This book has been written to provide readers with the terms, definitions, and research evidence needed to hold conversations about homework in a constructive manner. It attempts to help readers set effective homework policies, rules, or guidelines, whether for a school district, a school, a classroom, or a family. Its premise is that the key to…

The aim of this study was to assess the interrelations of social support and school attitudes as predictors of achievement across a culturally and economically diverse sample of preadolescent children. Parent and peer support were assessed along with parent and peer attitudes toward school. Achievement indices were the child's own attitudes,…

In 1994, the Student Assessment was administered to approximately 12,000 students at 197 new High Schools that Work (HSTW) sites in 13 states; student scores from the mathematics portion of the assessment were analyzed. Vocational completers had an average mathematics score of 282.0, which was 13 points below the HSTW mathematics goal, while the…

This report on drug abuse in schools is based on 6 years of analysis, focus groups, and field investigations. Prior research has determined that if young people do not engage in smoking or substance abuse by age 21, their chances of engaging later are next to nothing. It has also been determined that next to parents, schools have the greatest…

A set of parent-child math activities designed to help busy, working parents do math with their children as part of everyday situations such as cleaning up and making dinner included basic steps, variations, and information on working with children were developed for families with elementary grades children aged approximately 5 to 11 and…

The administration of educational programs has become a profession, requiring specific training and a variety of experiences for individuals to serve effectively in the role of educational administrator. For the most part, individuals think of school administration as it pertains to grades P-12; however, higher education administration is very…

Noting that socioeconomic, ethnic, and cultural variations among fathers and differences in family structure may affect fathers' roles and their level of involvement with their children, this brief summarizes key research findings on the ways in which various factors influence fathers' involvement in children's lives. Regarding socioeconomic…

A balanced triad among students, teachers, and curriculum, with each consisting of three equally supportive components, is shown to be the most important foundation for learning. Teacher components are self-esteem, superiors, autonomy; student components are peers, parents, motivation; curriculum components are design, materials, pedagogy. (MH)

The first of two articles on the psychological dimensions of the school-to-college transition looks at the rising anxiety of high school seniors applying to and selecting colleges, at the importance of rituals in the transition process, the stress of decision-making about the future, and the changes occurring during the senior year in high school.…

Surveyed parents' knowledge and beliefs about early development, information and support sources, and receptivity to new information. Found that parents learn about development after becoming parents, feel most able to impact emotional development, do not see the full significance of early childhood, are concerned about caregiver continuity and…

Discusses relationships among selected aspects of parental involvement as they relate to the cognitive, affective, and performance outcomes of instrumental music students. Discovers that for cognitive musical and musical performance outcomes parental influence is strongest at the elementary level. For affective outcomes parental involvement…

This study examined the joint association between mothers' and adolescents' ratings of parental behavioral control, and adolescents' and observers' ratings of mother-adolescent communication with adolescent problem behaviors. Findings demonstrate the utility of conceptually distinguishing between parenting and parent-adolescent relationships, and…

Nondisabled only children (N=10) were observed and videotaped at home with their mothers in scripted, free-play, and novel contexts to probe uses of temporally displaced (TD) communication and maternal contributions to its development. Scaffolded maternal speech was found important to TD speech development and context-sensitivity underscored as a…

Examines parents who teach their children at home. While families have complex motives for home schooling, a common factor is parents' desire to maintain or further develop family unity, and to resist the effects of urbanization and modernization on the family. Suggests benefits of home/public school partnerships. (AF)

Effects of 2 home-based treatments to reduce school problems among 10 disruptive intermediate school students were probed. Although the treatment using only positive reinforcement yielded no significant change, a mixed reinforcement treatment brought both a decrease in rates of referrals to the office and decrease in depression rates. (Author/PB)