Among 3,196 white respondents and black respondents aged 55 and older in the 1987-88 National Survey of Families and Households, almost all reported someone (usually adult children) that they could turn to in an emergency, but less than half received routine assistance. Among respondents currently needing support, over a third were receiving no…

When executive action is necessary to assist marginal principals, the superintendent should appoint a central-office helper and work with this person to develop and implement a principal induction program. The principals' helper should maintain close contact with principals, proffer alternative forms of assistance if required, confront principals'…

The authorship of messages produced through facilitated communication was evaluated with seven adults with moderate/severe mental retardation and their facilitators. Clients produced correct answers only when the facilitator had access to the same information, and they never produced correct answers when the facilitator had no information or false…

Two case studies illustrate the fact that even toddlers and preschoolers who never knew their father think and have feelings about the absent father. Considers the ways in which mothers, teachers, and child caregivers can respect these thoughts and feelings. (BB)

The Helping Relationship Inventory was used to see whether objective improvement in medical student (n=109) communication skills occurred in a relatively brief (nine-hour) small-group course in interviewing. The study demonstrated that even brief small-group interviewing courses can effect a positive change in communication skills. (Author/MSE)

This article identifies junior faculty needs and links these to roles that department chairpersons can assume, including that of a resource link; a mentor; a facilitator of mentor relationships; an institutional authority or representative; an evaluator; a faculty developer; and a model of balance. Specific suggestions for assisting with tangible…

From social work perspective, considers ethics of assisted suicide. Discusses traditional social work value of client self-determination and identifies tensions in this ideal and conflicts with value of client well-being. Finds assisted suicide unethical, arguing that studies have shown judgment of most suicidal people to be impaired as result of…

Appalled by the 47 percent Hispanic dropout rate at South Houston (Texas) High School, one teacher heeds these students' silent bid for attention. Teachers can help Hispanic students participate fully by believing in them, challenging them academically, respecting their names, encouraging them to reach out, appreciating family ties, and boosting…

Based on interviews with widows and wives, examined effects of marital status on older women's help to kin and friends. Although married women provided more help to kin than did widows, most differences could be explained in terms of greater material resources marriage provided. Widows spent more time and gave more practical help to friends than…

This paper reports on a process analysis of a three-year research and demonstration project evaluating a supported-employment program serving 20 adults with psychiatric disabilities. Staff were found to have frequent, brief contact with participants at varied times of day and through varied means of contact, with much of this contact spent…

Findings from a collaborative action research project involving seven culturally diverse families with children with disabilities are used to illustrate how professionals can provide assistance in a family's zone of proximal development, rather than targeting goals that are normative for the mainstream, but not for the family. (Author/CR)

Expectations from the standards movement, reform, and technological advances pose challenges for administrators. This article advocates principal preparation and cultivation through mentoring and coaching. It clarifies differences between mentoring and coaching; uses in succession planning, new principalships, and job changes; and benefits to both…

A junior high school teacher shares the story of a childhood dominated by poverty, family alcoholism, sexual and physical victimization, and haphazard school attendance. Surviving these traumatic experiences (and a teen pregnancy) was not easy. This teacher's background enables her to unearth covering-up strategies used by children trying to…

To alleviate the teacher shortage on modest budgets, school districts can help young teachers get out of debt. Required monthly payments on student loans effectively make teachers' salaries even smaller. Payments of $500 to $1,000 made yearly to teachers' student-loan accounts would phase out after loans are paid in full. (MLH)

Qualitative stories garnered from six students with mental retardation and published autobiographical and biographical stories by people with disabilities or their parents are used as a "research synthesis" to describe an intimate, caring relationship which is of central importance when constructing a non-traditional approach to literacy that…