An action research project developed and implemented a program for increasing global skills and awareness of ethnic diversity in the classroom so that students could better understand others. The targeted population at two midwestern sites consisted of middle school sixth graders and high school learning disabled students in social studies…

Among 1,607 American Indian and Anglo dropouts and currently enrolled middle- and high-school students, language difficulties and problems with teachers were predictive of academic troubles and dropping out. Success of Indian students was related to stronger Anglo cultural identity and better English proficiency (in mainstream schools) but was not…

Six papers address critical thinking within the physical education (PE) setting, discussing it from a variety of perspectives and providing practical suggestions for use in PE curricula. The articles identify four areas of critical thinking performance relevant to PE and examine critical thinking at the elementary, middle, and secondary school…

Adventure-based physical education programs that consider students' developmental stages can best foster skills that reflect positive personal and social responsibility. Elementary students need basic skill instruction, a variety of noncompetitive activities, and a supportive environment. Short debriefing can be added for middle school students.…

A primary objective for science education is to impart robust knowledge that has applicability to real-world problems. This article presents research investigating the relationship between adolescents' conceptual understanding of the biological basis of HIV and critical reasoning. Middle and high school students were interviewed about their…

This article describes how Cahokia middle and high school students conduct inquiry-based science through a pitfall trap experiment. In a collaborative effort, students designed and conducted pitfall trap investigations that combined their interest in the natural world with their love of technology. The students set up their own experiments to…

Bullying in rural school settings is clearly a problem and some of our students are suffering as a result. Bullying is defined in this study of 819 rural middle and high school students as when a student is exposed repeatedly to negative actions by one or more other students. Students responded to a questionnaire about how often and where bullying…

California counties receiving funds from Juvenile Justice Crime Prevention Act (JJCPA) programs are required to report six outcome measures to the California State Legislature on an annual basis to measure the success of the program. These outcome measures are (1) successful completion of probation, (2) arrests, (3) probation violations, (4)…

US majority (European-American) and minority (African-American, Latin-American, Asian-American) children were interviewed regarding race-based and non-race based reasons for exclusion in interracial peer contexts (N = 685), evenly divided by gender at 9, 12, and 15 years of age (4th, 7th, and 10th grades) attending 13 US public schools. All…

"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) Budget Impasse Continues in the House of Representatives: Moderates' Push for Additional Domestic Spending Postpones…

This study analyzed new forms of student social interaction and dialogue within asynchronous communications of six middle schools and six high schools participating in the World Forum. In the World Forum, students discussed, questioned, and debated with Arctic explorers, researchers, World Forum mentors, and peers about environmental issues. One…

The purpose of this study was to explore students' conceptions of 31 selected science, technology, and society issues. Differences in such conceptions across different grade-levels and among males and females also were examined. A total of 138 males and females enrolled in grades five through eleven in a unified school district, and in…

This study examined six Beacon centers, which are community centers located in public school buildings that offer a range of activities and services to participants of all ages, before and after school, in the evenings, and on weekends. Individual Beacons are managed by community-based organizations. The study examined how the Beacons provided…

The New York Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) is a grass-roots community organization representing 20,000 mostly low-income residents of New York City. This report presents information about students relegated to the low achievement track that ACORN suggested, in a previous report, was inevitable when parents of color…

A survey of 71 middle-school, high-school, and college students attending public and private institutions covered topics such as instructional method, teaching quality, and school safety. Students presented a "balanced" picture, but claimed that classroom experiences have not changed over their years of attendance. (MLH)