Analyzes risk factors for drug use among 6,760 sixth- and seventh-grade Cuban, other Hispanic, African-American, and white non-Hispanic males in Miami (Florida). The cumulative prevalence of risk factors is monotonically related to drug use, but ethnic and racial differences in risk factor profiles suggest cultural differences in predictive value.…

Classroom tests developed by 41 seventh- and eighth-grade science and mathematics teachers were analyzed by content and measurement experts. The quality of a teacher's test was best predicted by performance on a multiple-choice test of measurement competence. Implications for teacher training in measurement are discussed. (SLD)

Presents a series of lesson plans for a seventh-grade world studies class. The lessons use the discovery of a 5,300-year-old "iceman" in the Austrian Alps as a starting point for a series of simulated archaeological activities. Includes descriptions and drawings of the iceman's remains and artifacts. (MJP)

Results of an investigation of the construct validity of measurements of social and academic competencies of 175 3rd graders, 193 7th graders, and 159 11th graders made by the students themselves, teachers, parents, and peers suggest that researchers should consider making greater use of parent ratings for elementary school students. (SLD)

Describes the Better Together project and website, which connected preservice teachers with seventh-grade reluctant readers through pen-pal correspondences and email, a variety of small and large group technology-based activities, tutoring, and classroom visits and teaching. Offers descriptions from two of the preservice teachers. Discusses…

Sixteen seventh and eighth graders previously identified as having behavioral problems earned significantly higher post-test scores on a test of REBT concepts immediately after participation in a Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy (REBT) training program, and this knowledge was retained after an 8-week follow-up period (p less than 0.01).…

Efforts to address the problems of access and achievement for minorities and women in mathematics and science have been focused primarily at the secondary level. However, it has become increasingly apparent that intervention needs to begin earlier. This directory identifies and briefly characterizes intervention programs serving young minority…

A practicum program was developed and implemented to increase parental involvement, teach parents how to help their children, reverse parents' and students' negative attitudes toward mathematics, and enhance mathematics performance of at-risk seventh-grade students. The objectives of the program were to increase parental involvement by 40 percent,…

McMillan Magnet Center is located in urban Omaha, Nebraska, and specializes in math, computers, and communications. Once a junior high school, it was converted to a magnet center for seventh and eighth graders in the 1983-84 school year as part of Omaha's voluntary desegregation plan. Now the ethnic makeup of the student population is about 50%…

Arkansas law requires that each student aged 7 through 16 years in a home school program be tested annually using a nationally recognized standardized test chosen by the students' parents from a list of tests approved by the state. Achievement for home schooled and public schooled students in Arkansas was compared for grades 4, 7, and 10 using 6…

An at-risk profile instrument was developed for identification and service delivery for high risk students to identify students in a timely manner so that intervention could occur on a proactive, rather than reactive, basis; and to assist school district personnel to implement, monitor, and modify programmatic and staffing patterns to best meet…

In spring 1998, 1,020 seventh-grade students were surveyed as one component of a statewide evaluation of Arizona's school-to-work system designed by the Morrison Institute for Public Policy. This second survey measured attitudes toward and participation in career activities. Results were compared to baseline data collected from over 2,000…

A program was implemented for increasing writing and problem solving skills to increase educational achievement. The targeted populations consisted of sixth and seventh grade students from two growing middle class suburban communities located in the Midwest. The problems of inadequate writing and problem solving skills were documented through data…

The problems that middle school special education students experience in the academic area of social studies were addressed in this practicum. The students could not grasp the ideas, received poor grades, and exhibited a very poor attitude about the relevance of social studies as an academic concern. The special education social studies classes…

Colorado conducts an assessment program to provide a statewide profile of student achievement. Results for fall 1988 and fall 1991 are presented in a series of tables. A standardized, nationally norm-referenced achievement test, the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills, was administered in 1988 to students in grades 4, 7, and 10, and again to the same…