A 12-week practicum was developed to improve school climate by using conflict resolution in grades K-6. Staff and students completed a poll designed to assess their concerns about the daily functioning of the school. The school's climate was discussed in light of how the student body reacted to the school setting, with emphasis on areas where…

If, as research suggests, exposing children to two languages and two cultures provides a cognitive advantage, it could be assumed that a child exposed to two languages may be accelerated in a more advanced cognitive stage (as defined by Piaget) than a child exposed to only one language. This study sought to determine when Hispanic children from…

Results of surveys completed by students in grades six and nine in the Springfield (Massachusetts) public school system are reported for 1990 through 1995. The report is based on an analysis of responses within user-defined categories of drug use, alcohol use, and nonuse. In 1995, while 72 percent of those in grade 6 responded, only 26 percent of…

This report describes the implementation of a child safety-abduction awareness curriculum. The targeted population consisted of primary grade students in a growing, middle class, rural community located in northern Illinois. Assessment of students' skills revealed a lack of strategies to avoid child abduction. Analysis of probable cause data…

Teachers commonly use only two types of assessment--written examinations that test basic skills and direct observation of student learning. Both assessment procedures have been the subject of intense criticism. This study was conducted to investigate the viability of the portfolio model for authentic assessment of student growth, to analyze…

In the framework of performance assessment, because of the involvement of many facets, the development of ways to detect differential item functioning or differential facet functioning (DFF) has lagged beyond the practical needs of test developers. To monitor the validity and fairness of an assessment, it is critical to discover a method that can…

Eighty-five fourth- and eighth-grade learning disabled students whose individualized education plans specified untimed achievement testing were tested with the Reading Comprehension subtest of the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills, either according to the publisher's 40-minute time limit or with an extended time limit of 2 hours, 30 minutes. Results were…

Previous studies, while not suggesting that all preschool programs will bring lasting benefits, demonstrate that early education can change the course of children's lives, especially children from disadvantaged backgrounds. This study dealt with early childhood education and school success, evaluating the effect of preschool attendance on reading…

The Computer Attitude Questionnaire (CAQ) is a Likert-type self-report instrument with paired-comparison items added to provide supplemental information. The CAQ is intended for use in the middle school environment, grades six to eight. A 1993 preliminary validation study indicated the instrument's stable measurement qualities and probable…

A number of studies have suggested that school environment and organizational structure contribute to adolescent alienation, but few have analyzed alienation in a specific geographic context. This paper examines adolescent alienation in a rural school context. Dean (1961) defined alienation as an affective construct consisting of isolation…

As part of a continuing evaluation of the Swedish school system, changes in intelligence test scores from 1960 to 1995 were studied in relation to cohort, gender, and socioeconomic background. Changes in verbal, spatial, and reasoning ability were studied by comparing results on identical tests given to representative samples of Swedish…

This study investigated friendship preferences among black and white students in Georgia public schools in an effort to determine the status of racial barriers among students in current desegregated schools. A measure of social distance was developed for the study based on work by L. Thurstone (1929), E. Bogardus (1965) and others. The extent to…

A structured social skills program was developed for young African American males (N=33), in grades one and two in an urban setting. The study was designed to employ social skills to improve reading and mathematics skills. The students selected had demonstrated previous social skill deficits as determined by a pre-assessment instrument. These…

The Austin Independent School District (Texas) developed the Accelerating Literacy Program (ALP) in 1993 to provide additional support for students who were having trouble passing the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) in the elementary grades. The ALP operates on the principle of integrating reading, writing, listening, and speaking…

A study was conducted in a middle to upper class neighborhood in a Minnesota city to determine the practices that the Spanish teacher used to encourage full student participation and to consider whether the Freirian view of education can furnish an adequate framework for understanding this teacher's practices. Of the school's more than 500…