Contradicting Johnsons' observations, 15 gifted sixth and eighth graders complained cooperative learning in heterogeneous groups tends to promote some arrogance, lack of trust in classmates, tendency to take over the group, and ignorance about working with other students. Gifted students must be allowed to work together with each other; teachers…

Presents study results of fifth graders' attitudes toward history. Includes interviews with the student subjects concerning what they know about history, what they want to know, and reasons to study history. Concludes that fifth graders are interested in history and familiar with the past but vague on the interpretive nature of history. (DK)

Finds that reverse mainstreaming, creative drama, and social skills training (used during an academic year with a class of fourth-grade students and emotionally disturbed (ED) students improved the fourth graders' attitudes toward emotionally disturbed children and improved the self-concepts of the ED students. (SR)

Development of positive self-concept is critical at the middle level, a time when students are gaining basic skills and knowledge, establishing patterns of interacting with people and ideas, and setting personal life goals. A survey of students at a North Dakota middle school found that girls' self-concept was much lower than boys'.…

Discusses the author's approach to writing nonfiction for adolescents and her experiences with reactions of young readers. Explains the value of real stories being told and read by adolescents. Supports the incorporation of nonfiction into the classroom. (SC)

Describes how two fifth-grade boys developed and sustained a love of fantasy books. Describes how these two discriminating readers have developed taste and a social context for their reading experience. Shows how their experience demonstrates important principles about reading and about reading curriculum. (SR)

Examines what effects teaching explicitly about racism for one term to a multiethnic, elementary school class has on the students' attitudes, beliefs, and actions regarding racism. Responses from 23 six graders reveal a need for primary schools to provide more effective and explicit education against racism. (GR)

Finds that, in making "good reader" judgments, upper-elementary children mentioned 15 separate criterial categories, clustered into four major category groupings, most frequently referencing the "public performance/fluency" category (word recognition, word analysis, and reading rate), but also mentioning "teacher practices,""affect," and…

This study compared perceptions of male and female gifted students (grades four through eight) and their teachers on quality of work, effort, and ability. Teachers consistently rated females higher on effort and quality of work. The correlation between ratings of students' ability and quality of work and between effort and quality of work were…

Explores the role of literacy and curriculum in identity construction among fifth graders. Suggests: (1) there was a coherence of perspectives about six of the students while there was less agreement for the other six students; (2) literacy was a more important feature of some students' identities than others; and (3) the literacy curriculum…

This study examined gender differences in attitudes toward academic subjects in 2,089 gifted students in grades 3 through 6. Observed gender differences were consistent with those found in research with older students. Grade level differences suggest that attitudes toward several academic areas become more negative with age. Attitudes were not…

Evaluated the effects on gifted children of participation in homogeneous classes or mixed ability classes with a part-time gifted extension program. Results from 1,020 Israeli gifted intermediate-grade students show more positive personal-social adjustment for those in the mixed ability classes and a more positive view of the school environment…

A study investigated the extent to which children consider writing strategies in relation to types of writing. Data were evolved by interviewing 48 fifth-grade children on their processes of evaluating other children's papers. Each child was asked to read paired texts, judge their comparative quality, and explain the basis of their judgments. They…

This practicum report describes a reading program that was designed and implemented to help improve reading attitudes among fifth grade children. A target group of 17 fifth-graders were unmotivated and uninterested in reading, and TV occupied a great deal of their out-of-class time. Solution strategies involved encouraging parents, teachers, and…

The Substance Education Program of the Iowa Department of Education began a series of tri-annual studies of youth substance behaviors, attitudes, and knowledge in 1975, with later data collections in 1978, 1981, 1984, 1987, and 1990. This report presents the normative data from the 1990 survey which was administered to approximately 7,000 students…