Throughout the English-speaking world, and now Western Europe and parts of East Asia, parental choice and educational markets are being seen by politicians and policy advisors as the panacea to problems of low educational standards and social exclusion. This book tests the key assumptions underlying the faith in markets by linking an analysis of…

This book examines the expectancy effect (or self-fulfilling prophecy) on student achievement. One of its main purposes is to take a broader look at for whom, where, when, and how expectancy effects take place and what consequences they have for children in school. Chapter 1 presents a case study of educational expectancy of a learning-disabled…

This guide is designed to help identify and modify risks that contribute to alcohol-related problems within college and university communities. The guide describes methods and exercises that can be followed to gather and organize information about alcohol use and associated adverse consequences at institutions of higher education and within…

This brief is designed to promote collaborative leadership in the work of transforming low performing urban schools into successful schools. The brief is organized into several topics, which include framing the challenge (concentrated disadvantage, concentration effects, and savage inequalities); encouraging educators and partners to promote the…

This study examined a Preparatory Course for Blacks and the Economically Disadvantaged (PBED) in a poor area of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The PBED is an alternative educational project that offers regular classes on evenings and weekends using volunteer labor, donated space, and contributions from students who can afford it. Case studies were used…

Recognizing that knowing what parents value most provides insights into what society values and what can be expected of future generations, this report details a study exploring parents' goals in raising their children and focusing on parents' attitudes regarding the difficulty of raising children of integrity and character in America today. Data…

This checklist offers tips and resources to help schools identify opportunities to "green" their buildings and operations, focusing on common-sense improvements that schools can make in their daily operations to minimize or stop potential health and environmental problems before they start. The first section discusses the benefits of a…

This paper reports on the classroom learning environment and teaching practices in a Papua New Guinea ninth-grade science class and the conflict between the informal, traditional learning paradigm and new school approaches to science teaching. Observations and interviews with teachers and four students were supplemented with questionnaires and…

This lesson guide is one in a series for teachers and counselors on teaching problem-solving interventions and coping skills to troubled youth. The series is aimed at training adolescents to succeed while empowering them to avoid the social pressure to drop out of school. The goal of this guide is to convince students they need an education to…

The assumption of a causal relationship between more schooling and lower fertility for women has led many governments to support women's education. However, understanding the nature and strength of the relationship between education and fertility remains a central challenge for scholars seeking to explain demographic and social change and for…

This study examined the degree to which parent behavior and sibling behavior are differentially related to adolescent adjustment. Using reports from adolescent sibling pairs (41 seventh graders and an older sibling), this study was designed to examine the degree to which parent and sibling behavior (i.e., warm/supportive and hostile) uniquely, and…

This study investigated the characteristics of perfectionistic gifted adolescents in a rural middle school, how they perceived their perfectionism, the influences on their perfectionism, and the consequences of their perfectionist behaviors. Qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection were employed to gather data from 20 gifted…

This training manual provides vocational rehabilitation and school counselors with background information and practical tools related to fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), with particular reference to the needs of Native Americans. The most recent reliable data (1990) for American Indians and Alaska Natives show a rate of FAS over 10 times the national…

Although most nineteenth-century American parents relied staunchly on common sense in raising their children, by the 1920s numerous parent education programs had been established to urge a scientific approach to child rearing. Today, American parents are besieged with medical and psychological advice about bringing up "normal" children.…

Viewing adolescence as a "dynamic social construction," this volume explores the state of adolescence in the context of rapid social change. The articles in the volume reveal a recurrent theme: no matter how adolescence is defined, the establishment of identity and the search for autonomy remain central developmental tasks of the…