Reports a study on minimum competency testing in American high schools. Discusses the effects on students who fail to pass it, and the perceptions of educators and administrators about the value and barrier aspects of these tests. Implications of the findings for research, policy making, and educational practice are explored. (JS)

Examined the temporal association between body image and depressive symptoms in African American, Asian American, Hispanic American, and white adolescents. Found that girls were more influenced by body image change than boys. Compared to other ethnic groups, African American girls experienced a greater increase in psychological distress as body…

This paper examines the images middle school students have of science and technology, the workplaces, and the relevant professions. It also describes the effect on these images caused by an instructional initiative, "Investigation into Science and Technology" (IST), designed to introduce students to science and technology in the "real life."…

In this article, the story of 11 male psychotherapeutic patients with low self-esteem is told within the context of the research process. The literature suggests that the concept of "self-esteem" has a significant influence on the way an individual experiences his/her world. Therefore, the meaning that the psychotherapeutic patients…

In-depth interviews were conducted with 23 deaf adults (ages 17 to 56) who had been educated in South Africa, to determine their impressions about the education system there. Ten of those interviewed had moved to the U.S. while the remaining 13 were still living in South Africa . The interviews were administered in sign language, with video…

Discusses a research project that is producing articulate responses from children about their responses to reading, presents a transcript of an interview with a 14-year-old boy regarding his responses to fiction, discusses various stages of response to reading, and outlines classroom implications of studies of reading responses. (GT)

Group interviews with 26 special education teachers, 25 general education teachers, 8 Chapter 1 teachers, and 15 teachers of the gifted revealed that the majority of teachers had strong negative feelings about inclusion. Teachers identified factors affecting the success of inclusion, including class size, resources, extent to which all students…

THESE QUOTED CONVERSATIONS WITH FOUR NEGRO AND PUERTO RICAN STUDENTS AT BENJAMIN FRANKLIN HIGH SCHOOL IN EAST HARLEM REVEAL THE NEGATIVE FEELINGS OF TWO OF THE TEENAGERS ABOUT THE VALUE OF AN EDUCATION AND THE MOBILITY ASPIRATIONS OF THE OTHER TWO. THE TALKS SHOW A FATALISTIC HOPELESSNESS ABOUT THE BARRIERS IMPOSED BY RACIAL DISCRIMINATION AND A…

Parents know adolescents can be cruel. They do not want their child rejected by peers. What is it like to be denigrated by one's middle school classmates? How common is a predatory anti-teacher peer culture in junior high school? Does it typically last into high school? How do peer norms of different crowds in a school get established? Who sets…

The costs and benefits associated with participation in conflicts around child sexual abuse are explored. Using qualitative data from interviews with 40 high-profile participants, findings suggest that professionals experience both positive and negative consequences as a result of their involvement. Costs identified include attacks and…

This article looks at how children between the ages of 4 and 8 years report they feel when they are exposed to passive smoking and how they react in these situations. Data were collected annually from a cohort of 250 primary school children, which was tracked from their Reception Classes to Year 3 across six Liverpool schools. Quantitative and…

Researchers studying attitudes toward computer careers interviewed 68 students in a university computer science course, 33 secondary school girls, and 19 women working professionally in computer-based careers. Both groups of students tended to stereotype computer-related careers as menial, isolating, and overly technical; this view differed…

With this study, the authors investigated, in an open-ended manner, what elementary teachers and their students said about social studies. They endeavored to see if prior findings still persist and studied the potential relationships between students' and teachers' perceptions. They conducted their research in three different school districts in…

To facilitate the recovery of people with mental illness (consumers of mental health services), social workers must be strengths-focused and believe in the potential for consumer growth and improvement. Unfortunately, social workers often share the negative, stigmatizing view of mental illness held by much of the general population. In this…

Due to increased dissatisfaction with Media Services, the evaluation department of Eugene School District 4J was asked to look into the centralized ordering and processing of library materials and textbooks. Areas of complaint included time lags in receiving books, loss of control of ordering and processing at the school level, and processing…