A safe environment is a prerequisite for productive learning. Using a unique panel data set of survey responses from New York City middle school students, the article provides insight into the relationship between feelings of safety in the classroom and academic achievement. The survey data include the reported feelings of safety for more than…

A history teacher describes an activity which involved her seventh grade class in researching, learning, and displaying a colonial craft, in order to learn more about life in colonial America. (AEM)

Because workloads frequently do not permit teachers to develop curriculum themselves, their participation in its formative evaluation (field testing) is a productive alternative. A seventh-grade biology program was evaluated by 14 teachers. (CP)

Reports examples of the behaviors, including kinetic and vocal, used to facilitate problem-solving based on observations of four seventh-grade students. Discusses the use of the behaviors in problem-solving teaching. (YP)

This second survey of drug and alcohol use among 7th, 9th, and 11th grade students enrolled in California's public secondary schools was conducted from December 1987 to February 1988. The purpose of this survey was to provide information on levels of substance use and related attitudes and experiences among young people who are enrolled in public…

Describes new secondary geography curriculum of the USSR. Curriculum is structured to provide four separate courses spanning 357 class periods over a number of school years. The translated documents include course descriptions along with teaching suggestions and evaluation procedures. (JDH)

Discusses the rationale for the new Soviet physics curriculum. Explains guidelines for teaching methodology. Details the goals and tasks for students in the Soviet physics curriculum for grades seven through eleven. (RKM)

Governor Mario Cuomo has proposed that New York State guarantee enough state aid for all poor seventh graders finishing high school to attend a state college or an equal amount of money to attend a private college in the state, the first such effort at the state level. (MSE)

Concerns have been raised about declining college enrollment of minority students despite increasing high school graduation rates. Addressing such "pipeline" issues is critical for increasing the supply of minority professionals in public school teaching and administration, school counseling, and school psychology. Focus group…