Three nontraditional intervention strategies are examined as approaches for improving the teaching effectiveness of graduate teaching assistants (TA's) in speech communication. The approaches include the "standard-other model," which demonstrates how others display the desired behaviors; the "self-as-model," which takes advantage of…

This report describes and assesses a year-long effort by the Institute for Responsive Education (IRE) to support and evaluate local school advisory councils in five communities around the nation (San Diego, a suburban community in southern California, Fairfield and Calhoun Counties in South Carolina, and Yonkers, New York). An overview of the…

A theoretical model and a case study are described to support the premise that the ideological levels of members of a social change project must be identified in order to assess their potential for inducing change and to evaluate that change. A conceptual model of the development of a social justice ideology is formulated, and is described as…

This manual is intended to help citizen groups set up their own on-the-job training activities, tailored to their own individual needs, issues, learning styles, and experiences. Specifically, it discusses ways citizens or citizen groups can improve their chances for free access to the media. The theme includes the political, social, and economic…

Descriptions of models for policy analysis in future studies are presented. Separate sections of the paper focus on the need for appropriate technologies of social science in future studies, a description of "compact policy assessment" (CPA), and a comparison of two CPA methods, Compass and Delphi. Compact policy assessment refers to any low-cost,…

Recent research is beginning to shed some light on the nature and extent of violence and crime in American schools, the role that schools themselves play in producing, aggravating, or reducing school crime, and how changes in the schools can remedy social control problems. Data from these studies indicate that: (1) despite public opinion, school…

The nature of school discipline problems has changed over the past few decades. In the 1950s, teachers thought that fighting, stealing, and disrespect toward authority were the most serious forms of student misbehavior. Violent assaults on teachers and pupils, gang warfare, burglary, extortion, and destruction of school property are included among…

The trainer's manual was written for use with teachers in the field and provides guides for teaching a mini-course in developing individualized learning activities for students with learning disabilities. There are four sessions outlined, each having an overview of the goals, activities, materials, and time for the session; an outline of topic to…

Findings of the one-year evaluation of Massachusetts Title III, Elementary and Secondary Education Act innovative projects covering the period from July, 1975 through June, 1976 are outlined in this summary. The formative stages of evaluation are viewed from two perspectives: project strategy designs and project directors' change processes. The…

This document contains the conference papers of the North Carolina Conference on Children sponsored by the North Carolina Medical Society and officials of the state government. The purpose of the conference was to discuss inadequacies in the quality of life of children and to suggest possible solutions to the problems which prevent children from…

This testimony summarizes the results of the Rand Corporation's change agent study of educational innovations funded by federal programs. The second section consists of policy recommendations for ESEA Title IV Consolidated Programs, Part C. The study aimed to help improve federal policies by describing how the process of innovation and educational…

This study examines how women's groups have made use of litigation strategy to gain favorable policy decisions from the U.S. Supreme Court. The litigation strategies associated with four groups are discussed in the major portion of the report. These groups are: (1) the National Women's Suffrage Association (NWSA), active from 1869 to 1875; (2) the…

Papers presented in advance of a workshop on "administrative strategies" for curricular change in the humanities and brief summaries of discussions taking place at the workshop are provided. Background papers include: "Curricular Change and the Humanities," by Edward A. Lindell; "Developing Administrative Strategies for…

Since World War II the peoples of the Pacific Islands have changed rapidly from primitive isolated groups to social units that are in touch with the rest of the world. Because these changes have occurred within a short span of time, the island people, particularly the Manus, have provided the following anthropological data: a civilization can…

This report describes a practicum project that attempted to reduce apathy among students and parents of students at an inner-city junior high school. All seventh-grade students at the study school and some of their parents were selected as the target group. A support team composed of noninstructional school personnel and community representatives…