Uses multi-site case studies to examine how preschool programs and community sites acknowledge, adapt, and match the cultural preferences and/or expectations of participating children and families. Discussion includes themes related to belonging and membership in the peer culture, the underlying philosophy supporting diversity in the classroom…

Examined three theories for predicting risk for delinquency during adolescence with sixth- and seventh-grade students: an individual difference perspective, social interactional model, and social contextual approach. Found that lack of nurturant and involved parenting indirectly predicted delinquency by increasing antisocial behavior and deviant…

Investigated the relationship between peer group identification and similarity between individuals involved in problem behavior, and whether group identification moderated group influence on development of delinquent behavior among Italian sixth- and seventh-graders. Found that group behavior interacted with reciprocity of group nominations in…

Research on African American students' low academic performance has focused on Black adolescents, who, like most American adolescents, exhibit oppositional attitudes. In contrast, an ethnographic study of two all-Black elementary schools suggests that middle-class Black children begin school very much achievement-oriented and engaged, and that…

Reports on Macalester College's (Minnesota) Learning Center peer-mentoring, speaker, and workshop programs, which were designed to focus on anti-racism activism and reorganization of multicultural affairs. Analyzes ambiguity of terms "racism" and "multiculturalism" and argues that a systematic approach is necessary to move…

Describes the process of implementation of the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement's Performance Accreditation Framework and School Improvement Process at Holgarth Middle School (South Dakota). Includes sections on essence of goals, assessment of program, interventions and strategies, selection of peer…

This article examines the experiences of 19 women who self-identify as lesbian or bisexual as they pursue degrees in accredited master of social work educational programs located within the Southern United States. The pervasive discomfort and silence surrounding lesbian and bisexual issues, as well as the privileging of heterosexuality experienced…

Adolescents tend to overestimate peer drinking; the resulting misperception of the social norm predicts the child's own future drinking. This study examined the misperception's relatedness to a person's drinking pattern in order to facilitate the segmentation of the audience for health education interventions. Adolescent Health and Lifestyle…

We investigated whether there was a relationship between the amount of alcohol students drank themselves and the amount they believed other students drank. We further investigated whether peer relationships affected their perceptions on drinking more than their perceptions of student drinking in general. Three hundred six students at The Richard…

We examined third graders' understandings of condensation using an expanded notion of the Emergent Perspective, a reflexive consideration of individual and group meaning-making situated in the culture of the classroom. Data were collected from two small groups of students in an inquiry-based, urban classroom during a unit on the water cycle.…

Based on concerns regarding current trends in higher education, one Research I institution set out to measure knowledge, attitudes, behavior, and perceptions related to academic misconduct. Through a self-report survey, trends specific to the university's community as well as educational interventions were identified to further educate the campus…

Statistics reporting adolescent use of ergogenic agents are staggering. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance, 6.1% of students from grades 9 through 12 had taken illegal anabolic steroids without a prescription one or more times during their lifetime. Additionally, more adolescent athletes…

In a study of adolescents in the 1970s, girls were high in normbreaking if they attended youth recreation centers "and" were heavily involved with peers or boys (Stattin et al., 2003). The present study investigated whether these results could be replicated on a modern sample, and then examined parent-child relationships and personality…

Earlier work, often referred to as the "hole in the wall" experiments, has shown that groups of children can learn to use public computers on their own. This paper presents the method and results of an experiment conducted to investigate whether such unsupervised group learning in shared public spaces is universal. The experiment was…

Incidents of school violence have prompted calls for school communities to create environments that encourage student bystanders to act responsibly and proactively when they confront a range of violent incidents, from bullying and fights to weapon carrying and other serious threats to school safety. It is not always clear, however, what bystanders…