Notes five ways that teachers can help students in single-parent families. Advises teachers to make no assumptions; teach about differences; facilitate parental connections to the school; share good news with parents; and alter written communications and record keeping. Discusses how to implement each of these strategies. (NB)

Classwide peer tutoring procedures involve instructional procedures (provision of frequent, immediate feedback) that are successful for children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Implemented peer tutoring for one second-grade ADHD student. Results indicated significant improvements in attention to instruction, task-irrelevant…

Gilles de la Tourette's Syndrome (GTS) is considered a neuropsychiatric condition characterized by multiple motor and vocal tics. With some cases, a variety of neurocognitive, social, and emotional difficulties are present. Describes core features of GTS and highlights how symptoms and their features may interfere with school functioning. School…

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Amendments of 1997 mandated a shift from reactive strategies toward proactive interventions with students who experience both disability and behavioral challenges. The author describes how the methodology of Life Space Crisis Intervention can provide a source of data for functional assessment…

It used to be that students who dropped out were considered lazy and unmotivated. Some students were actually pushed out and encouraged to leave, as if this solves the problem! While teachers blame kids for dropping out, kids blame an educational system "gone bad." Dropping out is no longer viewed as solely a student problem, but rather a problem…

The purpose of this study is to investigate how sixth graders develop inquiry skills to construct explanations in an inquiry-based learning environment. We designed a series of inquiry-based learning activities and identified four inquiry skills that are relevant to students' construction of explanation. These skills include skills to identify…

In this article, we describe a continuum of responsibilities shared by faculty and non-faculty academic advisors as well as personal counselors at 4-year colleges and universities. After addressing terminology, we describe a continuum of issues that advisors and counselors routinely address and identify some triggers that might suggest that a…

This paper, written by a school administrator to parents, discusses parents' role in creating a positive educational environment, from providing a structured home life to volunteering in their child's classroom. The paper begins by asserting that a primary cause of behavior problems in the classroom is parent-child relationships in which the…

Adults many times misunderstand adolescence and the problems from which adolescents suffer. However, there are few quantitative studies that have evaluated the prevalence of "common" teenage problems. To address this lack of hard data concerning perceived high school/adolescent problems, a study was commissioned to determine…

The 71st Texas Legislature established several pilot programs for the 1989-90 and 1990-91 school years with the aim of improving the academic performance of and reducing the dropout rate of public school students. This report combines information about pilot programs from these 2 school years with cost surveys and descriptions of the programs.…

Although there have been technological and structural advances in the schools within the past 10 years, the social environment for young people has severely deteriorated. Teenage pregnancy, guns in schools, illegal drugs, homelessness, suicide, Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, and unemployment are some of the negative mental and physical…

Since understanding homeless students and their families is the beginning of the teacher's response to the problem, this monograph is designed to acquaint the teacher with the variety of issues involved in being homeless. The introduction to the document discusses the number of homeless families, the necessity for schools to respond quickly to…

This study was conducted to examine the effects of consultation on consultee perceptions of the causality of children's school- related problems and the expectations for successful problem resolution. Participants were 39 volunteer teachers from Catholic elementary schools, none of whom had ever before worked with a consultant. Consultants were 7…

This pamphlet maintains that schools must address the needs (typically underserved or unserved in the schools) of students with oral communication disorders. The pamphlet states that such disorders range from language comprehension and/or production deficits to social communication problems, to low-level thinking skills, to hearing problems, to…