Describes a filing system used to get students to turn assignments in on time. Folders are kept for each student listing class assignments, whether the students had done the assignments, their grades, and their attendance records. As the files were accessible to the students, responsibility was placed directly on them. (PJM)

Using a "beat list" of school clubs and classes proves helpful in motivating and organizing student newspaper staffs to report school news. (RL)

Presented is the viewpoint that school, home, society, and the individual child are all accountable for the quality of education being received by today's students, that teachers alone cannot accept the full responsibility for students who will not learn, and for circumstances over which they have no control. (KC)

Discusses types of information that should be included in student publication staff job descriptions; presents sample job descriptions for photographers, feature editors, and staff reporters. (GT)

A central feature of the described health education curriculum is a health record kept by the student client. (JD)

Constructivism assumes that people create knowledge from the interaction of their existing knowledge or beliefs and the new ideas or situations they encounter. While constructivism is emancipating and empowering, classroom application is neither widespread nor systematic. Teachers should construct feasible, well-conceived implementation plans and…

Describes a teacher's approach to classroom management through positive discipline, using positive reinforcements to teach children positive behaviors. Students who feel affirmed can begin to believe in themselves and begin to take responsibility and build successful relationships. Five steps to positive discipline are outlined. (SLD)

Unlike stimulus-response models based on external controls, the Educational Responsibility program thriving in many New York State schools is designed to strengthen student empowerment and responsibility. Teachers learn to create needs-fulfilling classrooms, using strategies such as building team involvement, offering choices, increasing value for…

Describes an urban high school's homeroom classroom calendar that is maintained by students who are deaf and hard of hearing. The calendar is used to record students' schedules, including individualized education program meetings, assemblies, doctor appointments, and other events. It assists students in taking responsibility for their own…

Describes a course with three primary goals: to help students reflect on the complex relationship between humans and technology; to reflect on students' responsibility for shaping this relationship in contemporary contexts; and to provide opportunities within which to practice composing this relationship in personal terms. Concludes that in such…

School abandonment is a systemic failure that affects poor and affluent students alike and threatens our country's well-being. Such "educational suicide" is primarily a motivational problem. It is time for educators to replace coercive, constraint-laden techniques with autonomy-supportive techniques and to supplant error-proof lessons with…

Students can and should learn to discipline themselves. This article describes results of one teacher's reflective deliberations on how to handle certain problem students by shifting responsibility for appropriate behavior from the teacher to the student. A brief guide for teachers, "Handling Typical Discipline Scenes," is included. (IAH)

Examines a shift in American culture away from the Protestant ethic, which emphasizes personal responsibility and effort, towards the "cargo cult," which emphasizes factors beyond individual control such as luck. Discusses the implications for education, which is based on the Protestant ideology. (FMW)

Teachers who regularly "enable" or rescue students are inadvertently reinforcing irresponsible behaviors that undermine students' self-esteem. This article discusses how and why "enabling" occurs in schools, how it affects students, and how "codependent" adults can minimize behaviors allowing students to avoid responsibilities and opportunities…

Describes a midwestern high school's serious student publications program. Over the past 20 years, students here have published major stories on incest, homosexuality, teen pregnancy, cheating, divorce, fatal illness, and other topics without prepublication scrutiny by the principal. Recommendations are provided to ensure fair coverage, relevant…