Intergroup attitudes were assessed in African-American (N=70) and non-African-American minority (N=80) children, evenly divided by gender, in first (M=6.5 years old) and fourth (M=9.6 years old) grades attending mixed-ethnicity public schools in a suburban area of a large mid-Atlantic city in the USA. Children were interviewed to test hypotheses…

Apart from the conflict between Arabs and Jews, two types of inter-group relations are the foci of social strain within the Jewish community of Israel: (1) inter-ethnic relations between Ashkenazim and Sephardim, and (2) relations between the religious and the nonreligious. Since 1967, the continuing survey of the Guttman Institute has been…

As of October 2007, 54 interdistrict magnet schools enrolling 18,928 students were operating in Connecticut. The bulk of these schools are located in the Hartford and New Haven areas--21 in the Hartford area and 17 in the New Haven area. Interdistrict magnets also serve significant numbers of students in the Waterbury region. In keeping with the…

This book is the second of a three-volume series on conflict resolution for educational administrators. Following the introduction, the first three chapters discuss the following communication skills critical to communication--building rapport, listening and pacing, and chunking and problem solving. Chapter 4 provides a generic problem-solving…

Findings from an action research study that sought to understand the partnership process from the perspectives of persons involved in a partnership project, the Cooperative Alliance for Gifted Education (CAGE), are presented in this paper. The CAGE project utilized three partners in Ohio--Kent State University, the Cleveland Public Schools, and…

An urban high school English/journalism class used the production of a community-focused newspaper as a strategy for the self-determination of young African Americans. The intervention emphasized social relations--focusing on specific verbal and social skills which young people can use in determining and reaching a variety of communication goals…

Issues in interagency collaboration and the experiences of a collaborative effort in a rural, economically depressed county of Colorado are discussed in this paper. The first section reviews the concepts of cooperation and collaboration as they relate to interagency activities and offers a literature review. The second section presents the…

Conditions under which the use of small groups in classrooms can be productive are suggested in this paper, which moves beyond the general question of small-group learning effectiveness. Part 1 offers a review of recent studies of interaction in cooperative groups, focusing on the following themes: interaction and achievement; task and…

This paper focuses on the Chicana in academe using a framework that considers the academic environment and the dialectic influences that contribute to the dynamics of group interactions, social positioning, and philosophical considerations of dimensions which may promote or deter the important interactions for professional growth and intellectual…

Twelve graduate students from a variety of fields who were enrolled in a qualitative research class met in an informal setting that facilitated a collaborative learning mode--defined in this presentation as a method of group interaction whereby all members learn from each other's experiences, scholarship, and skills. The first of the six papers…

A study compared the attitudes of a group of about 60 elderly rest home residents and about 120 members of two different clubs for older adults in New Zealand. The five 1-hour discussions that were held with the adults indicated a consistent difference between the opinions expressed by the rest home clients and those of the club members, all of…

The application of the principles of intramural athletic competition to stimulate outstanding academic performance is discussed in this paper. The implementation of an academic intramural competition based on student diversity, immediate recognition, fun, and meaningful prizes in a Texas high school is described. The program is based on the tenet…

An examination of language use in 19th century Brussels seeks to explain how and why a link between language and social class came into operation. Hypotheses relating the social characteristics (material circumstances and consciousness) of social classes and segments of social classes to various resulting language patterns are proposed. This…

The role of religious and secular rituals in the mediation of conflicting goals and the socialization of students into harmonious unity is analyzed in the context of a Catholic high school in the Midwest. Data were gathered by a participant-observer who attended classes and extracurricular activities, conducted formal interviews, and informally…

These course materials provide a starting point for helping students (grades K-8) explore the diversity and richness of the human family. The material is organized sequentially around 20 activities which address seven primary objectives: (1) understanding that differences among people have a positive value to society; (2) understanding that such…