Three decades of research and practice have demonstrated the power and importance of the experience of students who are making the transition from high school to college. Student persistence to the sophomore year and, ultimately, persistence to graduation are at stake. This recognition of the critical nature of the first year has motivated…

The significance held in a cooperative approach to character education since ages and its ethical impact on students is discussed.

In recent years, the number of alternative schools has continued to grow and an increasingly large number of students at-risk for school failure have been enrolled in alternative settings. Critics blame this increase on the fact that the school-aged population has become increasingly diverse, presenting a broad range of issues that the schools…

This article describes a year-long professional development institute combined with a summer camp for students. Both were designed to help teachers and students develop their problem-solving and problem-posing abilities.

The author provides a preliminary assessment of the extent to which a sample of 264 school social workers are aware of the Internet-related problems children are experiencing and proposes ways in which Internet-related problems could affect youths' social and academic competence and performance in a school setting. The findings have implications…

This monograph presents abstracts of 29 papers that relate life-span research to the development of gifted and talented children. Sample topics include: attitudes about rural schools and programs for the gifted; social competence, self-esteem, and parent-child time and interaction in an advantaged subculture; helping families of gifted children…

Forensic program alumni returning for reunions or speech tournaments sometimes find difficulty in keeping pace with changing forensics practices and procedures. Elements influencing the evolutionary process in forensics include: a growing number of debate philosophy formats, bringing diversity in competitive options; expansion of standard…

This digest reviews the literature on ways that institutions of higher education can enhance student learning outside the classroom. It considers research on the contributions of out-of-class experiences to valued outcomes of postsecondary education and identifies nine institutional conditions which appear to foster student learning outside the…

Suggesting that critical thinking activities are the crux of many of the goals and objectives of communication education, this paper summarizes a sample of the literature on critical thinking. Based on the review, the paper notes that: (1) a consensus exists regarding what critical thinking is and what specific skills are acquired through varied…

Designed to develop K-3 children's thinking skills before the children have mastered reading, this book presents 32 activities in which children learn to complete analogies--presented with an "attribute block" with 3 attributes, children choose a fourth attribute block to complete the analogy. The attribute blocks in the book are of 4 types--shape…

As digital audio evolves, it is only natural that college radio stations reflect the same industry standards. Managers of college radio stations are facing the dilemma of making the decision of which digital audio system to acquire. A specific characteristic for those in the academic world is that whatever piece of equipment is chosen will be…

It is a surprising fact that a student of speech can compete in prose, poetry, drama, and program oral interpretation without ever needing to develop two characters, without ever needing to establish two separate focal points in the same piece, and without ever learning to adapt to a new style of writing. This can be done if the student simply…

This article provides a discussion of the importance and use of a method of systematic critical analysis, metatheorizing, as a tool for understanding the current research and debate in deafness and literacy. After reviewing background information on the notion of metatheorizing, the article presents some general remarks relative to the debate on…

In addition to personal and social consequences, school failure among Member States of the European Community is a major economic liability. Member States have used a variety of measures to counter school failure. It is generally agreed that socioeconomic, cultural, and personal factors all contribute to school failure. Indicators of school…

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965 is the primary law authorizing most federal aid to elementary and secondary schools and is up for reauthorization during the 103rd Congress. Major ESEA programs provide assistance in four areas: to help meet the special educational needs of disadvantaged or limited English proficient…