This study analyzed a program to involve six institutionalized adults with mild mental retardation in their transition to community living. The program involved interviewing to determine their community living lifestyle preferences, identifying strongest preferences, and teaching subjects to obtain preference availability information from group…

Compares African Americans' manifest dream content with dreams of Anglo-American and Mexican American peers. Some dream elements that were examined included emotions, environmental press, achievement outcomes, and social interactions. Comparisons indicate that African Americans perceive themselves more strongly as victims of their fate rather than…

This study assessed the demographic and diagnostic characteristics, problem behaviors, self-care skills, community living skills, domestic expectations, and program goals for personal competence of 336 persons with mental retardation living in a national sample of 181 foster care and small group care settings. Overall, substantial independence in…

A program of intervention called therapeutic tutoring to help underachievers is described. Intervention centers around students' loci of control, through a process of identifying areas in which students feel empowered and relating academic experiences to these areas. Academic exercises based on Monopoly, cricket, rugby, soap operas, field hockey,…

This study assessed the Resident Lifestyle Inventory for congruent validity, test-retest reliability, and social validity using 19 severely disabled adults in community-based residential facilities. Results indicate the test is psychometrically acceptable and accurately used by residential programs. Support staff also consider it useful for…

This study evaluated the Consent Screening Interview, which assesses the ability of adults with developmental disabilities to give direct consent for community residential placement. Interviews conducted with 17 adults with mental retardation and a control group of 8 individuals indicated that the instrument differentiated between those subjects…

A national survey of 235 directors of programs offering Bachelors of Social Work found that sources of personal, structural, and institutional power were important predictors of power for middle managers in academic settings. Results also direct their programs and manage departmental resources. (Author/MSE)

Studies the influence of parenting style and parental involvement in schooling on academic achievement at the secondary level. Finds that parental acceptance, affective support, supervision, and granting psychological autonomy contributed to school achievement. Indicates that parents retain substantial influence over their adolescent's school…

Asserts that staff development is best conceptualized and operationalized as one facet of an integrated staffing function that is inextricably and purposefully intertwined with supervision and performance appraisal. Offers suggestions for implementing staff-development plans in the form of a scheme to analyze available methods or avenues for…

Believes that teachers should allow their students to bring their own personal knowledge and experiences into the classroom and not replace it with expected "school" knowledge. Argues that educators should advance a heightened sense of emotional and educational commitment and resist the movement toward standardized education. (CMK)

A study investigated the effectiveness of a program designed to prepare 12 Israeli adults with physical disabilities for autonomous and independent life in the community. Results found that it was possible to enhance participants' autonomy based on a systematic program that included development of group cohesiveness along with development of…

A case study of a young Dutch man with intellectual and visual disabilities proved the viability and effectiveness of a self-operated instruction system with verbal cues in achieving independent task performance. The system consisted of a largely modified cassette recording which would stop automatically after each instruction. (Author/CR)

Examined the nature and correlates of parents' expectations about adolescent sons' behavioral autonomy in a longitudinal study of 81 boys and their families, conducted when the boys were in 6th and 10th grade. Found that fathers' timetables for privileges at preadolescence predicted sons' midadolescent academic and social outcomes four years…

The mediating effects of autonomy and relatedness on the relationship between self-esteem and life satisfaction were investigated among 49 single mothers. Among all tested variables in the dimension of relatedness, only network orientation (propensity to utilize one's available social support) was a mediator of the positive relationship between…

In using the autobiographies of African-Americans as a heuristic, educators are provided with a context to view African-American educational history. The autobiographies of African-Americans tell stories of triumph over adversity as also revealed in Melba Beals' autobiography, "Warriors Don't Cry," a recount of the struggle to integrate…