A practicum was conducted at a small, private elementary school to introduce strategies that would reduce kindergarten classroom disruptions and playground disturbances due to fighting, verbal confrontations, and disregard for authority and rules. A survey conducted at the school revealed that kindergarten teachers handled a daily average of 10…

The Montgomery County public school system presently provides assistance through the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) to troubled employees with problems which affect work performance. EAP's mandate is to provide crisis intervention, prereferral evaluation, information, referral, and follow-up services. From its inception to March, 1981, EAP…

Although dealing broadly with issues involving program evaluation, this paper is especially concerned with large-scale evaluations of federally funded education programs that are national in scope and, to some extent at least, compensatory in nature. The paper concentrates on a few basic problem areas that seem inherent in the concept of…

A meta-analysis (37 published studies) that summarized treatment outcomes associated with skills training with antisocial youth was performed. As is consistent with the hypothesis, results indicate that skills training interventions delivered in the context of homogeneous groups of deviant peers produced smaller benefits than did skills training…

The University of New Mexico established an innovative learner-centered, problem-based, community-oriented medical education program that runs parallel to the traditional program. The programs both fostered acceptance of the experiment and permitted comparison of results. The innovation resulted in higher achievement and reinforced interest in…

Examined for 2 years behavior development in 200 Dutch juveniles with serious behavioral difficulties admitted for residential treatment. Found juveniles finishing treatment as planned developed comparably to Dutch adolescents in general population; those leaving prematurely had further developmental difficulties. Noted treatment features…

Details the specific steps used in the National Coalition's study-team approach in identifying and solving learning problems. The article describes the study-team process used in the Spring Independent School District in Houston (Texas), provides examples of its activities, and evaluates its performance. Lessons learned from the experience are…

The Circle of Courage identifies four universal needs of all children: Belonging, Mastery, Independence, and Generosity. When these needs are met, children grow and thrive. But when these growth needs are frustrated, multiple problems follow. The Circle of Courage defines problems of youth in terms of strengths and developmental needs. These…

Research shows that established emotional and behavioral problems predict chronic and pervasive troubles across the life span. Attempts to ameliorate children's emotional and behavioral problems have resulted in limited success. The failure to systematically elicit and include caregiver and teacher perspectives in effective interventions is…

Ghana is witnessing an increasing number of 2nd generation street children (SGSC) living in the street of Accra, the capital city as a result of many factors including teenage pregnancy among street girls, ethnic conflicts and rural-urban migration. Street presents enormous risks to street children; they are excluded from safe-family environment,…

This article describes two consecutive enactments of technology-oriented teacher professional development designs, aimed at helping teachers find high-quality online learning resources and use them in designing effective problem-based learning (PBL) activities for their students. To align with current professional development prescriptions, in the…

Autism now occurs in 1 out of 150 births in the United States (Centers for Disease Control, 2008). Increasing numbers and complexity of the disorder make the need for identifying effective interventions critical. DSM-IVTR identifies core characteristics of autism as significant deficits in communication, social interaction, and symbolic play.…

This study evaluated an early childhood socio-emotional programme aimed at promoting preschooler's social skills and reducing behaviour problems. The Peace Education Foundation (PEF) socio-emotional development programme was provided in English and Spanish to preschool teachers, parents and children in Miami, Florida. The programme instructs…

Some students are less accurately measured by typical reading tests than other students. By asking teachers to identify students whose performance on state reading tests would likely underestimate their reading skills, this study sought to learn about characteristics of less accurately measured students while also evaluating how well teachers can…

Problem-based learning (PBL) offers students the opportunity to apply the appropriate knowledge to a well-defined problem, allowing students to apply academic problem-solving skills to their own real-life problems. This paper describes outcomes of a PBL program that was used as a tool for school improvement in three South Carolina schools--one…