Noting that teasing can have damaging and lasting effects on children, including low self-esteem, chronic stress, anxiety, dislike of school, and aggressive behavior, and that children need concrete ways to cope with teasers and the emotional turmoil teasing can cause, this book presents a program to teach children and parents how to deal…

This paper asserts that the concept of teachers' vision (teachers' images of their ideal classroom practices) may provide a particularly powerful way of understanding variations in teachers' experiences and dealing with prospective teachers' experiences of "reality shock" or disillusionment when entering the profession. It proposes that…

"The Old Man and the Sea" remains one of Ernest Hemingway's most beloved works. This casebook helps readers interpret and appreciate the thematic concerns of the novel, as well as the contextual issues it explores. Topic chapters provide information on Cuba, including its natural geography, sociopolitical history, and the ethnic…

Today, more than 70 years after its publication, the novel "The Great Gatsby" seems as fresh and pertinent to American life as it did in the 1920s. The social, cultural, and historical milieu of the 1920s reflected in its pages is not so very different from that of today. This interdisciplinary collection of commentary and collateral…

When the novel "The Grapes of Wrath" was published in 1939, it had an explosive effect on the public, calling attention to the problems of migrant farm workers during the Great Depression. This casebook provides primary materials on the period and the plight of the migrant worker that bring to life the problems John Steinbeck…

In "Black Boy," Richard Wright triumphs over an ugly, racist world by fashioning an inspiring, powerful, beautiful, and fictionalized autobiography. To help students understand and appreciate his story in the cultural, political, racial, social, and literary contexts of its time, this casebook provides primary historical documents,…

A study that joined the fields of young adult literature and vision impairment explored the questions: How are characters who have visual impairment presented by young adult books?; and How do readers respond to those characters? Only a few books were found (13) that feature characters with visual impairments, and the portrayal of characters…

This study examined the viewing preferences of high school students, with a focus on high school age males. The purpose of the study was to explore the media's perpetuation of stereotypes, and how these representations influence the students' self-identity and perceptions of gender roles. Participants were 77 high school students in a medium-sized…

Over the years, it has been shown that television has the tendency to use stereotypical gender imagery, and despite the continuing trend toward political correctness, the same types of gender bias are still very common today. Because of this tendency for bias, television programming continues to be an area of concern, especially in light of the…

The "new homeless" of the eighties and nineties are not only more numerous; they are younger, more likely to use drugs, and they exhibit symptoms of mental illness. Homeless mentally ill individuals typically have estranged family relationships and fewer supportive relationships compared with other homeless persons. They typically have…

Almost every school has had a major crisis; every school is likely to have one. Some students react with severe emotional responses--fear, grief, post traumatic stress syndrome. Moreover, such experiences and other events that threaten their sense of worth and well-being can produce the type of intense personal turmoil that leads students to think…

This paper reports on a research process that evolved as the researchers considered a study they conducted with kindergarten children, in which the process problematized the research construct of participant/observer. The paper is informed by poststructuralist theory as the participant/observers are observed. According to the paper, a…

The Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education (SPICE) represents a long-term effort by Stanford University to improve international and cross-cultural education in elementary and secondary schools. This volume of the elementary literature series focuses on the primary grades; utilizes primary source literature from Japan;…

This book discusses constructing variables and making measures. It begins by outlining the qualities a number must meet before it qualifies as a measure of something. The basis is the measurement philosophy of G. Rasch. The first requirement for making good measures is good raw material. To achieve the possibility of comparisons, the data must…

The literature curriculum needs to broaden its scope to make for a richer set of experiences for students. First, interdisciplinary learnings need adequate emphasis--this means that students should have ample opportunities to relate content from the social science, academic sciences, mathematics, the fine arts, and physical education. Second, the…