This article, written by a high school student, describes how he helped his school attain access to state-of-the-art technology and to the Internet. Topics include problems, security issues, teacher training, examples of student Internet projects, technical details of the school's computer system, and how the school encouraged this student's…

Provides a rational for, and describes the implementation of, a psychology department requirement that students must accrue three units of research participation as part of their course grade. Discusses the specifics of reporting credit for participation. Provides an evaluation of the procedures from the viewpoint of experimenters, instructors,…

Character education is a deliberate, whole-school effort to create a community of virtue, where moral behaviors such as respect, honesty, kindness, hard work, and self-control are modeled, taught, experienced, and practiced in everyday operations. High schools can mobilize the peer culture by involving students and parents in setting personal,…

Offers a compendium of advice, case studies, teaching and organizing suggestions, and lists of resources. Addresses issues of concern to parents and educators alike such as liability, cooperation with social agencies and organizations, curriculum development and design, and locations to find instructional materials. (MJP)

Examines human qualities that undergird citizens' commitment to the common good in diverse societies, suggesting that community service fosters such qualities. Planned interactions across social barriers are necessary to develop qualities of citizenship for pluralistic nations. (SM)

Recounts author's life as wife of an abusive alcoholic and mother of three preschool children. Describes how, through exposure to Head Start, the author provided her children with a preschool education, gained personal self-esteem, educated herself, left the abusive relationship, and ultimately returned to Head Start as a teacher. (SD)

Examines low levels of Latino political participation using data from the Latino National Political Survey. Emphasizes differences among Latino subgroups (Mexican, Puerto Rican, and Cuban) when analyzing voter participation. Shows that socioeconomic factors, such as education and income, may be mitigated by life-cycle effect variables, and all are…

Describes strategies and learning activities designed to create connections between students' feelings and historical incidents. The interdisciplinary activities often combine novels, writing assignments, and guest speakers. The students also conduct mock trials concerning historical issues and conduct their own research. (MJP)

In response to a Council of Australian Governors' proposed national framework for children's services, the Australian Early Childhood Association has prepared a paper that sets out its views on the objectives, outcomes, and features of such a framework. The Association strongly believes that the interests of children should be the paramount…

The Baltimore School and Family Connections Project is a collaborative effort to design comprehensive partnership programs and evaluate their results. This case study explores one school's efforts to involve middle-grades students and their families in learning activities at home during the summer break. Marginal students who worked on the home…

Reviews teaching for and about democracy in Australia, and identifies key concepts embedded in the notion of democracy (representation, leadership, decision making, public criticism). Draws on ethnographic data from settled and remote Aboriginal Australia to explore whether understandings and practices associated with these concepts are shared by…

Reports a study that examined the effects of combining home and classroom reading of multicultural storybooks on middle class Caucasian elementary students' awareness of and attitudes toward other cultures. Surveys of students who did and did not participate in story reading indicated positive gains for story participants and negative change in…

Describes a project that looked for new forms of inservice training that would be more in line with teachers' own ideas about developing their method of teaching. The process emphasizes letting teachers control their own inservice training and letting the problem, not the method, guide teacher development. (SM)

Provides an overview of the mission and activities of Kids Voting USA. The nonprofit organization promotes student awareness of the importance of voting through civic education programs. Kids Voting USA has projects in 40 states involving debates, craft activities, information gathering, and mock elections. (MJP)

A fourth-grade teacher examined whether students could develop their own questions about reading selections. She observed students, discussed their reading preferences, and evaluated the effectiveness of their question writing. By utilizing the questioning process, the children learned to be more confident, independent learners capable of…