Background: Recent government papers have expressed concern about the poor educational attainment of "looked after" children. Early reading development has been found to be significant in their subsequent academic achievement. The possibility that biosocial factors extraneous to their experiences in public care may underpin their low…

Background: Teachers play a critical role in promoting interactions between students and engaging them in the learning process. This study builds on a study by Hertz-Lazarowitz and Shachar (1990) who found that during cooperative learning teachers' verbal behaviours were more helpful to and encouraging of their students' efforts while during…

This report evaluates the Fox Valley Consortium for Job Training and Placement of the Homeless which involves five educational, social service, and community organizations in activities to facilitate the educational development and financial independence of homeless participants. The consortium consists of: the Community Crisis Center (area…

The purpose of the final report on the Montana Beginning Teacher Support Program (BTSP) is to provide a comprehensive description of all phases of the program as it was conducted from 1992 through 1995. The purpose of the BTSP was to study the effect of a formal mentorship relationship between master teachers (mentors) and teachers in their first…

Many things stretch the bonds between caregiver and child, perhaps none more than war. Children's healthy illusions of their personal safety, well-being, and control of their environment is shattered. The resulting stresses cause varying levels and types of trauma, as well as varying mechanisms of coping. This paper explores the problems war…

Researchers have used children's self-reports to investigate the conditions under which children seek and give help. Little attention has been given to examining the predictive value of such measures, even though investigators in other domains have found discrepancies between self-reports and observed behavior. Two studies were conducted in which…

This handbook on participative learning is designed for workers involved in community and adult education programs, staff development, and youth, community, and social work organizations. The introduction explores a theoretical basis for participative learning and defines terms. Chapter 1 examines program planning issues and includes some useful…

Extended quotations from informal interviews with eight families focus on the experiences of parents in adjusting to life with a handicapped child. In the first part of this paper, seven interview questions probe the following issues: positive and negative experiences with other people's reactions; most and least helpful actions by others; effects…

The importance of a mentor relationship in academia, especially for minorities and women, is discussed. After briefly considering the nature of the mentor relationship, the structure and function of success in academia are assessed, and variations of the mentor relationship that may be viable for minority and women faculty are suggested. Two views…

This longitudinal study investigated the frequency and type of cross-sex peer interactions which occurred in six first grade classrooms. The effects of task structures (or patterns of instructional organization), and the impact of the racial composition of the classrooms on the frequency and type of cross-sex interactions were also explored.…

The 11 papers assembled in this volume reflect the readiness of professional social work to develop practice approaches for working with parents of children in foster care. The papers were written from different perspectives, emphasize diverse aspects of foster care, and disagree on many issues. A unifying theme exists, however, in the shared…

The potential for helping children of alcoholic parents to understand and to cope with the problems they experience was examined. Areas were explored in which supportive services may be provided to children of alcoholic parents. It was concluded that the school staff who have close, continuous contact would be the best and most accessible…

Beginning teachers were studied from the completion of student teaching through the first nine weeks of instruction as professional teachers. Data was collected at the end of student teaching, the end of school orientation, and at the end of the third and ninth weeks of teaching. In addition, they reported their concerns and problems and the means…

This fifth of 14 curriculum modules in the Family and Community Services Occupational Education Modules series deals with the helping process. It explores the social concept of helping and provides student experiences to enable them to practice certain helping skills, including problem identification, diagnosis, prognosis, treatment planning,…

The Indian Child Welfare Program (ICWP), sponsored by the Jewish Family and Children's Service of Phoenix and funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, is the nation's first program to provide comprehensive child welfare services to Indian people both on and off the reservation. Beginning in 1973 as an Indian Adoption Project to prevent the…