A study is reported of how students in an honors program and a transition program for academically disadvantaged students, as well as students in the regular curriculum, become engaged in a variety of experiences and how their quality of effort in the activities is related to student growth and development. (Author/MLW)

As student populations change, so do the students who volunteer for cocurricular activities. The challenges for campus activities organizers include recruiting older students and providing adequate rewards for volunteering. Students can be attracted by emphasizing the job-related aspects of volunteer jobs or offering course credit. (MSE)

This interview discusses control theory (based on humans' psychological needs for love, power, freedom, and fun) and its potential for transforming students' classroom learning experience. By adopting the teamwork approach used in extracurricular activities, teachers can help students gain satisfaction and a sense of their own importance. (MLH)

Two Constitutional principles--separation of church and state and freedom of speech--have been placed in conflict by the newly established Equal Access Act (1984). Some ways that school boards have found to deal with the confusion are presented. (MD)

A study of the achievement of medical students taking a reduced medical school course load for one or more years showed that an extended program may be useful for students pursuing personal or extracurricular interests and for some with academic problems but not for students with major emotional disturbances. (MSE)

Examines the question of American student adaptation to the academic aspect of overseas education, with particular reference to the University of Connecticut's Junior Year in Rouen. (AM)

This paper describes a 6-month bi-weekly Saturday program that was sponsored by the 100 Black Men of Atlanta (BMA) under their Project Success initiative. Project Success is a program that allows inner-city middle and high school students to be mentored by members of 100 BMA and volunteering college students. The program community consisted of one…

Most research on adolescents has been conducted with white, middle-class adolescents, which has created a lack of differentiation among the majority and minority cultures in the United States. To correct this, adolescents from two cultural groups at two points in time were studied so as to see how their trajectories differ in terms of academic…

This book, written especially for students between junior years of high school and junior years of college, presents a practical approach to maximizing educational experiences and obtaining a good, career-beginning job. Based on personal experiences, the book makes a case for studying hard, obtaining many life experiences through part-time jobs…

Recent findings show that children and teens are most vulnerable either to committing or being a victim of crime between 2:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Community organizations with afterschool programs are particularly well positioned to counter some of the hazards that threaten children, especially urban adolescents: drug abuse, gang activity, and…

Afterschool programs are increasingly viewed as one viable way of bridging the gap between the end of the school day and the time parents get home from work. This digest briefly discusses why afterschool programs are needed, what potential benefits may be, what challenges may affect the viability of programs, what factors are identified with…

Since the late 1800s, factors that stimulated growth of outing clubs at colleges and universities included the desire to get outdoors and explore and the clubs' ability to provide outdoor training, access, and equipment. Outing clubs were initially formed by students. The outing clubs at Williams College, Dartmouth, and Allegheny College were all…

The relationships among students' scores on the American College Test (ACT) Science Reasoning test, their science course work in high school, and their out-of-class accomplishments in science were studied. Data were from nearly one million ACT-tested students in the high school graduating class of 1998. Analyses were done for the total group of…

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of 6 factors that affect college students' self-rating of change in problem solving and critical thinking abilities after 4 years of college. Based on the available literature, these six factors were selected for investigation: (1) Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) scores; (2) a socioeconomic…

"Getting Ready for Life: How To Make High School Work for You" is a guide to be used by Houston Independent School District (HISD) (Texas) high school students in making choices and describing their options related to course credits, academic programs, scholarships, extracurricular activities, employment opportunities, and preparing for…