Since the groundwork for social development is laid during a child's early years, early childhood programs should include regular, periodic, formal and informal assessments of children's progress in the acquisition of social competence. One assessment tool that can be used is the Social Attributes Checklist, which lists attributes of a child's…

This research project investigated the effects of computer-assisted cooperative learning in mathematics instruction within integrated classrooms for 118 third-graders (25 with learning disabilities) and 92 fourth-graders (16 with learning disabilities). Students were grouped into cooperative learning, whole-class, or individual learning situations…

This self-scoring questionnaire on attitudes related to smoking includes norms based upon the responses of 7,000 teenagers and a discussion of the meaning of eight subscores. The subscores are: (1) effect of smoking on health; (2) non-smoker's rights; (3) positive effects of smoking; (4) manufactured reasons for smoking; (5) reasons for starting;…

This non-random survey of 614 high-school students, recent high-school graduates, and out-of-school youth, offers insights into young people's friendships, their peer group relationships and activities, their high-school hierarchies, their personal images and reputations, and the influences of peers and others on their decisions and behaviors. The…

The basis for socially mainstreaming handicapped children as well as changing attitudes toward the handicapped are discussed; and a list of teaching activities and resources for introducing students to the mentally retarded, the visually impaired, the physically handicapped, the hearing impaired, and the learning disabled is presented. A summary…

Suggestions to facilitate the reentry of the disabled student into the regular classroom are offered, and information on resource materials is presented. A chart lists mainstreaming materials for the normal child, children's books about handicaps, and teacher resource materials, along with the publishers' addresses, type of handicap, type of…

The effects of uninstructed and teacher instructed cooperative group learning on the interactive behaviors of 32 nonhandicapped and 16 handicapped (moderately mentally retarded) elementary students and also on the attitudes of nonhandicapped students toward handicapped persons were investigated. In the teacher instructed condition, the teacher…

This rating scale was developed to yield a measure of peer acceptance and socialization for students in grades 1-6. Each child is asked to consider his classmates in terms of three sets of questions, each set having 20 items. The child responds to the question by circling yes or no or sometimes on the answer sheet. Items are organized around three…

Adolescents' feelings of belongingness were investigated by this study, in which 349 high school students participated. Independent variables for family structure, quality of family life, gender, classification, and length of residency were investigated. The dependent variable was scores from the Psychological Sense of School Membership scale.…

The curriculum guide presents information on a six unit program designed to help nonhandicapped fourth graders understand handicaps and accept children with handicaps. Each session lists cognitive and affective objectives for the students, materials needed for the lesson, and the sequence of the activity or activities. The initial session uses…

Social validation procedures were used to evaluate the extent to which 72 professional staff, 47 nonhandicapped peers, and 47 parents perceived and valued changes in leisure time behavior that occurred with seven severely mentally retarded and multiply handicapped adolescents. (Author/SEW)

This report, the first in a series of four 1996 releases of students' opinions, represents a continued effort by MetLife to provide insight and understanding to the issues of violence and social tension in American public schools. The survey focuses on the social climate of the nation's public schools from the perspective of public school students…

The purpose of this study is to find out from transfer students exactly what they are afraid of or nervous about when they start over in a new school and examines the implications these anxieties may have for teachers. During the transition, transfer students often suffer social, academic, and emotional distress which can impede their adjustment…

This project sought to develop a model for integrating students with severe disabilities which would include a strong social interaction programming component. The first section of the teacher's manual describes processes the special education teacher and/or administrator can use for determining and implementing overall integration objectives. A…

This project evaluated a program for enhancing student motivation as evidenced by improved academic growth and increased work completion. The targeted population consisted of fifth graders in a small school in a medium-sized rural community in the Midwest. The problem of lack of achievement motivation and lack of student concern about academic…