Technology has been viewed as a means to improve the quality of education for children globally, particularly in remote and marginal communities. This study examines the comparative advantages of the use of appropriate technology (off-line servers with digital libraries connected to a classroom set of laptops) in ten intervention schools in…

This grounded theory study examined the perceived effects of a cohort of seven secondary-level teachers earning a reading endorsement in a single-district sponsored professional development program. The researcher collected data through semi-structured personal interviews with the teachers, their principal, and the director of special services for…

Evaluated segment of drug education/prevention program, Here's Looking at You 2000 which was offered to 463 seventh and eighth graders by regular classroom teachers in 6 schools. Comparisons of experimental school to two control schools suggest that program failed to produce any notable impact, either positive or negative. (Author/NB)

Conducted six-month follow-up study to evaluate effectiveness of Project Taking Charge, abstinence-based program to delay sexual intercourse and prevent teenage pregnancy. Findings from adolescents at two sites revealed that many knowledge gains found at posttest were retained at follow-up. Program participants were less likely than comparison…

As violence becomes one of society's greatest concerns, schools are faced with decisions on implementing violence prevention strategies. One such program was implemented into the health education curriculum for middle-level students in the seventh grade (n=130) in rural Mississippi. An adaptation of the Prothrow-Stith "Violence Prevention:…

Two self-report techniques assessed student behaviors before and after life-skills substance abuse prevention program for inner city seventh graders. Retrospective pretest/posttest technique demonstrated no significant changes in drug usage; traditional pretest/posttest indicated significant increases in tobacco use. Results support continued use…

Assesses the effectiveness of a reading project for seventh graders that taught caring for others. Results, based on 57 students, show that the experimental group became more committed to caring in two out of three cases. Findings indicate moderate support for the use of a literature-based approach to teaching values. (RJM)

Compared personal, cognitive, and social functioning of seventh grade disadvantaged colored students (N=144) in South Africa who participated in teacher (N=29) led guidance program, a guidance-expert led guidance program, and no program. Found teacher-oriented guidance instruction, especially at elementary school level can be beneficial to child…

Implemented program to decrease incidence of new smokers among black adolescents. Program combined school-based curriculum with comprehensive media intervention. There were two experimental conditions: one group participated in school-based intervention and was prompted to participate in multimedia intervention; other group had access to…

Seventh grade students in two rural North Carolina school systems were subjects for a program designed to reduce health risks associated with alcohol and tobacco use. The results were that although knowledge increased, attitudes toward alcohol did not change, and attitudes toward smoking eroded. (Author/DF)

A sexual assault and dating violence prevention program presented in an urban middle school was evaluated to assess its influence on knowledge and attitudes of an intervention group of 46 and a comparison group of 20 African American 7th graders. Results support the need for early prevention programming among youths in inner city schools. (BF)

This document reports the results of a study undertaken to determine if teaching a 2-week unit on library usage to 7th graders would increase their use of the library. From three non-ability grouped 7th grade classes, two classes of 26 students each were randomly selected for the study. One class was randomly assigned as the experimental group and…

The effectiveness of a set of curricular activities and differing group experience in facilitating interdependent task structuring by seventh graders were examined. No significant differences were found among the experimental groups, but they structured the task and behaved more cooperatively than the control group. (Author/MH)

Examined effectiveness of refusal skills program implemented with seventh graders (N=235) of "Just Say No" variety. Program was not able to influence the "high-risk" attitudinal syndromes that are closely related to student drug involvement, and significantly larger proportion of students found it more difficult to say…

There are potentially successful students who are failing one or more subjects every year. Many students are spending more than the normal 3 years at the middle school level because of this failure. A program was designed to increase the self-esteem, motivation, and interest of at-risk students, thereby improving their grades. A second aim was to…