Summarizes the results of 11 selected studies of the accuracy of reference services and identifies six modes of failure of reference services. Methods of detecting and reducing failure in each of these modes are then discussed. (17 references) (MES)

Reviews a series of studies documenting that key aspects of helpless reactions to failure are present in preschool and early elementary school children. Proposes a preliminary model in which a general conception of self and the notion of this self as an object of contingent worth are sufficient conditions for helplessness. (HTH)

This article uses a "bomb" analogy to offer teachers guidelines for evaluating failed lessons. Suggested factors to consider include pre-lesson planning and preparation, introduction of the lesson, appropriateness of objectives for student levels, lesson time, teacher presentation, and behavioral aspects. (DB)

Individuals interested in derailing school-based management lurk in most school communities. Some stakeholders are against true decentralization and can play their cards to subvert the process. Illegitimate intransigence can arise at the exploration or commitment stages. A sidebar shows how to defend against sabotage by making critical choices…

Examined differences between high school students who were at risk for school failure and control group of peers. Statistically significant differences were found with respect to locus of control, self-concept, and personal styles of learning. Implications focused upon approaches and suggestions regarding use of such knowledge in facilitating…

Explores what is meant by reading, noting that to read is to respond appropriately to a specific consensus centered on certain values and that the consensus is achieved among persons whose paths through life have come together with members of dominant discourses in society. (SLD)

Des Moines, Iowa's School within a School is locally funded program of instruction in basic skills, career guidance, and counseling support to meet needs of at-risk seventh- to tenth-grade students attending city's comprehensive middle and high schools. Program evaluations indicate declining dropout rate, increased attendance, and progress toward…

Voluntary national standards will not correct the gross inequities in the educational experiences of poor children and do not address the question of "Whose knowledge is of most worth?" Content standards enable schools and policymakers to avoid addressing the substantive causes of student failure. (SK)

Following the August 1991 state takeover of the Paterson (New Jersey) Schools, the new district superintendent launched a program to improve the city's four worst elementary schools. The process involved creating an administrative team to evaluate principals and school programs, replacing key staff, forming a partnership with Columbia University's…

Investigated the causal explanations children use to account for common experiences. In the study, 60 preschoolers watched videotaped puppet shows designed to elicit causal attributions. Most children predominantly used internal, unstable, and specific attributions. (CB)

Adherence to program planning principles does not guarantee participation. Attention must be paid to characteristics that make a program responsive: target audience, promotion and marketing, competition, and logistics. (SK)

Sometimes, parents must decide whether to have their child repeat a grade. Research indicates children who stay back do not do better than comparable children who are promoted and retention can have a very negative effect. The article guides parents on what to do and ask in such a situation. (SM)

Examined whether children identified by teachers at different levels of risk for school failure were distinguished by peers in terms of social status and behavioral descriptors. Findings from 348 kindergartners showed significant effect for risk groups for both sociometric measures and descriptors. No-risk group was viewed more positively than…

Discusses common and critical global problems related to children who are at risk. Section on academic failure examines programs for preschool children, education for disadvantaged children at the elementary school level, and an ecological approach to the problem. Other sections explore issues of youth alienation, the future of the human species,…

Surveys examined junior high schoolers' psychosocial characteristics and self-reports of deviant behavior, investigating links between self-derogation in school and academic failure mediated by a disposition to deviate from conventional expectations. Academic failure was in part motivated behavior that was an adaptation to previous self-devaluing…