Low-income Hispanic elementary students were surveyed to determine tobacco use patterns and sociobehavioral correlates. Tobacco experimentation rates increased by age, with boys more prone to starting than girls. Being offered cigarettes was the strongest environmental indicator of tobacco use, followed by having adult smokers at home, and having…

Discusses two methods for developing and assessing fluid abilities. In the first method, students are asked to solve increasingly unfamiliar problems in a domain; and in the second, students are required to organize knowledge in new ways or view it from different perspectives. (SLD)

Study tested the hypothesis that teacher candidates who were exposed to a theory-oriented normative model and given theory-oriented reinforcement within a practice-oriented context would manifest more positive attitudes toward learning theoretical knowledge than those who were not so exposed. Results proved the hypothesis was plausible. (SM)

Stresses the need for music educators to ask questions that promote higher-level thinking in their students. Provides a flowchart to help teachers organize their lessons and present graphically the ways to construct effective questions. Explains each of the six sections of the flowchart in detail. (CMK)

Describes an AIDS prevention project of the Islamic Medical Association of Uganda, discussing how it was influenced by information from a baseline survey and how it was implemented. A followup evaluation study that assessed the community-level impact indicated that the intense community education effort, which used religious leaders and lay…

This longitudinal study first administered the Uzgiris and Hunt scales (to predict learning of manual signs) to 34 children (mean age 5) with severe and profound mental retardation. Evaluation four years later indicated that achievement of stage five on the Uzgiris and Hunt scales was necessary for even minimal learning and use of manual signs.…

A study examined the role perceptions and beliefs about learning of 20 lecturers in 10 schools at a large Australian university. It identified a perceptual framework within which teachers' intentions are formulated, and which drive the strategies they adopt. Responses focused on their concepts of the nature of learning, perceptions of the…

Examined the joint and unique predictive significance of emergent literacy skills for later emergent literacy skills and reading in two samples of preschoolers. Structural equation modeling revealed significant developmental continuity of these skills, particularly for letter knowledge and phonological sensitivity from late preschool to early…

A study investigated why some of the low-income single caregivers of 104 children (ages 7-40 months) with disabilities were more involved in early intervention services than others. Difficulties in family functioning and lower levels of knowledge about child development were directly related to caregiver involvement. (Contains references.)…

Presents the results of a study that questioned 32 college music students concerning what students know compared to how their knowledge and skills are valued. Suggests that students may value highest those piano skills (sight reading and musicality) in which they feel least competent. Includes tabular and statistical data. (MJP)

Conducted observations in urban and suburban schools, arguing that critical theorists should more closely examine differential structural constraints on pedagogical choice. Urban teachers made pedagogic choices that reinforced social hierarchies (partly to help students manage urban environmental risks). Changing the role of power in urban public…

Tested the efficacy of a modified nutrition education program for elementary students. Sixteen nutrition lessons were taught alternately by special resource teachers (SRTs) and classroom teachers (as opposed to 24 lessons taught by SRTs). Surveys, observations, interviews, and plate waste data indicated that treatment students had greater…

Presents four questions to consider when supervising elementary mathematics teachers, who come with many preconceptions about teaching and learning mathematics: What mathematical concepts, procedures, or algorithms are you teaching? Are the concepts and procedures part of a unit? What types of questions do you pose? and What understanding of…

Describes a case study and a follow-up comparative study that focused on expert foreign language teachers' professional knowledge as it was reflected in their spoken and written discourse. Both studies provide evidence indicating that professional knowledge can develop via its verbalization in reflective-narrative discourse from personal…

As the male prison population increases, so too does the number of children with fathers in prison. The negative impact of fatherlessness on children has been well documented. While parenting education is often seen as an effective tool to improve the quality of family relationships and foster positive outcomes for children, fathers in prison…