This report summarizes a national survey of drug use and related attitudes among American secondary school students. All of its data came from an ongoing national research and reporting program entitled, "Monitoring the Future: A Continuing Study of the Lifestyles and Values of Youth." These surveys address two major topics: (1) the…

Describes the creation, by students, of a 5-hour-weekly course in English for Grade 12, dealing with educational problems and school policies in Great Britain and the USA. At all stages, the students acted as teachers. The various stages and a sample class hour are described. (Text is in German.) (IFS/WGA)

To better understand the risk for U.S. youth substance abuse, the results of all the follow-up surveys of the graduating high school classes of 1976 through 1994--taken from the Monitoring the Future study of young adults, ages 19-32 years old--is presented here. The report serves a social monitoring function, in which levels and trends in certain…

National attention has been focused on the fact that math and science scores for students in the United States are among the lowest in the world. In DeSchryver's (1998) article, "Fifteen Years and Still a Nation at Risk," it was noted that American twelfth graders ranked nineteenth out of 21 industrialized nations in mathematics…

A critical issue facing U.S. schools and one with broad social implication is the persistent disparity in educational achievement between racial/ethnic groups. The achievement gap may be particularly pronounced for Mexican-Americans who constitute the vast majority of U.S. Latinos and are among the most educationally at risk of all Latino…

GRADES OR AGES: Grades 8-12. SUBJECT MATTER: Social studies; civilizations. ORGANIZATION AND PHYSICAL APPEARANCE: The guide is divided into 12 chapters, most of which are in list form. It is mimeographed and staple-bound with a paper cover. OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES: No specific activities are mentioned. The guide is intended as an overview of the…

The aim of this teaching unit is to develop the students' ability to deal with stereotypes of the foreign people and culture, including the people's stereotypes of themselves ("autostereotypes"). Within the framework of the autostereotype "American Mission," the "George Washington Mythos" is discussed. (Text is in…

This report by the Educational Testing Service (ETS) presents information collected from a representative sample of public school students (1,728 from 55-60 schools in grades 4, 8, 12 from 27 states) in the United States during the fall of 1974. The information was used for an ETS survey directed toward international education aspects of social…

This investigation examined students attending U.S. and Canadian visual and performing arts secondary schools for distinguishing personality characteristics, locus of control, acceptance of talents, labeling, family dynamics, anxiety levels, perceived personal and school problems, and views of peers, artists/teachers, and counselors. One hundred…

International comparisons of American education have become so popular and widespread in the reform debates of the last several decades that many of the current centerpieces of the American reform movement were shaped through evidence and speculation on what other more educationally successful nations were doing that the U.S. was not. The current…

The USA is undergoing tremendous cultural changes as we open the first decade of the 21st century. In this paper the author discusses the need to close the performance gap that exists between White, African American, and Latino/a students. To do so, educators must carefully consider several important cultural forces. The author examines the shift…

This monograph provides the 1975-2005 national trends in smoking, drinking, and illicit drug use among American secondary school students. It covers subgroup differences, attitudes and beliefs about use, social milieu, degree and duration of drug highs, initiation rates, prevalence and frequency, and trends in illicit drug and alcohol use. Drug…