This paper explores a middle school teacher's and his students' perceptions of the differences between online synchronous literature discussions and face-to-face literature discussions. Each member of this literature group participated in two face-to-face and two online literature discussions. Participants were interviewed twice to discuss their…

This study documents the effects of an action research team, comprising parents, teachers, and school staff, from a predominately African-American elementary school, working together to design a program promoting high school completion for their young students. The study also examines the role that collaboration plays to bring together…

This study explored the family dynamics of persistent African American college men. These students were typical Black males, not those pre-categorized as high-achieving or unprepared for college. The stories of participants revealed their strength, ambition, and intentions to successfully gain a baccalaureate degree. In general Black males are…

In this fifth brief in "Excelencia" in Education's series on Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) the focus is on the methods and strategies that are producing successful results in a growing sector of colleges and universities we call, "Emerging" Hispanic-Serving Institutions. These Emerging HSIs are institutions that…

Strong school and family ties have long shown success in influencing positive child development and lasting academic success. While a multitude of programs exist to help facilitate the school-family connection, one program in particular, Families and Schools Together, or FAST, stands out as an effective prevention program that is suitable for a…

We conducted research within a program serving future mathematics and science teachers. Groups of teachers worked primarily online in an asynchronous discussion environment on a 6-week task in which they applied learning-science ideas acquired from an educational psychology course to design interdisciplinary instructional units. We employed an…

Individuals organize their behaviors in light of the social groups of which they consider themselves a part. Risks shared between individuals take on symbolic significance and become cultural meanings for those involved. In other words, risks provide content for creating shared knowledge significant for group relations. This study examined the…

This report covered the functioning of one group and their efforts to meet a desired level of behavioral activity. (Author/RK)

Group therapy is most effective when members step back and process the interaction among group members. This understanding of the group process is often referred to as self-monitoring or metacognition because it refers to a different level of thinking. All groups of people may not have equal metacognitive ability. This study examined the…

Within the literature on group counseling and psychotherapy, the structure of therapeutic group processes is frequently described in terms of stages of the group process. Numerous group stages have been proposed to describe the social interaction and change in social interaction that is characteristic of group therapy. This study examined the…

Organizational patterns can be examined from two major perspectives. The formal structure of an organization consists of those relationships among the organizational components that are the result of deliberate planning. This formal structure tends to be static and is the primary focus of management theory. The informal structure of an…

Conflict within organizations must be managed to maximize its useful aspects while minimizing those that are dysfunctional. Conflict can be interpersonal or can stem from the structural characteristics of the organization. Sources of conflict include win-or-lose situations that reduce cooperation by fostering competition, incompatibility among the…

An investigation and reevaluation of the traditional library committee composition, functions, and performance is made applying management principles and group interaction theory. (Author)