This document contains the final report from the Michigan Early Adolescent Survey, a study undertaken to: (1) develop a profile of Michigan early adolescents that focused on out-of-school time and included biological, psychological, and sociological information; (2) develop a profile of families which included early adolescents; (3) assess the…

Although many researchers conclude that education is a profession marked by high levels of stress or experience of "burnout," this paper contends that educators are more adaptable and hence less stressed than the literature would indicate. The paper surveys literature on educator stress, presents studies indicating low educator stress, and…

A pilot program was designed to provide opportunities for a group of high-risk parents to improve their parenting. Specifically, the program provided a center in which teenage mothers could meet, share child-rearing problems, observe their children being cared for by trained personnel, interact with their children, and have opportunities for…

Although there is consensus in the mental health literature that women report more distress and depressive symptoms than men, it is not clear if this applies to all age groups. To examine the relationship of gender and distress among older adults, two methods were employed. First, a review was conducted of all random community surveys conducted…

Six issues of the newsletter address practical matters for parents of handicapped children. The first issue examines behavior and offers suggestions such as avoiding inconsistency and idle threats while holding reasonable expectations. The second issue continues the discussion on behavior with ideas for disciplining the child fairly but…

During the 1985-1986 and 1986-1987 school years, the In-Touch Task Force of Glenbard High School District 87 developed a questionnaire to survey students on several areas of concern and to assess student willingness to participate in school-based information or intervention programs. The survey consisted of 150 multiple-choice questions and 8…

A number of major social and demographic trends are having a profound effect on American families with young children. Among these are changes in the characteristics of poverty in families with preschool-age children, curtailment of formerly available financial support or changes in the means of obtaining such support, and the increasing cost of…

Financial stress brought about by economic changes in farm communities affects the academic achievement of young adolescents. This effect is mediated by the social support of parents and degree of dissonance in young adolescents relationships with parents. Young adolescents, mothers, and fathers from 105 farm and nonfarm families participated in…

This report offers answers to four basic questions about children's readiness for school: (1) What does being ready for school mean? (2) How can practitioners best identify and assess readiness? (3) How important is readiness? and (4) How do children who are ready get ready, and how do children who are not yet ready become ready? It is argued that…

This report describes Memory Enhancement Group workshops which have been conducted at the Senior Health and Peer Counseling Center in Santa Monica, California and gives basic data regarding outcomes of the workshops. It provides a model of memory as a three-step process of registration or becoming aware, consolidation, and retrieval. It presents…

This paper examines the process of educational achievement for a birth cohort of Baltimore children who were followed prospectively during their first grade year. The analysis, which employed a social-psychological model of the early schooling process, identified some of the personal, interpersonal, and situational factors that influence cognitive…

Language adequacy was coded for 403 toddlers 24 months of age who had received medical and psychological examinations in a Bilan de Sante clinic in Paris, France. The children were from three cultures: native French middle class, immigrant North African Moslem, and immigrant Black African. Demographic, socioeconomic, medical, biological,…

The purpose of this study was to determine if definitive factors emerge from the responses of teachers to the Teaching Events Stress Inventory (TESI). In a series of three studies during the years 1980 to 1982, data were collected to assess the levels and sources of stress experienced by 660 teachers in central and western Kentucky. The subjects…

First of a two-part report on a 1982 study by the staff of the Education and Work program at Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory (NWREL), this issue presents the preliminary findings from questionnaires (and telephone surveys) of 30 unemployed men and women. In order to determine how unemployment affects people, NWREL's study identified and…

Serious crises (death, divorce, hospitalization, moving, and physical, emotional, or sexual abuse) occur to the students a teacher sees daily, and teachers must learn to help students when these problems occur. To determine the extent and effects of such crises on academic work, students (N=300) from grades 2-6, 9-12 and college, who had undergone…