Argues that the way reading is taught to the youngest children sets the stage for their future learning. Notes that recent research shows that some basal readiness activities are better avoided or postponed. (FL)

Reports a study of sex-role distribution in children's literature, hypothesizing that today's writing for preschool children reflects the change in women's work roles by presenting more females in central roles, illustrations, and titles. (RH)

Concludes that eliteness of a nation as a news source is the most important criterion for news selection in the Canadian press. (FL)

This model for evaluating vendor training package programs includes assessing value of promotional literature; requesting detailed information on program content, participant materials, instructor information, and cost breakdown; comparing program specifics to actual training needs; detailed instructional design analysis; and piloting the program.…

On the basis of 117 journal articles published between 1973 and 1975, assesses differences in the qualitative nature of comparative studies of normal Afro-American children and normal children from other racial groups. Findings indicate only a small percentage of studies predicted how Afro-American children would differ from the comparison group.…

Conducted a content analysis of research articles (N=80) published in professional journals to assess the reliance on one family member for data to be generalized to the conjugal or family unit. Results showed that over time (1965-1978) there has been a continued reliance on individual family members for data. (JAC)

Reveals that Canada's daily newspapers display remarkable cultural affinities toward their readers' respective cultural homelands--the French-language newspapers toward France and the English-language ones toward the United Kingdom. (FL)

Notes that the courts have specific sanctions under the "Federal Rules of Civil Procedure" to ensure discovery in libel and invasion of privacy cases. Examines media-related cases in which courts have used these sanctions and relates them to nonmedia cases. (FL)

Concludes that mechanics had a greater influence on raters' judgments of student writing than either content or rating instructions. Findings suggest that evaluators may not be able to focus on individual criteria of writing quality. (FL)

Updates research findings concerning the way older adults are portrayed in several basal reading series. (FL)

Surveyed programs granting doctoral degrees in school psychology to ascertain the nature of the dissertation research completed during 1978-1980. Dissertations were classified as to subject area of study, type of research methodology, and types of subjects. Trends in each area of classification were examined. (JAC)

A description and explanation of "Native Literature," the literature textbook for fourth graders. (ND)

Discussed are presentations and evaluations of Freud found in psychology textbooks from 1908 to 1975 in terms of the empirical versus the nonempirical views about the proper subject matter of psychology. Findings indicate that psychologists remain divided in their attitudes toward Freud. (Author/DB)

School counselors must wade through many unconnected lists of interventions to plan the career guidance aspect of their work. Often this impedes their ability to think strategically about their career development efforts. This digest describes an attempt to discover the underlying taxonomic structure of career development interventions that occur…