Discusses the inadequacy of educational programs for special groups--the handicapped/deficient and the exceptional. Offers suggestions for art activities for both groups, focusing on Reeve and Kauffman's four models (psychodynamic, humanistic, biophysical, ecological) to create activities for the handicapped/deficient and describing activities…

An ecological orientation emphasizing systemlike interdependencies among environment, organism, and behavior suggests several substantial additions to conventional role functions of behavioral school psychologists. Such functions involve taking an active part in evaluating and assessing second-order consequences of behavioral interventions.…

Once the function of an outdoor educational facility has been determined, a site inventory should examine the site's physical characteristics, soil types, vegetation, water resources, and wildlife. Provides suggestions on maximizing usage of the site while minimizing detrimental effects of site development and long-term environmental damage. (LP)

Identifies metaphor as a powerful tool when utilized to facilitate concept formation pertaining to global ecological systems and universal concerns. Provides an illustration of how an instructional metaphor, spaceship earth, can be used in the classroom to help students create new meanings for abstract and complex ideas. (MCO)

Population revisionists are cited as people who do not believe that global population growth is a problem. This paper presents a small sampling of responses to revisionist books and articles, primarily focused on perceived technical problems in the revisionist position as identified by demography, economics, and hard science specialists. Includes…

Evaluated in two studies the role of book rotation and number of books available in promoting book use among preschool children in day care classrooms. Found some support for book rotation in promoting voluntary book use, but teacher presence in the reading area was most strongly correlated with children's book use. (JPB)

The current study examines how certain ecological factors influence migrant Latino children's (N = 94) academic outcomes following their participation in an after-school program with intensive academic instruction. Hierarchical linear regression analyses indicated that children who made the greatest academic gains were acculturated in English,…

Conflict is a very real part of relationships that occur on global, national, and local scales, as well as in daily interpersonal relationships. This article details the relevance of peace studies for children in the primary grades, both in terms of current events and in classroom applications. Suggestions are presented for addressing this topic…

In response to the 2000 Virginia state writing prompt, eighth grade students wrote a letter of advice to a sixth grader coming to middle school for the first time. A purposeful sample of more than 10,000 writing responses was collected. Content analysis of a random sample of 350 responses revealed themes of advice for students negotiating the…

This presentation describes research on families with mentally retarded children, focusing on trends since 1983, the year that family research issues were reconceptualized in a paper titled "A Model of Stress, Coping, and Family Ecology" by Keith Crnic and others. The trend analysis concentrates on four issues: (1) the magnitude of the impact of…

This report presents findings from a multi-year project on handicapped and non-handicapped high school dropouts, including a longitudinal study of high school students in five Colorado school districts and a social ecological study to identify community characteristics which predispose a school district to high dropout rates. The longitudinal…

Provided in this document are detailed abstracts of studies in the areas of human development, and marriage and family relations. Studies were completed in the Department of Child Development of the Faculty of Home Science, M. S. University of Baroda, India. The first section, on human development, describes studies of physical, motor, and mental…

Common household hazardous substances include cleansers, drain cleaners, automotive products, paints, solvents, and pesticides. This handbook was designed to serve as a resource for people frequently contacted by the public for information on household hazardous substances and wastes. Included in the handbook are: (1) an introduction to Michigan's…

Over time, scientists, technologists, and resource managers in affluent countries have devised and institutionalized methodologies for exploiting and managing natural resources in their own environments with considerable success. In doing so, they have provided models, at least of development and affluence, that the less developed countries seek…

This research investigates the interrelationships of modality strength, modality preference, field dependence-independance, sex, ecological group, and their contribution to mathematics achievement among 256 fourth-grade Puerto Rican students from four ecological environments. Ecological factors were defined as characteristics that make city areas…