Demographic, economic, and social realities make linguistic and cross-cultural competence essential skills for today's students. This article discusses three innovative program types that build on basic education while enriching it through second languages: second-language immersion for native English-speaking students; developmental bilingual…

The conflict created between the need to belong and the development of sexual identity in gay and lesbian adolescents is investigated. Using naturalistic inquiry, interviews were conducted with gay/lesbian youth who participated in high school support groups. One particular example is discussed in relation to educational and counseling issues.…

Harold Kushner, the author of "When Bad Things Happen to Good People" (1981), insists that public schools should never advocate particular religious views nor serve as forums for debating religious values. However, shared values such as truthfulness, accuracy, personal responsibility, acceptance of limitations, kindness, and cooperation…

Challenging obstacles that adolescent lesbians encounter are described; strategies for creating a supportive environment for students forming their adolescent identity, regardless of sexual orientation, are presented. Homophobia, identity development, isolation and passing, coming out, and minority issues are discussed. Direct intervention, staff…

The fourth in a series of articles on meeting the social and emotional needs of gifted students, this article provides ideas that teachers, parents, and counselors can consider as they work on behalf of gifted students. Suggestions focus on improving communication, building relationships, developing identity, and adapting adult coping mechanisms.…

European American, Japanese, and Chinese 11-month-olds participated in emotion-inducing laboratory procedures. Facial responses were scored with BabyFACS, an anatomically based coding system. Overall, Chinese infants were less expressive than European American and Japanese infants, suggesting that differences in expressivity between European…

Reviews the literature on young children's peer social development. Addresses implications of social learning theory and empirical research. Discusses recurring themes, including child/peer versus child/adult interactions, incorporation of toys and games, influence of mothers, and gender peer preferences. Considers areas lacking empirical support…

Adolescents are challenged to adjust to a new physical sense of self, new intellectual abilities, and cognitive demands; expand verbal skills; establish emotional and psychological independence from parents; establish adult vocational goals; develop productive peer relationships; manage their sexuality; and develop self-control. Transitional…

Discusses the responsibilities of school and society in the failure of effective socialization and the pattern and causes of the collapse of the British education system. Addresses the three phases in the development of social education and argues for the social education of the young in Britain. (CMK)

This article describes the establishment of Individual Development through Employment, Assessment, and Learning (IDEAL), a summer transition program for adolescents with blindness or visual impairments in Pennsylvania. The program emphasizes independence, work exploration, and social skills development. Data from participants, parents, and staff…

Important work of Daniel Goleman, Peter Salovey and John Mayer on emotional intelligence (EI) is discussed to illustrate recent theorizing on EI. The article discusses conceptual and measurement problems that presently challenge the usefulness of the EI construct and urges further research. (Author/CR)

Four social-cognitive processes (encoding, cue interpretation, strategy generation, and evaluation of consequences) were investigated with 55 upper elementary children with mild mental retardation. Analysis of responses to videotaped vignettes of social conflict situations indicated children more accurately interpreted hostile than benign…

This case study describes a 13-year-old female with autism, mutism, hyperlexia, and spelling ability. Analysis indicated her reading and spelling abilities were dominated by visual rather than phonological processes. Most striking was an apparent social awakening during the 3.5 month period of the study, possibly related to the onset of puberty.…

This longitudinal study followed the social development of 239 students (including 10 students with learning disabilities) from kindergarten through fifth grade. Repeated measurements of peer acceptance, reciprocal friendship, self-concept, and social skills found a substantial amount of instability in social competence components for the students…

This response to Vaughn and Hogan (EC 608 627), who reported a longitudinal study on the social competence of 10 children with learning disabilities, looks at problems in doing longitudinal research; the influence of environmental factors; and developmental issues. Possible interventions with children having consistent social problems are noted.…