youths. Data analysis revealed that after three years there was greater distance between youths and their parents on the subject of drugs. (Author/LMO)

Compared smoking rates among 1,428 Canadian children in grade six in 1975 or 1978 and examined variables related to smoking. Results indicated peer smoking and attitudes toward cigarettes were significant predictors both years. Academic achievement and aspirations entered the 1975 model while smoking exposure variables entered the 1978 model. (JAC)

Surveyed 2,767 middle and high school students to examine demographic, personality, and behavioral factors related to drug use. Data indicated all drug users are not alike, and a variety of social-psychological factors (peer influence, grade point average) are significantly correlated with level of drug use or abuse. (LLL)