In cooperative learning, children are assigned to small groups to work on curriculum-based tasks while teachers move among the groups to offer assistance and to monitor progress. Despite the benefits and appeal of this learning method, it has been demonstrated that not all cooperative learning groups are equally successful in the classroom. In…

A Future Teachers' Autobiography Club discussion group/research project invited six elementary teacher candidates to read, write about, and discuss ethnic autobiography in order to foster and investigate the potential of peer discussion in teacher learning. Using a selected list of six autobiographies, the researcher hosted monthly dinner…

This study investigated the effects of friendship on seventh and eighth graders' self-esteem. The study assessed: (1) whether changes in adolescents' self-esteem during a school year were related to the quality of their friendships early in the year; and (2) whether friends' ratings of their self-esteem became more similar over the course of the…

The PRISE (Positive Resiliency in Special Education) Curriculum was designed to prevent alcohol and other drug use among the special education population in kindergarten through high school, by involving students in classroom activities that will increase their personal resiliency while encouraging them to make healthy, informed decisions. The…

This study examined the social networks of teachers' strong and weak ties and the impact of those associations upon their beliefs about the realities of elementary education in terms of the knowledge and skills that influenced those realities: school context, general pedagogy, specific subject matter pedagogy, nature of the learner, and self as…

The purpose of this faculty orientation is to introduce the Drug Abuse Resistance Prorgram (DARE) to teachers who will have the program offered to their students. The DARE program is designed to give young people the facts about drugs and alcohol, and was developed in 1983 by health education specialists in conjunction with the Los Angeles Police…

A program called Strong Families: Competent Kids was developed in response to the growing number of latchkey kids. The goals of the program are to help parents determine when their children are ready for self-care and to provide children with skills to manage self-care safely and confidently. It does not advocate that children should be left in…

The United States has the highest rate of youthful drug abuse of any industrialized country in the world. There is a growing awareness that drug and alcohol use are closely connected to other problems such as teenage suicide, adolescent pregnancy, traffic fatalities, juvenile delinquency, poor school performance, runaways, and dropouts. Youthful…

This digest discusses the ways in which counselors in middle schools can help youngsters face the challenges of early adolescence and prepare them for life in high school. It focuses on: (1) understanding one's self; (2) family relationships; (3) peer pressure and drug abuse; (4) stressful lives; (5) sexual maturation; (6) academics; and (7)…

This discussion of the uniqueness of the middle school focuses on the characteristics of the early adolescent student. It is pointed out that the special needs of these students are infrequently met by the traditional junior high school. Middle schools should be characterized by six unique elements: (1) specific individual counseling; (2) a…

This monograph is designed to reinforce the development of school curricula that supports student development in affective, interpersonal, and moral domains. The contents, which reflect the Alberta Education Developmental Framework, delineate students' developmental processes, and indicate the kinds of support students need in order to learn…

Preservice secondary teachers were assigned research on the consumer behavior and habits of junior high school students for the purpose of allowing preservice teachers to discover their own knowledge of young adolescents. Observations were made of groups of students at two typical malls in a southeastern city of around 100,000 population. The…

Considering developmental and prognostic implications of early peer relations, this review delineates some functions of children's relations with other children; summarizes current thinking about the interrelations between family socialization and peer socialization, especially in relation to the growth of social competence and the development of…

A study investigated the use of pronoun and demonstrative reference and ellipsis as cohesive devices in conversation between interlanguage-speaking parents, their children, and the children's classmates. The 24 subjects included eight Italian-, Greek-, and Macedonian-speaking migrant parents, their primary-school-age children, and the children's…

Integrating concepts of basic citizenship education with community involvement, this experiential curriculum provides a means for developing decision making and critical thinking skills within the existing fifth grade social studies curriculum. The 12 lessons cover the following concepts: responsibilities, rules and laws, involvement vs.…