This 17th edition of "Education Week's" annual "Quality Counts" report takes aim at an issue freighted with emotional as well as policy implications: the impact of a school's social and disciplinary environment on students' ability to learn and on the teachers and administrators tasked with guiding them. National initiatives to improve schools…

Teachers, a school custodian, and a college student describe ways they have found to be helpful in building students' self-esteem. Teachers can contribute through warmth, sensitivity, fairness, trust, respect for students, and by setting high standards. Administrators can also help by making conscious attempts to raise teachers' self-esteem. (PP)

Three articles present suggestions to help elementary teachers promote student development. The first describes games that encourage a sense of community. The second deals with making parent teacher conferences a positive experience. The third discusses how to give confused children who are involved in custody battles an alternative to acting out.…