This document consists of four issues of a quarterly newsletter for educators at the middle school level. Each issue focuses on one major topic, and includes a column by an ACEI Executive Board vice president on varying topics. The Fall 2000 issue focuses on a community-wide collaborative model for service and program delivery for at-risk middle…

This introductory packet provides an overview of what the term "Mental Health in Schools" means. The packet discusses how school-based and school-linked programs have been developed for purposes of early intervention, crisis intervention and prevention, treatment, and promotion of positive social and emotional development. It asserts that…

An essential aspect of Old Order Mennonite identity is located in the historical-cultural understanding of who they are as one group of God's people. Schooling is an intentional means of reinforcing this understanding, and it is finely tuned to prepare children for the Old Order way of life. As such, it emphasizes basic academics, acquisition of…

Ethnographic field research done with a group of working class girls in upstate New York examined the structures of schools that maintain gender and class distinctions and the culture of the girls themselves. Most of the field work was participant-observation at after-school and summer programs at a Girls Incorporated site in a mid-sized…

This paper makes basic assumptions regarding the development of an intranet architecture that will actively promote the cognitive apprenticeship of a new community of learners. The authors consider the intranet as a dynamic and virtual environment in which individuals may communicate, share resources, and reciprocally generate and organize…

This paper presents tips for designing an instructional World Wide Web site, providing illustrations from a site developed using Blackboard's Courseinfo that is used in teaching a college technical writing course. The first section discusses overall site architecture, including working with the right equipment, making the leap to an online…

Noting studies showing a critical link between students' relation to the school environment and their academic performance, attendance, attitudes, motivation, and post-high school success, particularly for at-risk students, this guide compiles widely recognized strategies to develop students' sense of connection to their school environment. The…

The causal structure between academic achievement and cognitive, psychological, and facilitative variables during the freshman year in college was studied. Data from 455 freshmen were used in the analysis. Participants completed measures of student goals, facilitative skills, and learning and thinking styles. Pre-college and freshman achievement…

While violence in Texas schools is unacceptably frequent, some types of school violence have declined in recent years--most likely because of programs designed to improve safety in schools and in the community. This report examines data on juvenile violent crime in Texas as well as the incidence of violence in the schools over recent years.…

This study examined college activities and environmental factors associated with the acquisition of continuous learning skills, looking at where students who report the greatest gains in continuous learning devote the most time and energy and at the student and institutional characteristics associated with above-average gains in the capacity for…

The most common configuration for the middle level is for grades 6-8 to be housed together. Although not a common configuration, there are some ninth grade only campuses sprinkled throughout the United States. Many of these schools were designed to address overcrowding issues either at the middle or high school while some were designed to help…

There are three reasons why the following study of the school janitor service has been made: (1) The importance of the janitor's position in a modern school system. This is seen by a consideration, especially, of his relation to the up-keep and sanitation of buildings in his charge, the health and safety of their occupants, the educative value of…

The Scottish Executive's lifelong learning strategy, articulated in "Life Through Learning, Learning Through Life" (2003) emphasises effective learning as the key to bridging the opportunities, skills, and productivity gaps that characterise Scotland's current social and economic environment. This report has been commissioned by the…

Outlines the "calamitous prospects" facing the poor in America, especially poor Blacks, due to undereducation and the movement of the economy away from industrial production to high technology and communication. Proposes strengthening public school instruction through cooperation of schools and colleges to provide an alternative future. (JBM)

Defines integration then makes specific suggestions for classroom teachers (e.g., initiate discussions and activities to develop positive attitudes toward racial/cultural groups, select unbiased textbooks, teach to specific objectives) and for principals (e.g., communicate high expectations, require teachers to stress basic skills, observe in…