Presents findings of a project that interviewed students and staff at five Georgia elementary schools to discover students' attitudes toward their schools and teachers. Some students expressed powerlessness; some felt they could make a difference. Issues involving friendship, fairness, and fun predominated. Teachers must participate in their own…

Analyzes the results of recent court cases concerning the constitutionality of mandatory student fees and discusses their implications for student affairs practice. To date, courts have ruled mandatory student activity fees permissible when they do not unduly infringe on students' constitutional rights. Offers eight principles for designing…

Examines the concept of "basic needs" as applied to the context of personal development, focusing on the basic need for education. Discusses the validity of this need on the basis of results from studies of the relationship between education and employment and between education and productivity. (41 citations) (MAB)

Based on dropout research, testimony from task force hearings, and the theoretical framework of school-home cultural discontinuity, school-based causes of Indian dropouts are identified: large schools, uncaring or untrained teachers, passive teaching methods, culturally inappropriate curriculum and testing, tracked classes, and lack of parent…

Perceptions of their learning environments are studied for 112 medical students in Canada through interviews over 2 years. Students perceive that structures of the learning environment foster a highly competitive milieu influencing their approach to learning. Processes of teaching are viewed somewhat more positively. (SLD)

Describes research conducted by Boston University's School of Education and the Boston-based Institute for Responsive Education. Schools (n=42) that reach out to involve families and communities were studied. The focus was activity levels/types, emerging strategies, program gaps, program comprehensiveness, evaluation, formal policies, and costs of…

Comments on Moshman's article in this issue concerning questions about adolescent reasoning, maturity, and rights to intellectual and other freedoms. Discusses the implications for public schools, government, and parents. Suggests that the evidence needed for a full rebuttal of the adolescent-as-child view involves demonstrated adultlike…

Describes an informal discussion between a museum docent and a group of students visiting the museum. Compares the instructional strategies used in museum education and the regular school classroom. Concludes that students would gladly take responsibility for their own learning if textbooks and curriculum guides did not constrain them. (CFR)

Recounts a teacher's experiences staying with the same group of children for more than one year (looping) as they progress through kindergarten and first grade. Discusses advantages of more stability and less trauma for the child, and more instructional time and less stress for the teacher. Addresses possible disadvantages of children having…

The Procrastination Inventory developed for use with doctoral students in clinical psychology was modified for use with all-but-dissertation students and doctoral graduates in a college of education. Factor and Rasch analyses of the revised measure identified three subscales: (1) procrastination, (2) perfectionism, and (3) graduate school comfort.…

Investigates if two-year colleges are complying with the notice requirement of the Campus Security Act by providing everyone requesting admission information a summary of the contents of their security report. Finds that only slightly more than 6% of the two-year colleges surveyed met the notice requirement of the Campus Security Act. (VWC)

Describes implementation of concepts of collaborative learning, learning communities, and interdisciplinary learning to help students integrate into college life and improve retention at Portland Community College (Oregon). Also summarizes implementation of these concepts at six other institutions. (DB)

Assesses fifth- and sixth-grade children's relationships with teachers, bonds with schools, and social and emotional adjustment. Analyses of responses reveals that students with disabilities have greater dissatisfaction with their relationships with teachers, poorer bonds with school, and perceived higher school danger than students without…

Summarizes research on the effects of the transition from elementary school to middle school on young adolescents. Notes problems of this transition in academic performance and in students' perceptions of school and self-perceptions, and of the mismatch of developmental needs with school environment. (JPB)

There is no shortage of opinion about school violence. This article taps the expertise of youths themselves. Conversations were held with 95 high school students, both one week and one year following the shootings at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. Two sets of responses are compared and questions are raised for educators as to how to…