Approximately ten percent of the population suffers from a depressive illness each year. Although the economic cost is high, the cost in human suffering is immeasurable. To help educate the population about this disorder, this paper presents a definition of depression and its common manifestations. The symptoms that people often experience are…

This executive summary discusses our current understanding of the difficulties that children with reading/learning disabilities encounter as they start down the road to reading and summarizes research on early identification and intervention. The focus is on children in kindergarten through second grade. Findings from the analysis indicate: (1)…

This study examined the effects of course level, class size, and instructor gender on student ratings of teacher performance at the National Hualien Teachers College in Taiwan. A total of 9,843 usable evaluation forms were completed for 440 courses (96 freshmen-level, 142 sophomore-level, 119 junior-level, and 83 senior-level) taught by 132…

Parent and friend support, family stress, and economic hardship are examined as mediators of well-being for 782 African-American, European-American, and Hispanic-American 4th and 6th graders from middle and low income schools. Of these, 172 were immigrants. Well-being indices included loneliness, self-concept, depression, and teacher-rated…

This study examined the personality types of emergency certification teachers as predictors of classroom management and self-efficacy beliefs. Participants were 120 teachers pursuing teacher certification through an emergency permit teacher education program at a mid-sized Texas university. They all held at least a Bachelor's degree, were in their…

This brief explores the challenges of documenting dropout rates and ways to support students with disabilities so that they meet academic standards and graduate. It begins by discussing the high dropout rate for students with disabilities and the rise of standards-based reform and high-stakes tests. Characteristics of high-risk students are…

This 7-year study examined the consequences of early pregnancy and parenting for girls with serious emotional disturbances (SED) and risk factors identified with teenage pregnancy. Risk factors that were examined included sociodemographic characteristics, psychological characteristics, and psychopathology. The 109 participants in the study were…

Through interviews and classroom observations, this study investigated the academic help-seeking and interactions of high school girls with their computer science classmates in both a private school and a public school setting. The study explored five aspects of this help-seeking interaction: (1) females as a gender minority in computer science;…

This study examined the degree to which adolescent self-system processes (self-efficacy, emotional reactivity) and reports of mothers' and fathers' behavior (warmth/support, hostility) predict adolescents' behavior toward siblings and their friends' problem behavior. Subjects were 76 seventh-grade adolescents who provided self-reports of parent…

This study investigated the attitudes and opinions of 970 students with and without learning disabilities regarding the use of computers for school-related work. Using a quasi-experimental design with three non-equivalent groups, within and between subjects effects were studied using a survey instrument. The students in grades 5 through 12 at…

This study examined associations between mothers' interaction styles and disciplinary strategies, and children's relational and overt forms of aggression; considered sex differences in these associations; evaluated the contributions and interplay of mothers' interaction styles and disciplinary strategies, and children's aggression; and examined…

A Cuyahoga County, Ohio, study focused on two cohorts: pre-Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) leavers who left in the third quarter of 1996 and post-TANF leavers who left in the third quarter of 1998. Outcomes were examined for about 6,151 adult welfare leavers. Findings indicated the rate of leaving welfare increased between 1996-98;…

This paper provides an early analysis of child care subsidies under welfare reform. The paper reviews the literature on child care subsidies and discusses the potential for such subsidies to be an effective part of the effort to make low-income families economically self-sufficient. The paper then uses data from the National Survey of America's…

A two-phase study assessed the extent to which a set of variables predicted rural secondary students' likelihood of continuing to college and sought to determine predictors of rural students' academic success at the completion of first-year university study. Participants were drawn from seven state coeducational secondary schools in the Riverina…

This study investigated factors encouraging or deterring paraprofessionals from pursuing teaching credentials, examining professional characteristics (years of experience, dual language skills, and attitudes toward the profession); personal characteristics (sex, age, marital status, offspring, and race); and access factors (perceived obstacles,…