Assessed the relative contribution of gender and gender role orientation to empathy and its development in 119 Israeli 8th and 11th graders. When the contribution of masculinity/femininity was covaried, empathy was found unrelated to gender. Findings are discussed in terms of socialization of emotions and gender role orientation. (SLD)

Describes how an 11th-grade English teacher promoted active learning in her class through a hands-on project that required group problem solving, decision making, and technical writing skills. Discusses how the students simulated a toy factory by working collaboratively in teams to design, build, and market a LEGO toy. (RS)

Examines factors influencing students' personal voices becoming part of the public talk of an 11th-grade U.S. history class and an 8th-grade language arts class. Finds student participation in discussion is influenced by peer and gender relations and differing conceptions of teaching and knowledge. Notes encouraging students to exercise their…

Describes a project that was used with advanced 11th and 12th grade art students in which they created silk-screen self-portraits in the style of Andy Warhol. Discusses the process of creating the portraits and the activities that concluded the project. Lists the needed materials. (CMK)

This study inventoried the types of developmental and negative experiences that youth encounter in different categories of extracurricular and community-based organized activities. A representative sample of 2,280 11th graders from 19 diverse high schools responded to a computer-administered protocol. Youth in faith-based activities reported…

The data presented in this article were obtained in a questionnaire survey of 2,893 students in the seventh, ninth, and eleventh grades of general education schools in Moscow. The survey was conducted by the Center of Sociology of Education of the Russian Academy of Education in 2002. Earlier publications by the same authors dealing with materials…

Describes an art project in which juniors and seniors in graphic design created their own label designs for a one liter plastic bottle of soft drinks. Discusses in detail how the students created their labels. States that the seniors also created a box. (CMK)

This article describes a study that emerged as a result of the severe acute respiratory syndrome crisis that struck Hong Kong in 2003. One outcome of the severe acute respiratory syndrome crisis was that all personnel in all educational institutions in Hong Kong were compelled to wear face masks for the period April-August 2003. Consequently, the…

Objective: The objective of the study was to determine the prevalence of sexual abuse in female adolescents in Istanbul, Turkey from data collected as part of a school-based population study on health and health behaviors. Method: A stratified cluster sampling procedure was used for this cross-sectional study. The study sample included 1,955…

Much has been written concerning the potential group differences in responding to multiple-choice achievement test items. This discussion has included references to possible disparities in tendency to omit such test items. When test scores are used for high-stakes decision making, even small differences in scores and rankings that arise from male…

Conducted in urban and rural schools in two provinces of South Africa, the present study reports biology learners' understanding of concepts about genetics and inheritance. Participants were Grade 11 and 12 learners, aged 15-16 years. The tools included a written questionnaire, interviews, pre- and post-paper and pencil tests and focus group…

In this Issue Brief, differences in the average number of course credits earned between high school graduates and dropouts, both within and accumulated across academic years, are examined in order to describe enrollment and completion behavior of high school graduates and dropouts. Differences in course credit accrual by selected subjects…

The National Science Concept Learning Study represented one of the largest and the most extensive surveys of its kind undertaken in Taiwan in recent years. A total of 36,093 students from the sixth, eighth, ninth, and eleventh grades participated in the main study. This paper provides the background information about the sampling and booklet…

Emerging from a human constructivist view of learning and a punctuated model of conceptual change, these studies explored differences in the structural complexity and content validity of knowledge about prehistoric life depicted in concept maps by learners ranging in age from approximately 10 to 20 years. Study 1 (cross-age) explored the…

The Mantel-Haenszel approach for investigating differential item functioning (DIF) was applied to U.S. history items that were administered as part of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). DIF analyses were based on the responses of 7,743 students in grade 11. On some items, Blacks, Hispanics, and females performed more poorly…