This study sought to determine whether increased competition among Michigan public schools, resulting from charter schools and the state's "schools-of-choice" program, has improved educational opportunities for children and whether competition encourages or discourages schools to respond to the needs and demands of students and parents.…

The evidence presented here would seem to indicate that a competitively oriented classroom does not strongly promote learning or strengthen interpersonal relationships or contribute to healthy psycho-social attitudes. (Author)

Learning preferences and perceptions of classroom learning atmosphere were compared for 279 math and English students in grades 7 and 11. Results indicated that Grade 11 students prefer both more cooperative and competitive contact than do Grade 7 students. Girls prefer competing in English and boys, in math. (Author/LC)

Focuses on some apparently evolved features of human adolescence and their possible functions, including the pubertal growth spurt, sexual size dimorphism and bimaturism, the greater aggressiveness of males, heightened concern with one's social standing and the factors affecting it, intergenerational friction, same-sex aggregations and solidarity,…

The Australian Mathematics Competition was designed around the content of common school mathematics, and thus is intended for almost all mathematics students, not just exceptional ones. The competition's conceptual and organizational basis and the three levels of competition papers are described. Sample questions are included. (MNS)

Investigates the effect of competition on attributions for performance on male (intellectual and spatial) or female (social and design) tasks. Contrary to predictions, males rated themselves as luckier than females in competitive conditions. However, as predicted, females made fewer self-serving attributions for the male than the female task.…

Concludes that by distancing themselves from highly competitive but tainted phenomena, newsworkers and their organizations are able to meet their fundamental role obligation to create news while minimizing threats to their professional autonomy. Presents three examples of such attempts. (PD)

Addresses shifts in basic telecommunication common carrier regulatory policies over the past decade; technological and economic changes prompting these policy shifts; major regulatory action resulting from these policy shifts; and the emerging regulatory issue of alternatives to local telephone service and its possible implication for online…

Point systems in intramural competition do not accurately reflect the participation value of each sport. A system is presented in which point values are automatically adjusted to differences in group participation from sport to sport. This system is based on the set number of participants per sport and on the number of contests played per season.…

Tested three models (reinforcing outcome, cultural norm, social comparison) relating player's attitudes toward confederate in prisoner's dilemma game (PDG). Subjects played PDG and answered interpersonal judgment scale rating confederates. Behaviorally similar confederates received more positive evaluations than dissimilar confederates. Sex roles…

Ethical and unethical coaching behaviors and competition in relation to the teaching/coaching role are explored in three questions: (1) Is there a common ground of competition that teachers of all subjects share? (2) Is there a type of competition peculiar to coaching? and (3) What ethical considerations are called for in coaching competition? (JN)

The procedural changes identified in analyzing the 1979 Marquette University internal grants competition had the positive effect of improving the reliability of the peer review ratings. Improved reliability results in greater confidence in the peer review process on the part of the applicants and the reviewers. (MLW)

Explores the history and impact of Dewey's progressive education theories as applied to moral education and individualized instruction. The author argues that current educational practices distort the philosopher's original intentions of improving intelligence and moral conduct in order to justify tracking and increased competition for scarce…

Competitive stress occurs when a child perceives that he is not performing to athletic standards. Results of a study done on boys from 16 soccer teams indicate that pregame stress was influenced by the child's perceived capabilities, and postgame stress was influenced by his perception of his actual performance. (JN)

Assesses the effects of sports commentary on spectators' perception of competitive play and enjoyment of athletic contests. Demonstrates that watching contests in which the opponents are described as hated foes--rather than as good friends or neutral opponents--creates the greatest enjoyment for spectators. (PD)