Explores the importance of understanding modern and postmodern student identities in contemporary open and distance learning. Describes these different identities and relates them to consumerism in education. Determines that open learning plays a significant role in the development of contemporary trends at individual and social levels.…

Group friendship activities can help young children with disabilities in preschool programs develop social skills. Suggestions for successful implementation address the size of the group, activity length, choice of activity, selecting expressions of friendship, and participation of individual children. (DB)

The social development of a female rhesus monkey was followed from birth until death, age 32 months. The monkey had an extra autosome and was hydrocephalic. The monkey showed serious motor deficiencies, delayed social development, poorly established dominance relationships, and heavy dependence on mother and kin. The monkey was, however, well…

Presents and describes the adolescent developmental pathways paradigm, a rites-of-passage model for African American youth that provides a developmental framework for ethnic identity development and integrates it into the current literature on adolescent rites of passage. Attention is given to the ecological context within which adolescent-focused…

A community restaurant begun in Montreal by 12 welfare recipients has provided jobs and inexpensive meals and served community interests. It attempts to integrate social and economic development, operating not primarily as a job training program but as a community-based, socially useful business. (SK)

Examines the way three feminist, queer teachers of writing experience and perform their gender, class, and sexual identities. Critiques both the academy's tendency to neutralize the political aspects of identity performance and the essentialist identity politics that still inform many academic discussions. (SC)

Effective heterogeneous cooperative learning helps students grow academically, socially, and emotionally. Within heterogeneous groups, teachers can differentiate tasks by complexity and quantity, use high-achieving students' ideas, enhance individualized work, plan challenging peer-tutoring assignments, add enrichment options, vary criteria for…

Twenty-three high-functioning children with autism (ages 5-11), 42 6-year-old controls, and 43 10-year-old controls were presented with six emotion-evoking stories and were asked to explain protagonists' typical and atypical emotions. In the case of atypical emotions, the children with autism performed as well as the 10-year-old controls.…

Fourteen adults with high-functioning autism, 2 with Asperger syndrome, and 10 controls matched for intellectual ability and reading competence were shown excerpts of films showing characters in social situations. Adults with autism and Asperger syndrome were most impaired in their ability to answer questions about the films requiring mind-reading…

A study compared psychosocial functioning in 20 male adolescents with Asperger syndrome and 20 with severe conduct disorder. Results found those with Asperger syndrome had severe impairments in practical social functioning despite good cognitive ability and lack of significant early language delay, and high levels of anxiety and obsessional…

The Mentor/Mentee (M & M) program at a rural comprehensive high school complements the instructional program by helping students manage their time and focus on successful learning. Each mentor works with 15 students. The mandatory program emphasizes each student's worth and helps kids develop their potential. (MLH)

A former substitute teacher explains how she won first-graders' attention and significantly improved deportment by pretending to be a Martian with different communication modes and hearing capabilities than terrestrials. Children painlessly learn tips on listening, communicating, and engaging in friendly behaviors. (MLH)

A study compared the ability of eight high-functioning children with autism and eight controls to understand the facial expressions of real and deceptive emotion. Children with autism were less able to indicate the real emotions that story characters felt, the deceptive emotions they expressed, or the social reasons prompting a deceptive facial…

Highly recommends Rutter et al.'s work as an important review of the major research findings on adolescent problem behavior. Describes the structure of the book, summarizing each chapter. Cites as the strength of the book its concern with interdisciplinary explanations, historical trends, and international variations. (SD)

Examined effect of maternal support on the development of counting and cardinality in young children at 32, 38, and 44 months of age. At the two earlier times, children were more successful at counting than determining cardinal relationships in both supported and unsupported contexts. Findings suggest that both social and cognitive biases contain…