Reports on field study of school rituals in two U.S. southern private schools. Finds one school's rules and procedures promoted scientific analysis, abstract thinking, and individualism, whereas other saw itself as nurturing community, seeking organic and interdependent relationship with world. Concludes both schools engender commitment and belief…

Four high school students and one 1993 graduate interviewed about school shootings identify contributing factors: parent neglect, ignorance of emotional problems among students, peer pressure exerted by cliques, stress caused by pressure to excel, and alienation resulting from large schools and overworked teachers. Prevention measures include…

This report describes economic, social, and political characteristics of the lower Rio Grande Valley with implications for the educational system, and presents preliminary findings on how south Texas schools are integrating new immigrant Mexican students. The lower Rio Grande Valley comprises four Texas counties and northern Tamaulipas, Mexico.…

This document presents some 20 papers on projects conducted by Foreign Teaching Assistant (FTA) participants in the areas of academic/pedagogical issues, cross-cultural issues, and testing issues. Papers are as follows: "The Testing and Evaluation of Foreign Teaching Assistants: Where Are We and Where Are We Going?" (Ralph Pat Barrett);…

These nine papers presented at the 1969 Spring Institutes for chairmen of high school English departments and supervisors are intended to promote critical analysis of the schools and educational reform. The papers are (1) "Dartmouth and After: Issues in English Language Teaching" by Albert H. Marckwardt; (2) "English: Liberal Education or…

High schools organized into schools-within-schools (SWS) have the capacity to create social capital, a sense of trust and connection among teachers and students that can be used in the service of teaching and learning. These differentiated social groupings, or subunits, can influence members' sense of identity during the transition to high school,…

Maintains that efforts to initiate classroom discussions of controversial topics often provoke uncomfortable silence. Describes a classroom exercise that encourages students to analyze from a sociological perspective classroom dynamics that make discussion difficult. (CFR)

Reports on a survey of 1,077 German students and 233 teachers about different forms of student violence. Finds that the perpetrators were nearly all male, while victims were both male and female. Observes that, in comparison with previous studies, the rate of school violence does not appear to be on the increase. (CFR)

Maintains that college students have been the object of repeated sociological research in countries formerly in the Soviet Union (USSR). Reports on a study of more than 3,000 Russian students and professors. Includes five tables indicating student attitudes toward religion, student behavior, and participation in outside-of-class cultural…

Reports the results of a questionnaire given to eighth-grade students in Moscow (Russia). Presents results on student opinions about the school environment, their teachers, their image of schools of the future, and the significance of peer groups in their lives. Includes quotes from students on each topic discussed. (CFR)

Reports on study in which 81 high school students were interviewed about group stratification and its impact on individual adolescents. Finds many students labeled as "nerds" in middle school were able to improve their self-concept and reconstruct themselves as "normal" in high school. Contends expanded range of school activities and more diverse…

This study examined how race and ethnicity inform college friendships of women of color and sought to determine how these two variables altered the learning characteristics of such relationships. The study, at a predominantly white college campus, found these relationships consistent with the sociological definition of intentional communities and…

This paper discusses the realities of multiculturalism in America's higher education and presents strategies for enhancing multiculturalism on college and university campuses. It examines what multiculturalism is and lists the various myths about it that have permeated the academic community. In response to these myths, solutions are examined that…

With the dwindling of the traditional college applicant pool, retention has become one of higher educational institutions' top priorities. This study addresses the effectiveness of Western Psychological Services'"Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire" (SACQ) for providing early evidence of poor adjustment and potential attrition…

This study examined attitudes and practices in two risk-taking areas of behavior while under the influence of alcohol--driving and sexuality--within important campus peer subcultures defined by class level and residency associations. Data were drawn from a research project to explore these and other related variables in a major northeastern…