This document comprises an interim evaluation report for the Portland Peers Project, a comprehensive drug education program that serves students in grades 6-8 in all Portland (Oregon) middle schools, for the 1989-90 academic year. It is noted that data were collected through an initial assessment survey, a parent questionnaire, a student peer…

Cognitive controls were isolated through factor analysis with 59 intermediate-grade gifted students, and three cognitive styles were defined by cluster analysis. The cognitive style labeled "strict percept-strict concept" was associated with greater facility in divergent thinking. Study findings support explanations of giftedness through…

This article discusses the nature of resilience in children, means to measure and verify it, and attempts to promote it through education; it also describes a study of parental, teacher and caregiver efforts to promote resilience in children. The International Resilience Project examined resilience factors children and their parents use in…

Describes and evaluates the Life Choices Program for girls (N=66) aged 9 to 12, which emphasizes empowerment as an intervention. Comparison of the Life Choices participants with controls (N=50) showed no significant differences in locus of control. Differences in values suggest Life Choices participants are more aware of role alternatives. (JAC)

Seventeen children ages 9-11 participated in reviewing or debriefing techniques for use in outdoor activities, including active (drama), written, and graphical (pictorial) reviews, then answered a questionnaire evaluating the techniques. The children enjoyed and understood active reviewing the best, disliked written reviews, and found pictorial…

The Growing Up FAST program involves working with adolescents and their parents and includes rites of passage, multicultural issues, and a solution-focused perspective. Discusses the program's development and theoretical background, as well as its specific goals, current valuative efforts, and implementation strategies. (RJM)

This study examines different pathways of maternal influence on the value that preadolescents attribute to mathematics and German language as domains of education. On the basis of data from 355 students and their mothers, the author tested effects of mothers' education, general parenting practices, leisure pursuits, joint activities with their…

This study examined the effects of two training methods (interest-based method vs. traditional method) in improving independent problem solving performance of students with mild mental retardation representing three cultural backgrounds (African-American, European-American and Nigerian) as measured by Edeh Scale of Interpersonal Problem…

We investigated age-based changes in mothers' complaints about offspring behavioral opposition, and offspring reports of opposition in a prospective longitudinal design (N = 821). Maternal complaints declined from pre-adolescence to early adulthood, but more slowly in low socioeconomic status (SES) and single-parent families. Mothers complained…

The Purposeful Algebraic Activity Project is a longitudinal study of the development of pupils' algebraic activity in the early years of their secondary schooling. Here, we report on our empirical findings from the initial semi-structured interviews. We analyse the responses of three pairs of 12-year-old pupils to a range of algebra questions. In…

The present study examined and compared the leisure activities and communication about leisure among peers of a large sample of preadolescents without disabilities and their peers with identified disabilities. All responded to a questionnaire about leisure. Findings revealed that these preadolescents participated in a large number and variety of…

We examined children's behavioral coping in response to an "in vivo" peer rejection manipulation. Participants (N = 186) ranging between 10 and 13 years of age, played a computer game based on the television show "Survivor" and were randomized to either peer rejection (i.e., being voted out of the game) or non-rejection control. During a five-min.…

Over the past 20 years, the middle school has been a major innovative movement changing the face of intermediate education. While hard to define exactly, middle schools have different priorities and purposes than junior high schools. The former serve preadolescents (ages 10 to 14) through a balanced, comprehensive program. Middle school programs…

Literature on preadolescent friendships is reviewed to examine the relationship between preadolescent friendship and social support in adulthood. Present research is suggestive of the importance of preadolescent friendships in adult social relatedness, but it is not sufficient to validate the period as critical to social support in adulthood. (SLD)

This formative evaluation of the Atlantic Street Center's Pre-Teen Bridge Program (P-T Bridge) focused on the academic support and prosocial skill development components of the program. The academic component included one-on-one tutoring, and the prosocial skill component included activities and materials designed to improve social and…