The focus of this highly quantitative investigation is the analysis of the differences observed, both in methodological approach and in language choice in the classroom, during five years of classroom visitations. The study reflects information collected from two very different institutions with radically distinct populations: a rural setting with…

This guide shows how "Foyers" (safe residences for working/learning youth) and other organizations provide routes back into learning for young people. Chapter 1, "Young People and the Current Learning Agenda," provides a summary of encouraging developments from government, ushering in new learning opportunities for young people. Chapter 2,…

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,…

This study examined whether teachers perceived their school principals as using empowering-type activities. The study focused on differences according to such factors as age, gender, and school grade and size. Researchers examined the survey responses from graduate students in the Educational Leadership Program at Northeast Louisiana University in…

Part of a large-scale investigation into the nature and quality of living conditions and competence of 6- to 12-year-olds in the Flemish community and Brussels-Capital region of Belgium, this study compared the experiences of children attending school in a village with those of children attending school in a city. Participating were 1,798 children…

This study used archival data to examine adult charges and court outcomes for 82 individuals who had been treated in public mental health programs as adolescents. Subjects' clinical records from their adolescent day treatment (18 percent), residential (23 percent) or hospital program (58 percent) were reviewed for sociodemographics, clinical…

This report represents the first ever attempt to draw a comparative picture of the physical abuse of children in the 27 richest nations of the world. UNICEF research estimates that almost 3,500 children under the age of 15 die from physical abuse and neglect every year in the industrialized world. The greatest risk is among younger children. A…

Investigates both the reading and writing behaviors of eight good readers and writers in order to identify shared cognitive-linguistic patterns that might mark both processes, developmental differences between the age groups, and patterns of academic and nonacademic influences on the writing. (HOD)

A three-year longitudinal study was conducted to measure two aspects of adolescents' self-concept development: continuity/discontinuity and stability/instability. Results indicated that adolescent self-concept results from continuous growth based on social circumstances and cognitive skills and competencies. (Author/DB)

Interviews regarding physical and sexual development were conducted with 838 children ages five through 15 in Australia, England, North America, and Sweden. Children identified the people whom they asked sex-related questions and indicated their major sources of information. Mothers, school, and the media were the most frequently cited sources.…

Six experiments investigated the informational value of praise and criticism. Praise after success and neutral feedback after failure led to perceptions that an acting person's ability was viewed as low. Neutral feedback after success and criticism after failure led to perceptions that an acting person's ability was viewed as high. (Author/RD)

Findings of this study support the view that open schooling neither enhances nor decreases achievement as conventionally defined and measured. However, creativity in first graders was found to be enhanced by open schooling methods. (Author/DB)

Analysis of self-report data from middle class adolescents shows that both peer relationships and elements of adult-child conflict affect the probability of vandalism. The strongest factors are peer-related, possibly because vandalism may be seen as a way of establishing positions within peer hierarchies. (Author/MC)

Literature linking self-concept and achievement, and evaluation research on educational programs to improve self-concept are analyzed in terms of several self-concept theories. Evidence for a causal connection between self-concept and achievement is negative. Researchers have failed to explore other theoretical approaches to educational change.…

Current interests, activities, worries, and attitudes toward self and adults of 319 children between the ages of 9 and 14 were compared with the responses of 409 children in the same age range who had been surveyed in 1967. (Author/MP)