A major controversy arose in 1987 in a midwestern school district, after a middle school teacher assigned the novel "Go Ask Alice" to her seventh-grade class. This book describes the district's attempt to answer two basic questions: What should students read? and Who should decide what students read? The book controversy is first…

This paper synthesizes research, theories, and practical knowledge from developmental psychology and sociology to provide a basis for understanding, planning, and implementing effective and supportive partnerships between human-services providers and families. A family-centered approach is a process for delivering services to families, a…

Findings from a case-method study that explored educational administration students' perceptions of two administrative theories--micropolitical analysis and traditional social systems approach--are presented in this paper. Methodology involved presentation of a case to educational administration students who participated in group discussion and…

This cross-cultural investigation of racism in the lives of black women explores everyday manifestations and perceptions of racism. The daily experiences of individuals are combined with a structured account of racism in an interdisciplinary framework. Empirical data consist of verbal accounts gathered in 1985 and 1986 in non-directive interviews…

The history of academic inquiry into leadership as a discipline has yielded the unintended consequence of compounding confusion and perpetuating the myth of leadership as mystical. This paper takes that acknowledgement and inquires into the past and future of leadership theory development from a systemic perspective to define the concept, propose…

Guidelines and case studies of model programs are intended as resource materials to aid 22 organizations funded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention to encourage meaningful youth participation in policy decisions which affect youth, primarily in the juvenile justice, educational, and social systems. The first of three major…

This paper examines the value conflicts engendered by computing developments in two different institutional settings: electronic funds transfer systems and instructional computing in primary and secondary schools. While specific values depend upon culture and upon the character of the particular institutional setting studied, these two cases serve…

This document contains chapters 4 and 5 of the final report of the Project on Social Architecture in Education. Chapter 4 provides a brief overview of the activities of the project in order to sketch the context out of which the case studies, conclusions, and learning materials emerged. Chapter 5 discusses and evaluates six major strands of…

This resource book contains fourteen readings on the People's Republic of China and in particular on Chiliying, a farming commune in the province of Honan. Political, geographical, and historical perspectives are presented as well as glimpses into the working, educational, social, and family lives of Chinese citizens. Each short reading is…

This text presents lessons in urban culture. Lesson materials deal with urban areas in various parts of the world and present concepts in various formats including readings, exercises, photo and graphic displays, and tables. Although not specifically limited to health topics, the lessons contribute to the context of the biomedical…

An argument is made against the use of school averages as composition measures by documenting the non-random nature of peer associations and by presenting evidence that different students are influenced by different reference groups. The structure of friendship associations among some 20,000 students in the McDill Twenty High School Sample is…

To determine whether the poverty which afflicts between 50% and 60% of Mexico's population can be described in an ideologically neutral perspective, the paper formulates ten questions about political and economic issues which are sensitive to both capitalist and Marxist theorists. The questions concern: (1) the balance between food supply and…

Designed for instruction of emotionally handicapped children and youth, these six articles present concepts and activities relative to social studies and outdoor education. Defining social studies as the study of man and his relationship with his environment, the first article emphasizes a site analysis approach. Activity suggestions utilize a…

This report on ghetto social structure, surveying a sample of 120 black women from Boston, is an examination of the extent to which black urbanites maintain personal ties within the ghetto area. Nine chapters listed as follows constitute the document: social organization in the black ghetto; Boston-the city and the sample, primary social ties,…

This volume on Senegal is one of a series of handbooks prepared by Foreign Area Studies (FAS) of the American University. It is designed to be useful to military and other personnel who need a convenient compilation of basic facts about the social, economic, political, and military institutions and practices of Senegal. The emphasis is on…