This study investigated effects of gender, emotion, and family expressiveness on preschool children's reactions to narrative characters' emotion expressions. Forty-five preschool children rank-ordered playmate preferences for male and female story characters who expressed happiness, anger, sadness, fear, and neutrality and indicated how much they…

This curriculum project, a lesson plan for a thematic literary study of war and its effects, has five goals: (1) to have students read various selections of literature on the theme of war from both the Middle East and the West; (2) to teach students to analyze the differences and similarities between wars fought in the Middle East as compared to…

This report summarizes the presentations and discussion at a workshop on adolescent sleep. The workshop was organized by the Board on Children, Youth, and Families and the Forum on Adolescence of the National Research Council and Institute of Medicine. The workshop brought together policy makers, researchers, and practitioners to examine research…

A survey of school districts was conducted to determine the initial progress and problems associated with the 1997 Class Size Reduction (CSR) Initiative. Data reveal that most school districts had enough space for smaller classes for at least two grade levels; small school districts were much less likely to report space constraints. The CSR did…

While most are familiar with the expression, "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names can never hurt me," children are often hurt by name-calling. This video with accompanying six page study guide is intended to show the effects of name-calling and inspire children to treat others with kindness and acceptance. The 22-minute video…

The first High School and Beyond follow-up survey, conducted in 1982, included sub-samples of 29,737 sophomore cohort and 11,995 senior cohort representatives from the base year survey samples. During the fall of 1982, nearly 18,500 of the sophomore cohort members selected for the first follow-up survey were subsampled for the High School and…

Investigated the effects of the following strategies on high school students' response to literature: (1) creative drama exercises; (2) teacher-directed lecture discussions; and (3) self-directed small groups. Found no significant differences; however, there was adequate evidence to support creative drama as a viable learning approach. (PD)

Results of a program to improve teaching in New York City schools through teacher-to-teacher networks are reported. The program, IMPACT II, solicits ideas from teachers, awards development and dissemination grants, and helps other teachers replicate innovations. A District Incentive Grants Program for teachers is also described. (PP)

This paper reports on an interview with a 10-year-old Black girl, in which she discusses her responses to books about strong, active Afro-American girls. The difficulty of obtaining such books is pointed out, as is the need for studies of the impact of culturally valid books for young readers. (PP)

This paper describes different approaches that have been used in research on reading, and reports on a study of reading comprehension in fourth-, sixth-, and eighth-grade students. Findings confirm that there are distinct age-related developmental levels in children's comprehension of literature. (PP)

Recently employed teachers in Virginia were asked to describe how well their teacher education programs had prepared them for teaching handicapped children in regular classrooms. Teachers responded that their college courses had paid more attention to describing handicaps and legislation than to development of instructional activities for such…

Research dealing with the design of the school physical environment and its effect on stress in students and teachers is examined. The design of both the school's overall environment and the individual classrooom unit may affect student and teacher attitudes and student achievement. (PP)

Investigated whether differences by sex or race existed in placement, learning disabilities classrooms, teacher contacts, assignment practices, and student learning behavior. Found differences in placement. Similarities were found in teacher treatment, student behavior, and the effects of such behavior on test performance. (Author/CM)

Acknowledged experts described what they believed the content and educational outcomes of sex education programs in the schools should be. Exemplary programs, selected on the basis of their views, are identified and discussed. In addition, student and teacher response to one program is analyzed. (PP)

For this study, high school students studied a brief history text and then: (1) answered a short-answer test; (2) answered a multiple-choice test; or (3) completed a questionnaire about study habits. Results concerning the effectiveness of these procedures on retention of material are discussed. (Authors/CJ)