Suggests that disruptive behavior in the classroom should be studied by educational and behavioral science researchers as an entity in its own right and suggests how researchers can use a sequence analysis approach to test the viability of treating disruption in the classroom as a series of social episodes or incidents.

This study examined how reinforcer rate, quality, delay, and response effort combined to influence the choices of six adolescents with emotional disturbance and learning difficulties and the feasibility of an assessment methodology based on matching theory for determining differential responsiveness to reinforcer and response dimensions. Results…

Reports on the verbal output of 20 pairs of high-school boys who communicated through four modes: voice, handwriting, typewriting, and face-to-face with an option to use other modes. (KS)

Two adolescent boys with a history of rapidly increasing obesity participated in a behavioral weight reduction program. The multi-dimensional treatment package consisted of those behavioral techniques most often shown to be effective in treating obese adults (programed behavior management and stimulus control instructions, self monitoring of daily…

Absence from school can be viewed from many perspectives. Social scientists' explanations depend upon their discipline and training, and this research explores the variety of explanations for high school absenteeism which social scientists might offer. It also describes some changes in educators' approaches to the problem. (Author/RK)

Examines the risk and protective factors for different types of violent behavior in high school adolescents. Major risk factors include gender and deviant behaviors, committing nonviolent felonies, academic failure, and lack of parental affection and support. As risk factors increase, the likelihood of violent behavior increases. Impaired parental…

The Drug Education Program is funded by Education Personnel Development funds from the Office of Education. Its goals are: (1) reinforcing non-use of drugs; (2) discouraging experimentation; and (3) preventing or intervening in destructive uses of all substances. Its philosophy emphasizes both use and non-use of substances as behavior, and looks…

Details findings of research into 17-year-old students' consideration of science-based social issues. Reports that, although sex-based differences appeared in both student questionnaire and discussion responses, differences were far fewer in the discussions. Argues that social factors blur sex differences, making discussion a valuable learning…

In the form of a diary, an educational consultant describes the highlights of three months of organizational development at an Australian high school. The intervention involved staff, administrators, teachers, students, and parents in the goal of improving the quality of life and learning at the school. Change strategies are described and the…

Surveyed 1,148 Chinese junior, prevocational, secondary school students to investigate self-concepts and delinquent behaviors when compared to grammar secondary school counterparts. Examined data from an earlier study of junior grammar school students. Finds earlier group had higher self-esteem whereas the prevocational students were more likely…

Research and theories by psychologists Jean Piaget, Lawrence Kohlberg, and Robert Selman on problem solving, decision making, moral development, and critical-thinking skills are reviewed. These theories and research are combined with the author's theories to develop an original decision-making model, namely, the socio-scientific model. The model…

Teacher isolation is a significant problem in the science teaching profession. Traditional inservice solutions are often plagued by logistical difficulties or occur too infrequently to build ongoing teacher networks. Educational Technology Center (ETC) researchers reasoned that computer-based conferencing might promote collegial exchange among…

This paper discusses a study that examines the relationship between participation in religious youth groups, smoking behavior and subsequent use of cocaine, marijuana, and alcohol. The document briefly surveys earlier research on smoking and drug abuse. The study surveyed students, schools, parents, teachers, and student academic achievement data.…

Patterns of problem-solving activity in one middle-class urban high school are examined and a problem solving model rooted in a conceptual framework of contingency theory is presented. Contingency theory stresses that as political, economic, and social conditions in an organization's environment become problematic, the internal structures of the…