This set of quality standards for Colorado's early child care and education programs, developed over a 4-year period, is intended to help these programs move toward quality services for all young children. Programs using the standards and checklists will provide feedback to the Colorado Department of Education, and the standards will be updated…

Conflict, as a natural part of daily life is to some extent inevitable in all child care centers. Children need to develop effective strategies to deal with conflict, and educators need to reduce the amount of conflict present in the total child care environment. Two roles early childhood educators can play in encouraging conflict resolution are…

Reducing class size was considered an important element in a revised health course at Gettysburg College (Pennsylvania). However, reducing class size to approximately 15 students per class would require 38 sections, more than the health faculty could handle. To recruit additional instructors, the course was marketed to faculty and administrators…

This digest addresses the necessity for holistic learning--the integration of intellectual, social, and emotional aspects of undergraduate student learning. Research findings, theoretical models, and the relationship and interdependency of these developmental areas are briefly reviewed and recommendations are provided to faculty, administrators,…

This paper describes several practices designed to challenge preservice teachers to question their assumptions regarding multiculturalism and to explore other points of view. The "Culture Walk" at Susquehanna University (Pennsylvania) increases awareness and sensitivity to interpersonal and personal identities. It involves writing and…

During the past decade there have been considerable efforts to reform the American public school system. This survey, based on 15-minute telephone interviews with a nationally representative sample of 1,011 public school teachers in the United States, duplicates the sampling and interviewing process used in a similar study in 1984 and 1985. In…

This book and video are based on a symposium on ways to foster giftedness in children in kindergarten through third grade. Emphasized throughout are DISCOVER projects, federally funded research and development projects to assist Arizona educators in identifying and planning programs for gifted children from diverse cultural, ethnic, and linguistic…

This book and video are based on a symposium of leaders in the fields of gifted education and middle-level education, which was held to identify and explore areas of agreement in often contrasting philosophies. Emphasis is on identifying areas of agreement between the fields, areas of tension, and promising directions that could engage educators…

This report explores the status and experiences of 388 students with disabilities who have benefited from transition improvement efforts in Minnesota over the last decade. Improvements in transition services have included establishment of a state transition interagency committee and an interagency office on transition services, development of an…

The goal theory of achievement argues that the goals stressed by schools have dramatic consequences for whether children develop a sense of self-efficacy, or whether they avoid challenging tasks, giving up when faced with failure. It is commonly believed that the goals stressed by Western-oriented schools are inappropriate to indigenous minority…

Although Mexican Americans are the fastest growing ethnic group in the United States, their history and literature are seldom taught in American classrooms. A study of over 3,000 high school sophomores in the Southwest revealed that neither Anglos nor Hispanics were aware of the contributions of Mexican Americans. Incorporating Mexican American…

This book offers support for middle school teachers and suggestions on how they can help their students be more successful, both in the classroom and in life. Thirteen chapters cover being a teacher, the classroom, students and the challenges they face, communication, teaching, testing, working with parents, staff relations and job stress, public…

A study investigated the role of the Aboriginal Student Enclave, one of five campuses of Edith Cowan University (Australia) as a discourse community. The relatively small but cohesive university subcommunity is designed to provide additional support for Aboriginal students enrolled in standard programs and an environment in which the students are…

Though not a new concept, child effect has yet to be integrated into mainstream research. This book offers a review of what is already "known" but generally ignored in the area of how children affect their parents, what kinds of children most affect their parents, and what characteristics in parents make them especially vulnerable to…

Art in context of community is the theme of this newsletter. The theme is introduced in an editorial "Community-Enlarging the Definition" (Kit Grauer). Related articles include: (1) "The Children's Bridge is not Destroyed: Heart in the Middle of the World" (Emil Robert Tanay); (2) "Making Bridges: The Sock Doll…