Culturally responsive teaching requires physical educators to examine their programs and teaching practices in four areas: developing positive attitudes, developing positive learning climates, providing curriculum that respects cultural values, and involving families. Physical educators also need ongoing dialog and professional development about…

Educators working to improve dropout prevention programs should closely examine the development of defensive overlays in children's world views. Efforts to neutralize defensive world views within existing dropout prevention initiatives should refocus efforts to be more holistic. Such neutralization may best succeed in small schools. (SM)

Examines issues in introduction of an ebonics-based curriculum in public schools in response to the crisis in academic achievement of African American students. Outlines the cultural role of African American Vernacular English, concerns about learning levels of students not proficient in Standard English, and implications for supporting diversity…

Five studies examined the effect of dysphoric mood on perceivers' subjective unitization of an observed other's ongoing behavior into discrete meaningful actions. Dysphoria generally reduced unitization rate (i.e., number of actions discriminated). Additional evidence indicates this reduction results from failure to initiate a higher (more…

Examines the size of child-care-center spaces as a factor for designing developmentally appropriate facilities. Explores a range of architectural and design issues related to the size of spaces and ways of subdividing rooms to provide opportunities for small-group, quiet activities that are important to quality child care. (AA)

Examines the size of child care centers as a factor in designing developmentally appropriate facilities. Proposes as a general principle that, whenever a center is to house more than 75 children, it should be partially decentralized into a village, campus, or articulated series of interconnected houses, with each module serving no more than 60 to…

Presents a model reading lab design for advanced English for Academic Purposes students and describes the four major instructional components of the lab as well as the logistics of running a lab. (44 references) (Author/CK)

Describes how "being fully in the present" by providing quality time--defined as a combination of addressing needs and providing activities--provided a better learning environment for very young children, and for teachers, the ability to appreciate the uniqueness of children. Discusses and evaluates three types of quality time. (SD)

The communication between three mothers and their preschool children with language impairments was examined in a three-year qualitative study. The mothers had developed a communication system within the family that consisted of idiosyncratic signs and signals that conveyed intentional messages. The mothers found it difficult to change these…

The population of immigrants to the United States is both growing and changing, and entering an economy in transition. A recent study focused on their impact on access to higher education and on the institutions themselves, including efficiency of operation and campus diversity. Unresolved issues include need for English language skills, student…

Discusses how the early childhood program environment can be more sensitive to biracial children of black and white heritage. Considers the history of blacks in the United States; ethnic identity development in biracial children; and planning the early childhood environment, including structuring the curriculum, securing information about the…

Presents a qualitative study of the sociocultural teaching and learning system involved in an introductory direct metal-sculpture studio class. Discusses the cognitive, affective, and physical processes that take place through the social exploration of material, form, and concepts. Includes a graphic model of the learning process. (MJP)

Analyzes and critiques several theoretical assumptions concerning moral education. Maintains that current theoretical approaches contain such a broad variation that they lack practical application. The singular focus on individuals and their interactions presents another problem. Advocates reformulating theoretical concepts to address these…

Using data on degree completion among black and white community college students, a study investigated how rates in different postsecondary programs vary for blacks and whites, changes over the course of the 1980s, and institutional characteristics encouraging program completion for the two groups. The most striking result was a decline in…

Questionnaires that were developed to measure factors in the academic persistence of minority college students were administered to 454 Mexican American students at two large southwestern universities. Both the Cultural Congruity Scale and the University Environment Scale were significant predictors of academic persistence of Mexican American…