The purpose of this pilot study was to determine if participants could improve their social interaction skills by participating in a virtual immersive environment. The participants used a developing virtual reality head-mounted display to engage themselves in a fully-immersive environment. While in the environment, participants had an opportunity…

A summer program developed at a residential center for emotionally disturbed adolescents concentrates on exploratory, special interest, and enrichment areas while maintaining the regular school year focus on functional living skills. Also incorporated in the program is stress on group interactions and group communication to foster self-discipline.…

The Personal Orientation Inventory (POI) was used to assess self actualization in 266 gifted junior and senior high school students and a control group from urban and rural junior and senior high schools. Greater self actualization was noted for the gifted sample, whose POI scores most closely resembled those of college juniors and seniors. No…

This document reports on the model and method used to design, implement, coordinate, and evaluate a summer camp for young people with eating disorders. The basic approach used at the camp is described as the Sports Institute for Research model, a systems analysis model which focuses on: (1) the ultimate goal or mission; (2) obstacles or problems…

Children presently in school face a multitude of problems new and unique to their age group. To combat these problems educators must find new solutions and search out ways of reaching young people before it is too late for them to respond. By examining locus of control, and showing an effective treatment program for transitioning from externality…

The West Point/Mississippi State University Enrichment Project was an intensive 5-week summer intervention for 117 at-risk students. Parents of these students were invited to participate in the parent component, and at the end of the program they were surveyed to determine their perceptions of the program. Whether involving parents had a positive…

To investigate what children learn during computer programming instruction, students attending a summer computer camp were asked to recall either single lines or chunks of computer programs from either coherent or scrambled programs. The 16 subjects, ages 12 to 17, were divided into three instructional groups: (1) beginners, who were taught to…

This paper describes Camp Ramah, a residential summer camp in Central Ontario that offers a one month program for adolescents with developmental disabilities. Up to 15 special needs campers, ages 12-25, participate with up to 400 campers and 150 staff in a residential camping experience. Most campers have mild to moderate mental retardation, some…

The Self-Description Questionnaire-II (SDQ-II) was used to assess the self-concept of 148 very talented students during an intensive summer academic program. The domain of Physical Abilities was the only area in which students' mean scale scores were below the mean. In fact, a significant number of students (approximately one-third) scored two…

Now that basic skills have been linked to the economic prosperity of the country, businesses have become concerned about improving the basic skills of young people. A promising approach is the Summer Reporter Project conducted in Wisconsin as part of the summer programs of the Job Training Partnership Act. The program has three main elements: (1)…

This paper describes the Summer Training and Education Program (STEP) for at-risk students that combines remedial reading and math instruction, education on responsible sexual attitudes and behavior, and work experience. During two consecutive summers, STEP participants receive 90 hours of remedial instruction in reading and math (Practical…

The Girls' Resiliency Program is a youth empowerment program for girls in a rural, economically depressed area of West Virginia. Girls develop leadership skills by participating in board meetings, discussion groups, recreational events, song writing and poetry workshops, action research, and school and community service projects. Evaluation…

Three studies determined if the Summer Step reading program (a residential camping program implemented on the campus of Camp Baskervill Episcopal Outreach of Pawleys Island, South Carolina, using a personalized, contextualized reading approach) was effective, if children's self-esteem was enhanced by participation in the program, and if the…

The West Virginia Department of Education created and implemented a computer-assisted summer remediation program for Job Training Partnership Act-eligible students who were academically deficient. The curriculum had four components: mathematics computation, reading comprehension, personal guidance, and career exploration. Sites in 12 county school…

This study examined age and gender differences in global, academic, athletic, and social self concepts in a group of 311 middle and high school students (ages 12-18) attending science, mathematics, or computer science classes at a summer program for the academically talented. The self-concept scores were obtained from the Rosenberg Self-Esteem…