Student suicide is a serious issue facing intermediate/secondary schools. Teachers have the potential to play important roles in addressing such risk. This study utilized semi-structured interviews with six intermediate/secondary teachers in Newfoundland concerning their experiences of working with a student who had returned to the classroom after…

Reading attitude instruments were administered to 124 sixth-, seventh- , and eighth-grade students (gifted, average, or below average). Students were then classified with positive or negative reading attitudes and their responses analyzed. Classroom activities were suggested selecting reading materials, designing prereading activities, providing…

A teacher tells how he turned a class of difficult students into a class of eager learners by risking an offbeat teaching method. An inset briefly features seven other success stories. (MT)

Creative performance questionnaires were given to 228 gifted and nongifted children (grades 5-8). Results indicated quality and quantity of creative performance were largely unrelated and differences between gifted and nongifted children were slight. For both groups, quantity performance scores were significantly correlated, while quality…

Briefly lists the opinions of 15 experts in middle school education about what makes a good middle school. (JM)

Presents a teacher's method of staying in touch with his students' cognitive development. Offers his outline of four cognitive levels, with definitions, and types of student responses (from sixth- and eighth-grade students). (SR)

Provides some time-saving and purposeful evaluation strategies that can be used with various writing projects and reports. Explains 10 hints directed toward what to do while the student is still writing and 5 hints for grading writing. (11 references) (MLF)

Analysis of questionnaire responses of 112 males between the ages of 10 and 14 revealed intention to use smokeless tobacco correlated significantly with attitude toward the behavior and perceived social pressure. Significant differences between those who intended to use smokeless tobacco and those who did not were found on several outcome and…

An out-of-school learning program for youth in grades 4 through 8 is being implemented by the Florida Department of Education. The Neighbors Involved in Kids Education (NIKE) Clubs program includes physical education as an essential part of the program. This program is described. (MT)

Motivation and nine other factors were measured for 970 students in grades five through eight in a study of factors predicting achievement and predicting motivation. Results are discussed. (Author/MT)

Presents various programing activities using the BASIC and LOGO programing languages. Activities are included in separate sections with a title indicating the nature of the activities and the "tools" (commands) needed. For example, "Old-fashioned drawing" requires several tools (PRINT, LIST, RUN, GOTO) to make drawings using…

Youth effectiveness training administered to a group of delinquent children in a Wisconsin Middle School caused no significant change in self-concept over the 10 weeks of the program. Measure used was a pretest, posttest model of the Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale. (CM)

Examined variables associated with eating-disordered adults to determine whether they correlate with scores on Adapted Eating Attitudes Test (AEAT). Results from fourth, sixth, and eighth grade girls (N=144) revealed no significant difference in AEAT scores across grades. Only two of seven independent variables, Test of Cognitive Skills scores and…

"Teaching Ten to Fourteen Year Olds," by Chris Stevenson, describes the author's odyssey as a teacher. Although scholarly and well researched, the book is filled with stories and anecdotes. Many of the teaching strategies are explained in detail. (MLF)

Students (n=3,502) in grades six through eight completed questionnaires on sociodemographic characteristics, drug and alcohol use, and attitudes and knowledge about alcohol and drug use. The only beliefs found to be associated with drug and alcohol use pertained to the immediate dangers of use and their health hazards. (NB)