Four autistic children, age 8-15, exhibited fewer correct responses to a stimulus as the number of stimulus components was increased from 1 to 4. Training was effective in producing some generalized increases in responses to complex stimuli. (Author/JDD)

Promotional campaigns and commercial messages permeate most waking hours of children's lives. Children must be educated about the nature of commercial messages directed at them, and their ability to resist sales pressure must be built. (JD)

The article describes the benefits of time delay in teaching disabled students both discrete and chained tasks, constant and progressive time-delay procedures, types of student responses, steps involved in implementing time-delay procedures in the classroom, and troubleshooting tips. A sample lesson plan on making a fruit-flavored drink is…

The use of rate data in precision teaching, to improve fluency of student response, is discussed. Noted are its advantages, the demands it places on teachers and students, the impact on measurement procedures, and guidelines for determining when to shift from acquisition to fluency instruction. (JDD)

Describes three- and four-year-old children's reactions to the death of a class guinea pig. The teacher recorded children's comments about the death and included them in a note to parents. The guinea pig was buried by the children in the school playyard. (RJC)

Offers a humorous account of a writing assignment in which seventh-grade students, in response to a detailed description of a living room, wrote descriptions of who lived there, much to the chagrin of their teacher, whose living room it was. (SR)

Examines family beliefs about alternative educational assessment, using observations of 84 families' interactions and surveys of 172 families' beliefs about assessment, teacher ratings of children's efforts and involvement on alternative assessment measures, and discourse analysis of parents' interactions during interviews and assessments.…

Describes a three-part midterm exercise designed to demonstrate how using general semantics as an analytical tool can increase awareness and improve critical thinking about an issue. Explains each phase of the assignment in detail. Concludes with student responses to the exercise, indicating that the exercise is indeed helpful in analyzing current…

Describes three approaches to writing a persuasive sales letter that require the student to either taste a product, try out an item, or touch an object before writing the sales letter to a prospective audience. Describes preassignment activities, the assignment, and student reaction to the activities. (SR)

First sexual intercourse of 94 male and 114 female college undergraduates was studied as it relates to gender differences in sexual behaviors, partner's role, contraceptive use, and sexual guilt and satisfaction. Sexual intercourse initiation is often characterized by contraceptive nonuse, pressure to become sexually involved, guilt, and sexual…

Examines the curricular change process, presenting results of an ethnographic study of an elementary school moving from a teacher-directed curriculum toward a textbook-based, standardized curriculum. Focuses on students' (negative) reactions to changes. Educators must question any curriculum that limits teachers' opportunities to make coursework…

Thirty-four school-aged children with developmental disabilities were assessed for level of tactile defensiveness (TD) and then presented with a repeated tactile stimulus while engaged in computer games. Evidence was found for a differential sensitivity in TD but not an inhibition deficit. Another finding included a negative correlation between TD…

Discusses how "The Butter Battle Book" by Dr. Seuss can be used to introduce the moral issue of war to young children. Studies the written responses of 1,187 children in grades kindergarten to 6 to the story. Notes that only the fourth- through sixth-grade students (who felt themselves beyond Dr. Seuss) understood the allegorical nature…

Evaluates a small New York school district's efforts to reorganize its two K-5 elementary schools into one K-2 primary grade school and one 3-5 intermediate school, focusing on student, staff, and parent reactions. Although the new arrangement created more focused schools, the intermediate principal misses the energy deriving from the Kindergarten…

Describes a high school production of William Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" which matched cartoon and comic strip characters with the Shakespearean characters, resulting in a visually stimulating performance that successfully engaged students. (SR)