Investigated relationship between perceived physical attractiveness and frequency of substance use among 1,297 adolescents. Female adolescents who rated themselves as unattractive were more likely to use illicit psychoactive substances than those who rated themselves as average or attractive. Perceived attractiveness did not contribute to…

Analysis of 19 language features in impromptu essays written by 96 students (half males, half females) from grades 4, 8, and 12 enabled researchers to identify the gender of the writer 84-87 percent of the time. Further analyses established a relationship between this "gender-linked language effect" and subjective attributional ratings by…

Surveyed grade 10, 11, and 12 students (n=285) regarding types of demands they faced, how well they thought they coped with demands, and level of stress experienced in those situations. Results suggest adolescents with greater coping resources demonstrated lower levels of stress and less frequent stress symptoms. (Author/ABL)

Relates various types of educational spending to mean mathematics achievement and its social distribution among students using a nationally representative database of 7,217 12th graders. Spending on instruction and capital expenditures was related to differences in achievement between socioeconomic status groups, with lower spending associated…

Since 1990, there have been at least six published court decisions concerning teachers' use of controversial videos in public schools. A relevant district policy led the Colorado Supreme Court to uphold a teacher's termination for showing 12th graders an R-rated 1900 Bertolucci film on fascism. Implications are discussed. (MLH)

Describes a project that was used with advanced 11th and 12th grade art students in which they created silk-screen self-portraits in the style of Andy Warhol. Discusses the process of creating the portraits and the activities that concluded the project. Lists the needed materials. (CMK)

An analysis was carried out to examine the relative effect of being in a single-parent, mother-only or father-only family for African-American girls in 8th grade in 1988 on 12th grade educational achievements in 1992 and two years after high school in 1994. The result showed that for these African-American girls parental configuration was not as…

Describes an art project in which juniors and seniors in graphic design created their own label designs for a one liter plastic bottle of soft drinks. Discusses in detail how the students created their labels. States that the seniors also created a box. (CMK)

This paper provides a pragmatic view of efficient use of graphics calculators. Efficiency is described in terms of quick and easy calculation, as debated and evidenced in a Year 12 calculus class. Students' methods of calculation are analysed in terms of the algebraic understanding and technical skills that underpinned them. Patterns in students'…

This study examines question asking about "causal" relations when students read scientific texts. We examine the influence of the length of causal chains and the knowledge of readers. Students from grades 8 and 12 read two short paragraphs that described natural phenomena. Length of the causal chain linking cause and effect in two key sentences…

The belief that schools can play a powerful role in preventing tobacco use among adolescents has led to the implementation of various tobacco-related polices and practices. This study examines the association between school policies regarding monitoring student behavior, severity of action taken for infraction of policies, and tobacco use by…

This report is based on the discussions of the February 2008 "Teaching by Choice: Beyond 2 + 2" conference, convened by the American Association of Community Colleges to focus on the growing role of community colleges as providers of teacher education and source of professional development for elementary, middle and secondary teachers of science,…

An expanding body of research suggests an important role for parent or family competency training in children's social-emotional learning and related school success. This article summarizes a test of a longitudinal model examining partnership-based family competency training effects on academic success in a general population. Specifically, it…

Monitoring the Future (MTF), which is now in its 36th year, is a research program conducted at the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research under a series of investigator-initiated research grants from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The study is comprised of several ongoing series of annual surveys of nationally representative…

In this Issue Brief, differences in the average number of course credits earned between high school graduates and dropouts, both within and accumulated across academic years, are examined in order to describe enrollment and completion behavior of high school graduates and dropouts. Differences in course credit accrual by selected subjects…