Adolescents at high risk for not making a successful transition into adulthood may become school dropouts, abuse drugs and other substances, exhibit poor problem-solving skills, and display a wide variety of nonproductive or destructive behaviors. An after-school program, Youth 2000 Visions, was designed to assist local adolescents in addressing…

Describes assessment-based approach for placing middle and high school students into three reading and comprehension grade-level categories: Grade level, no more than two grades below grade level, and two or more grades below grade level. Suggests course of action and goals to improve reading skills for students in the three categories. (PKP)

Advocates antismoking classes for students who violate school policies and some state and local laws against underage tobacco use. Describes the organization and content of these classes. (PKP)

Excerpt from a new book by the Educational Research Service titled "What We Know About Helping Middle and High School Readers: Teaching and Learning Strategies Across the Curriculum." Discusses appropriate professional development for teachers. (Contains 15 references.) (PKP)

One of the most important and difficult challenges facing social studies educators, particularly world history teachers, concerns the role of Islam--one of the world's fastest growing and most dynamic religions--in historical and contemporary domestic and international affairs. What teachers choose to teach about Islam and how they present it are…

Systems thinking involves seeing relationships between the parts to the whole within the school improvement effort. After providing the key principles and examples of systems thinking, the article emphasizes the importance of staff development, highlighting experiences at a Wellesley (Massachusetts) middle school and an Alaskan high school. (SM)

This handbook provides potential teaching staff of the Summerbridge program with information explaining the type of program it is, its mission, the types of students that attend, and what types of faculty the program attracts and desires. It also answers commonly asked questions that are of interest to potential teachers such as how many courses…

Describes background, goals, methods, and preliminary findings of the PACE-ACE study, which analyzed how California middle schools and high schools have changed in response to state and local pressures for reform. Discusses how those changes occurred. (PS)