This article describes the involvement of students with emotional and/or behavior disorders on effective student advisory boards. Examples are given of student advisory board input in elementary school conflict mediation and mentor programs, a middle school composure room program, and a high school in-school factory program. Stressed is the…

This qualitative study interviewed eight academically "at risk" African American athletes at a southeastern university with a major revenue-producing football program. Analysis suggested that the athletes' marginal academic performance was constructed in a system of interrelated practices engaged in by all the significant members of the academic…

Examines the socialization process of newcomers to a residential high school for performing arts. Finds that communication appeared particularly useful in reducing affective uncertainty and providing students with reassurance and support. Analyzes the hidden curriculum of this school, identifying four aspects: control versus freedom, inclusion…

Discusses the characteristics of a caring school environment, as exemplified by the Montessori method. Stresses the importance of observing the needs of the moment for the very young child as well as the role of encouragement as a nurturing function. (MDM)

Analyzes interviews from 130 African American elementary school students about the merits and educational consequences of adopting the philosophies of integrationism and nationalism. Overall, students believed that persons who adopt the philosophy of Malcolm X would be more motivated to do schoolwork and more willing to collaborate with classmates…

Reviews Sudia Paloma McCaleb's "Building Communities of Learners: A Collaboration among Teachers, Students, Families and Community," a recent book that talks about how literacy can be nurtured at home while parents and families can be brought into the schools. Compliments the book for its ability to connect complex ideas to the existing realities…

Presents a literature cluster composed of stories about schools that are adaptable to readers' theater and appropriate for use with grades 3-6 students. Presents a synopsis of each text (a book of poetry, 2 nonfiction books, 6 novels and 2 picture books) along with suggestions for adapting and presenting them as readers' theater. Includes a brief…

Examines the school building's impact on student performance and behavior in 15 categories followed by a synthesis of findings from four studies demonstrating a relationship between student achievement and behavior and the condition of the built environment. Thermal environment, lighting, adequate space, and availability of equipment and…

Discusses a non-traditional approach to school planning and redesign that provided one school district's middle school with the best learning environment for its students and community. The use of performance contracting and privatization of school services are addressed, including the benefits of the positive student response to their new school.…

Describes the design process of the nation's largest public preschool noted for its classroom flexibility, an environment suited for the needs and safety of children, ample play space, community inclusiveness, and building durability and efficiency. Discusses the right-sizing of corridors and rooms, furniture kits to accommodate differing teaching…

Research has identified a relationship between school disciplinary actions and poor academic and psychosocial functioning of students subjected to them. The ways in which school discipline is a direct contributor to students' academic and psychosocial difficulty needs to be further established empirically. Several theories, based in existing…

Historians and philosophers of education tend to emphasise the contribution of Rousseau to the development of individualistic trends in modern education. However, other eighteenth-century thinkers also took part in the quest to bring the individual and his happiness to the centre of contemporary educational discourse. The work of some of these…

School refusal behavior is a common problem seen by mental health professionals and by educators but little consensus is available as to its classification, assessment, and treatment. This study assessed 143 youth with primary school refusal behavior and their parents to examine diagnoses that are most commonly associated with proposed functions…

This paper examines the role of student consultation and participation in the process of improving the physical environment in schools. Although quantitative studies suggest that there are some links between the learning environment and school performance, direct causal relationships between these factors remain unclear. However, as Clark points…

The goal of this study was to validate measures and assess the effects of collaborative group-learning methods in real classrooms on 3 specific dependent variables: feelings of campus connectedness, academic classroom community, and effective group processing (2 factors). Confirmatory factor analysis were conducted to evaluate a 4-factor model.…