Value orientations of 116 Canadian children (60 males and 56 females) ranging from 10 to 12.5 years old (40 of Anglo-Celt, 40 of French, and 36 of Italian origin) indicate similar concepts of ideal self and self-esteem but gender and ethnic differences with respect to peer relations. (SLD)

Researchers interviewed 40 midwestern low-income adolescents to determine their perceptions of social class related peer affiliations in school. Subjects gave more negative descriptions of low-income than high-income student groups and described a social-class biased schooling. Their reluctance to identify with low-status groups obstructed social…

Supervisors of three integrated preschools were trained in a collaborative team approach to promoting children's peer interactions. Training resulted in classroom teachers increasing behaviors directed toward children with disabilities, a doubling of interactive play of children with disabilities, and increases in interactive play of comparison…

A total of 1,771 children completed self-report questionnaires during sixth and seventh grade. Early adolescents who believed their parents asserted and did not relax their power and restrictiveness scored higher than other adolescents on items that measured an extreme peer orientation. (MDM)

Presents an overview of the research literature concerning the significance of adolescent friendship. Topics addressed are (1) the ubiquity of friendships; (2) friendship stability; (3) conditions of friendship, such as reciprocity, commitment, and equality; (4) similarities among friends; and (5) social and emotional development fostered by…

Examines resistance to cooperative learning, focusing briefly on possible poor presentations of its principles, and concentrating on ways that cooperative learning threatens the beliefs many teachers hold about individualism and the importance of competition. To make cooperative learning more readily received, some of its ideas are being diluted…

This paper describes an awareness project involving presentations to secondary school students on the nature of learning disabilities. A university student with learning disabilities gave the presentation to approximately 450 students in 24 Newfoundland schools. Participants rated the presentation highly and demonstrated better understanding of…

Semi-structured interviews with 21 nonhandicapped high school students indicated that their experiences with peers with moderate to severe disabilities had resulted in such benefits as improved self-concept, increased tolerance of other people, reduced fear of human differences, and development of personal principles. Areas of difficulty were also…

Children collaborated in planning imaginary errands with novice peers, trained peers, or untrained adults. Collaborative planning of dyads with trained peers and with adults was equally sophisticated. Children who worked with adults planned better in posttests than those who collaborated with trained peers. (BC)

Comparison of two interventions on the peer social interactions of 105 young children with and without hearing impairments found that the integrated activities intervention resulted in greater gains in total positive peer interaction than the social skills intervention. However, withdrawal of either intervention resulted in decreased peer…

This workshop section includes four essays: (1) "Building Lifelong Relationships: School Age Programs at Work" (Cindy L. Teachey); (2) "Building Friendships in School Age Programs" (Joan M. Bergstrom); (3) "On the Rocky Road to Friendship: Emerging Peer Relationships" (Kay Albrecht); (4) "Helping Teachers Understand Their Role in Supporting Peer…

Discusses how teachers can aid young children in developing social skills in and outside the home through reading and discussing books that present characters and social situations with which children can identify. Discusses several such child-recommended book titles from "Children's Choices" and includes an annotated bibliography of additional…

Used the experience sampling method to examine emotional structure of the week for adolescents in fifth to eighth grades and again four years later. Found that weekend evenings emerged in middle adolescence as the week's emotional high point, a time for enjoyable peer group and romantic activities, although the scripts for Friday and Saturday…

A study investigated effects of classwide peer tutoring (CWPT) on classroom behavior and academic performance of 18 students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). CWPT led to improvements in performance in math or spelling for 50% of students with ADHD, along with reductions in off-task behavior for most participants. (Author/CR)

Compared the classroom instruction and learning environment of 563 resilient and nonresilient, predominantly minority, fourth and fifth graders. Observations indicate that resilient students spend more time interacting with teachers for instructional purposes, and nonresilient students spend more time interacting with peers for social purposes.…