This report describes a program to improve the attitudes of fourth-grade students toward social studies. Surveys of fourth-graders, their parents, teachers, and community members were conducted to find out their attitudes toward social studies. Students and parents reported a lack of interest in social studies. Faculty reported they were…

The typical approach to studying children's ideas about marriage and divorce is to ask children what they think about their parents' divorce and from their answers to calculate "divorce adjustment." This study used a different approach and asked about children's perceptions of marriage, divorce, and stepfamilies. It also studied if there are…

This practicum was designed to decrease the number of aggressive responses to conflict by fifth grade students. The goal was to increase student awareness of peaceful resolutions while decreasing the number of teacher interventions in student conflicts. To educate students on conflict resolution, the Community Board Curriculum for conflict…

The Nevada Department of Education administered a survey to a sample of students (N=16,937) in grades 6, 8, 10 and 12, to collect baseline data on the pervasiveness of drug and alcohol use. The survey looked at use and user characteristics. Indicators of use included abuse, familiarity with others who use, and ease of access. User characteristics…

Junior high schools have been blamed for failing to meet the needs of early adolescents. Proponents of the new middle school structure favored moving grade nine to the high school and moving grade five and or six from the elementary school to the new structural organization. The uniqueness of the middle school is in how the philosophy behind this…

Students' descriptions of characteristics of high and low achievers and their treatment by peers and teachers were examined through semi-structured interviews with 133 fourth-graders. Coded interviews were anlayzed for differences in descriptions of the characteristics and peer and teacher treatment of high and low achievers; and whether these…

In a newly desegregated school, sixth graders with varying degrees of previous interracial contact were asked to rate their classmates as preferred work or play partners. Results indicated that: (1) there were no differences in cross-race ratings made by students with a great deal of prior interracial contact and those with little prior…

Two experiments were conducted to investigate the use in mainstreamed classes of team assisted individualization (TAI), in which students work on individualized units in heterogeneous, cooperative learning groups. Team reward systems are incorporated into the small group instruction format. The effects of the TAI approach on the achievement,…

Results show that consistency of student performance was related to both the stability dimension of attributional behavior and attributions for immediate outcome varied along the locus of control dimension. Findings suggest the dominance of an informationally oriented influence on attributional behavior. (BJG)

Administered Suicide Opinion Questionnaire to 116 junior high school students. Content analysis yielded nine clusters of items. Results reflect complexity of attitudes toward suicide, a heterogeneity of responses, as well as substantial commonality. Approximately 20 percent of respondents reported seriously thinking about suicide; somewhat higher…

When interpersonal problem-solving (IPS) ability, assertiveness, and self-esteem were assessed for 241 fourth- through sixth-graders and related to competence with peers, teachers, and academic subjects, assertiveness was a distinct factor with overlap between IPS and self-esteem. Positive correlations were found between each factor and grade…

Investigation into fourth- through sixth-grade students' (N=257) motivational differences regarding computer-assisted mathematics instruction revealed that intrinsically-motivated students performed better at the computer, but not on a paper-and-pencil achievement test, than extrinsically-motivated students. Students who had self-criteria for…

Responses to drug and alcohol related questionnaire administered to intermediate grade students showed that sixth graders were significantly more advanced than fourth or fifth graders in terms of conformity to peer pressure and positive attitudes toward drug and alcohol use. Results have implications for drug and alcohol education curriculum…

A case study of a dyslexic elementary student revealed that anxiety about reading difficulties complicated instruction and impeded progress. A supportive classroom environment (which did not request oral right reading), choral repeated reading, a video oral reading production, and a desensitization/visualization exercise reduced the child's…