Focuses on elementary and middle school students as peer helpers. The five articles describe the peer helper concept and how it can enhance learning, offers suggestions for training peer helpers, describes helping projects and program evaluation, and suggests other ways of improving school climate through cross-age interaction. (JAC)

Describes a program that trains middle school students to provide guidance and counseling services to elementary school students. The Total Involvement Program includes classroom guidance and both individual and group counseling and has been shown to be effective for both the younger students and facilitators. (JAC)

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of reverent relationships on learning. The hypothesis was, that if an instructor individualizes a curriculum, they can and will facilitate "the love of learning." If projects were personalized, students would find themselves interested in their work. Hence, they would be more…

Community service is excellent for students if done in proper circumstances. There should be worthwhile, carefully chosen, objectives for learner attainment. Learning opportunities need to be safe and emphasize the psychology of education. Noting that he has supervised student teachers in the public schools for 30 years, the author of this paper…

The Connecticut Comprehensive School Counseling Program provides an important resource to Connecticut's school districts in their mission to prepare students to meet high academic standards and to become productive and contributing members of society in the 21st century. This new document represents a model that helps to prepare students for…

Reflecting the ideas of many diverse individuals and organizations involved in reading education, this booklet presents Reading Framework for the 2003 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), which provides the guidelines and theoretical basis for the 1992-2003 reading assessments. The first chapter, What Is the NAEP Reading…

Intended for teachers of grades 4-8, this book is designed to challenge students to think critically about the books they are reading. Projects in the book incorporate creative writing skills and artistic and oral development. The book is designed so that teachers can choose the projects that best connect with their students' interests and…

This book provides many diverse ideas for creating a learning environment that is alive with discovery and discussion, but peaceful and respectful, too. The book offers activities and practices from classrooms all over the United States that focus on year-long practices that promote a sense of community: 20-minute class meetings, effective…

This book is intended for middle and high school teachers who are committed to the process-writing model and are eager to encourage their students in the last step of the process--publication. The book offers specific writing ideas and classroom activities that help students develop the confidence and ability to publish in a wide market, and it…

This paper explores behavior patterns that inhibit effective communication in everyday, educational, and business cross-cultural settings. Opportunities to change these inhibiting patterns, metaphorically referred to as "stumbling blocks," into building blocks or tools for successful intercultural understandings are discussed in the…

This book reports on several studies of the attitudes of college students in the 1990s, tracing the differences which have developed in the last decade. A representative sample of 9,100 undergraduates was surveyed in 1993, and interviews and small focus groups were conducted with student body presidents, student newspaper editors, and student…

Many times, college students are exposed to the communication discipline solely through the basic public speaking course, allowing limited opportunity to experience critical thinking and writing within the discipline. This paper examines the importance of teaching critical thinking and writing skills in the basic course, encouraging educators to…

Portfolio design is integrated as an early project in the teacher education curriculum at the University of Idaho. The project provides students with a first experience in gathering and organizing data for the purpose of tracking professional growth and development. It also provides faculty with an authentic assessment tool. The portfolio causes…

This history of service learning traces the work of 33 advocates, scholars, and practitioners since the early 1960s. Chapter 1 defines service learning and identifies a representative and influential group of "service learning pioneers." Chapter 2, titled "Early Connections Between Service and Education," by Seth S. Pollack, offers a conceptual…

This document consists of the four quarterly issues of the journal "Understanding Our Gifted" published during 1997. Each issue of this journal generally has a single theme in the education of gifted and talented children around which all the articles are focused. The themes of these four issues are, respectively,…