The role of experiential education is the focus of this paper describing the treatment program at De La Salle Vocational, a day vocational high school for adjudicated delinquent youth. The paper begins by discussing the characteristics and needs of the students and describing the Off-Campus Program, a 3-year research model designed to address the…

This paper describes the development and implementation of an adventure-based counseling program with six groups of junior high and high school students having severe emotional disturbances in Riverside County, California. The program's objectives were: (1) to improve students' communication skills, self-confidence, trust, respect for others, and…

After two years of operation, Project BACSTOP (Better Acquisition of Cognitive Skills through Outdoor Programming, a series of structured experiences in wilderness settings meant to bring seventh and eighth grade students of different races together in challenging adventure activities intended to promote interaction, communication, and…

Project D.A.R.E. (Development through Adventure, Responsibility and Education), an adventure-based outdoor program, uses a feedback/evaluation model, combining a learning component with a two-part participant observational model. The first phase focuses on evaluation of the child and progress made while he is in the program (stages one to four);…

This document presents narrative descriptions of 14 selected programs for reducing truant and disruptive behavior in schools, as selected by a group of Virginia educators in a project sponsored by the Virginia Department of Education. Among the tools utilized in these programs are behavior modification using tokens, in-school tutoring, in-school…

The goals of "Operation Awareness", a 1974 summer program involving coeducational high school canoeing, camping, and study, were to acquire knowledge; acquire outdoor living skills; promote involvement in a conservation work project; and provide the opportunity for social, emotional, and physical growth through group living. Students,…

The successful Wilderness School functions as a broad youth serving agency attempting to have a permanent impact on the self-concept, behavior, and attitudes of its students by affecting their feelings and sense of self-worth as well as the major components of their environment (family, living situation, school, job potential), and by providing…

The booklet provides guidelines, concrete curriculum plans, and rough ideas on urban adventure programs for suburban high school students. Following an overview that explains a three-phase organizing theory (exploration, focusing, action) for urban programs, there are descriptions of: a student-organized and conducted architectural tour of New…

As part of Project Adventure, a specific unit within a 12-week Colonial History course taught at a Massachusetts high school was designed to: involve students with each other, their community, and local history; add a significant social and experiential dimension to the course; use a unique system of student evaluation and grading; and be…