Project Oz is a not-for-profit special services agency providing drug education and crisis intervention services. Project Oz curricula provide compact and well-researched information for teachers, supplemented by student learning activities that reinforce the lecture portions of the topic. These activities are grade-appropriate and incorporate…

The historical Gilgamesh was a Sumarian king of Uruk around 2700 B.C. Sumarian fragments of the legend that grew up around him have been found dating back to about 2000 B.C. These lesson plans on Gilgamesh were developed during the Office of Resources for International and Area Studies (ORIAS) summer institute on history through literature, in…

According to a theoretical model, student learning can be raised through separate channels by school autonomy and parental participation. Increased school autonomy increases the rent that can be distributed among stakeholders at the school, while institutions for parental participation empower parents to command a higher share of this surplus, for…

Results indicated that, for elementary students, art criticism was more effective than a combination of methodologies for developing positive affect toward art works. For junior high students, the combination methodology was more effective than art criticism, the exposure method, or the counterattitudinal advocacy method. (Author/SR)

Examined are the global issues of population growth, world hunger, air quality and atmosphere, and water resources in 10 middle school science textbooks. Less than two percent of text pages were devoted to these issues and no significant differences were found between textbook series. (Author/YP)

Examines the use of a visual approach as an organizing framework for planning and writing various discourse styles. Finds that low literacy achievement students showed increased competence in different writing styles when they planned, photographed, and "story-boarded" photo essays, compared to traditional writing assignments. (RS)

Conducted a study (n=26) to test descriptions about learning associated with open-ended design projects and to clarify the notion of ownership of resources and practices. Reports that conceptual and material resources were shared among students and that tool-related practices were appropriated as newcomers participated with more competent others…

Longitudinal study showed that during 6th and 7th grades boys reported significantly higher levels of self-competence than girls. Boys were less depressed and anxious than girls in 7th grade, but not in 6th grade. Results support the hypothesis that self-competence is partially responsible for the emergence of gender differences in depression and…

Describes an activity on charting 6th and 7th grade students' ideas about a potential science project. Summarizes a five week project on creating a new ride or redesigning existing rides in an amusement park, including research and sketches, final drawings, models of rides, and class presentations. (YDS)

Describes a study that measured the ability of New Zealand students, grades five though eight, to locate information using library structures and systems through the standardization of six information skills tests. The paper and pencil tests were based on an information problem-solving perspective. (Author/LRW)

Considers how if educators view students' first language as a problem that needs to be eradicated, perhaps they make learning English more difficult. Describes an approach focusing on cognates used with 20 middle school students in their first year of a transitional program in south Florida. (SG)

Examines the relationship between family cohesion, family adaptability, student satisfaction with family, and self-esteem in 619 middle school students. Analysis indicates that within the specified model, family satisfaction was the strongest predictor of student self-esteem, and that eighth- grade students reported a significantly lower level of…

Measures family communication environments of children in grades one, four, six, and seven, using dialogs of family communication with children identifying their family type. Reveals an interaction among family type, sex, and grade level for both social withdrawal and social self-restraint, suggesting that family communication environments may be…

Examines differences in certain factors such as student achievement and student attendance in K-8 versus K-5 and 6-8 grade configurations in Baltimore City Public Schools. Finds, for example, that students in K-8 schools had significantly higher reading, language arts, and mathematics scores than did students in K-5 or 6-8 schools. (Contains 20…

Many children read mathematics word problems and directly translate them to arithmetic operations. More sophisticated problem solvers transform word problems into object-based or mental models. Subsequent solutions are often qualitatively different because these models differentially support cognitive processing. Based on a conception of problem…