Bernard Weiner and other motivation researchers have explored what happens to students when they try to explain why they succeed or fail. Causal attributions directly affect motivation and make the difference between helpless and mastery-oriented students. Suggestions are offered to educators to help change the attributions of helpless students…

Interviews 20 vocational high school students about school and family histories, present school experiences, and reflections about their literacy histories. Discusses three themes that emerged: connections and disconnections between home and school literacy practices (and resulting frustrations and failures); difficulties meeting standards set by…

A study of 26 Asian-American students with learning disabilities in grades K-5 found that although the district policies reflected desired professional practices, there were no guidelines for documenting how variables such as second-language acquisition, culture, socioeconomic status, and other differences were accommodated. Policy recommendations…

Examined impact of Chinese family socialization practices on children's socialization over 4 years. Found that parental reasoning, intellectual stimulation, and encouragement of independence were significant indicators of overall family socialization practices. Children's self-control, and positive attitudes toward others and toward work were…

Under British school-choice systems, parental perceptions of school quality motivate considerable pupil migration. Headteachers are cast into managerial roles stressing their ability to retain catchment populations and attract pupils from elsewhere. A South Wales study shows that school location and local environment figure prominently in a…

Considers the forces contributing to the development of democratic citizenship education in Albania and reviews the progress that has been made. Explores the barriers to democratic citizenship education, such as the centralization in Albanian schools and the lack of resources for running a program. Ponders the future of democratic citizenship…

Reviews existing theoretical perspective on how single-parent families and stepfamilies affect student achievement by examining math and reading achievement scores. Results show that schools predominated by students from single-parent families and stepfamilies negatively affect student's achievement. These negative effects are countervailed when…

Discusses the inappropriate referral of culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students for speech-language therapy. Preassessment considerations that should be considered and the interrelatedness of culture, language, and communication as they impact on an individual learner's behavior are explained. Culturally appropriate assessment…

Reviews the evolution of U.S. adoption law since 1851. Recounts changes in the perceived "best interests" of all members of the adoption triad over time, and growing recognition of links between adoption and child welfare policy. Discusses current controversies including open adoption, birth parents' rights, unmarried fathers, and the…

Examined the relationship between junior high school students' participation in an alcohol prevention program and level of refusal skills (as measured by role plays), noting the relationship between refusal skills and alcohol misuse over three years. Regression analysis indicated that refusal skills were significant mediators of the effect of the…

Describes gendered ideology of practice in teacher education programs in a research university-school collaborative setting in southeast United States. Shows how the themes of professor/father and teacher/mother are interwoven through the social construction of distinct power/knowledge relations in teacher education. (MMU)

An expert panel, convened by the National Institutes of Health to address concerns about the future of clinical research, describes a training program at the National Institutes of Health that also included dental students. Possible reasons for low application rates among dental students are ascribed to inadequate dissemination of information,…

Studied the extent to which friends influenced the prejudices and stereotypes of white adolescents by evaluating race, homosexuality, HIV/AIDS, fat prejudice, and sex-role stereotyping. Found friends' prejudices and stereotypes were not associated. Examined possible explanations including discussion among friends, lack of questioning of apparent…

Written by the mother of a child with autism, this article discusses the journey from a diagnosis of autism at age 3 through the many therapies to upper grade school, where the child is doing so well that they have considered dropping the diagnosis. The miracles and hard work are discussed. (CR)

This study compared 20 young deaf children with either exceptionally good or exceptionally poor spoken language for their hearing loss, age, and intelligence. Factors associated with high performance included earlier use of binaural ear-level aids, better educated mothers, auditory/verbal or auditory/oral instruction, reliance on spoken language…