The factors influencing recruitment and retention of volunteers in community organizations were identified through a literature review. The following were among the key findings: (1) helping others is the main reason people volunteer; (2) personal invitation is the most effective means of recruiting volunteers; (3) individuals who are satisfied…

Maintains that a weakening of spiritual myths as the transmitter of communal values places a greater responsibility on the home and school to create these values. Asserts that these values can be defined through patterns of social action and interaction, and reinforced through the general curriculum. (MJP)

Examines the results of 258 undergraduates rating of each others' self-acceptance and acceptance of others. The students had previously participated in 32 small, interpersonal learning groups. They rated each other on subscale items including dominant/submissive, expressive/guarded, and active/passive. Discusses the general trends and differences…

In Kenya alone, where the infection rate is estimated to have reached 13 percent of the population, 27,000 teachers will die and more than 2 million children will lose one or both parents to AIDS in the next five years. The Kenyan project uses "study circles," in which teachers learn together about HIV, script new sexual behaviors for…

Environmental education research designs will either exclude or include voices outside the dominant culture. Examining the questions we ask and the data collection techniques we use may enable us to design research that is more sensitive to marginalized voices. This article puts forward several methodological considerations that either draw out…

This article describes research with schoolteachers using participatory methods and reflective practice. These approaches have been used to enable teachers to establish their practice needs in relation to education for sustainability (EfS) and also maintain the integrity of their subject disciplines. The participatory methods are derived from…

This article reports on the social participation of hard-of-hearing adolescents attending integrated school settings with itinerant teacher support, and the relationship between the students' perceptions of their social participation and their social self-concept and career decision-making. As part of a mixed methods study investigating the career…

Gossip has mainly been investigated as an oral discourse practice, one that serves as a mechanism to reaffirm relationships and to construct, monitor and maintain social norms and values within communities. This study investigates how a group of Aboriginal English speaking teenage girls constructed norms, values and identities in their email…

Web-based technology increases the hours we spend sitting in front of the screens of our computers. But can it also be used in a way to improve our social skills? The blended learning paradigm of Person-Centered e-Learning (PCeL) precisely aims to achieve intellectual as well as social and personal development by combining the benefits of online…

In October 2002, Sebastian River High School in Florida developed a literacy system that includes all faculty and staff members. The literacy system identifies roles, responsibilities, and actions for everyone, including daily literacy-related nonnegotiables for all teachers. Now, students who have a history of failure are posting gains of one…

According to the U.S. Department of Education, 39% of public school students were considered to be part of a minority group in 2000, as opposed to just 22% in 1972. Although the increased diversity offers many opportunities for staff members and students to learn from one another, not all members of the school community adjust quickly to a…

"Reclaiming Children and Youth's" guest editor introduces this special issue on promising practices employing strength-based approaches to education and treatment. If we are serious about the commitment to "leave no child behind," then we must be able to cultivate strengths in all children and families. This article surveys the strengths…

This report is one of nine detailed case studies of small urban high schools that served as the foundation for the Education Resource Strategies (ERS) report "Strategic Designs: Lessons from Leading Edge Small Urban High Schools." These nine schools were dubbed "Leading Edge Schools" because they stand apart from other high…

Now for the first time ever, the bestselling, teacher-trusted "Quick-Guides to Inclusion" are available in a single updated and revised volume -- complete with seven all-new Quick-Guides. A resource for busy K-12 teachers who need fast, friendly, and practical guidance on including students with disabilities in general education classrooms, this…

Compelling evidence from neuroscience about how early relationships and experience influence the architecture of the brain, and in turn early school success, has led to increasing policy and practice attention to implementing child development and family support programs like Early Head Start for infants and toddlers. But, there is also a group of…