This paper examines policy underscoring the importance of choice and self-determination in physical environments of children with disabilities; reviews research in this area; and discusses four laws which address opportunities for choice and self-determination, including the Americans with Disabilities Act, Individuals with Disabilities Education…

Focuses on expanding childhood programs to accommodate deaf, hard-of-hearing, and hearing children: in-service training; the addition of staff who can communicate with the deaf and hard-of-hearing children; and with physical changes. Modifications to aspects of the environment are discussed. (LZ)

Lists 27 suggestions for making cost-effective decisions when buying personal computers. Topics covered include physical comfort; modem speed; color graphics; institutional discounts; direct-order firms; brand names; replacing versus upgrading; expanding hard disk capacity; printers; software; wants versus needs; and RLIN (Research Libraries…

Discusses results of a Green Index, published by the Institute for Southern Studies, that ranks the 50 states on the basis of 256 environmental indicators. Explores how and why the deep South states are all at the bottom of the list. A vignette provides a comparison between state hazardous waste generation and spending on waste management. (MCO)

A study of what people valued in an old school in Virginia and what they wanted in a new one can be summarized as a facility that encourages interaction among people. Specific planning recommendations include using the home as model for designing schools, creating areas for congregating, and designing the school to be the center of the community.…

Describes online resources that address environmental issues. Highlights include information sources on the Internet; electronic bulletin boards, including those from departments of the federal government; online databases; databases on diskette; CD-ROMs from government and commercial suppliers; and nonelectronic sources of information. (LRW)

Discusses the sacred bond between the cedar and the Skokomish people and tribal efforts to protect the cedar through treaties and court litigation. Describes how disappearance of the cedar is adversely affecting traditional education practices and the survival of traditional culture and ceremonies. (SV)

In their book entitled Scientific Knowledge, Barry Barnes, David Bloor, and John Henry repudiate the notion that physical environment plays no role in the creation of scientific knowledge, thereby removing a major bone of contention between scientists and practitioners of the sociology of scientific knowledge. A physicist discusses ways in which…

Teachers judged four types of outdoor settings for potential benefits and barriers to their use in environmental education. Factor analysis or responses showed six benefit and barrier factors: (1) appropriateness of teaching setting; (2) teacher confidence; (3) worries; (4) need for training; (5) hazards; and (6) difficulty of teaching…

Policies play an important role in shaping school environments. Schools with healthy, well-maintained physical environments signal that students are valued. Policies built around equal opportunities, valued teachers, and family and community engagement strengthen a school's psychosocial environment. Coordinated school health program policies…

Traces development of Native American place name studies from Boas (1880s) to the present. Argues that place names convey information about physical environments but also reveal how people perceive, conceptualize, and utilize their environment. Suggests the utility of place names as a framework for cultural analysis and describes recent…

Children's challenging behavior is a way of getting their needs met. Understanding that function can help camp staff to deal effectively with challenging behavior. The physical or social environment can be manipulated to promote desired behaviors, but transgressions require positive, educational, and realistic responses. Helping campers meet their…

Explores the relationships between young people's identity construction and the concept of citizenship in the United Kingdom. Considers how young people's need for space, and their emergent sense of place, are aspects of a citizenship identity that young people learn, work at, and negotiate in their leisure time. (CMK)

Results of state-by-state study of unmet school infrastructure needs using multiple data sources. Found that aggregate unmet infrastructure needs of $266.1 billion were significantly larger than found in earlier studies and varied substantially among states. Suggests different short- and long-term funding strategies to address problem. Includes…

This study describes the prevalence and patterns of environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure in a large, well-defined cohort of professional, female school employees in California. Design. This is a cross-sectional study based on survey responses from members of the California Teachers Study (CTS) cohort. Subjects. The analyses focused on…