School social workers can foster partnerships between family and school. Both the home environment and the amount of parent involvement can add or detract from educational productivity for students. Aspirations for excellence have a better chance if the social worker helps to forge relationships between families, communities and schools. (VM)

A study of elementary and secondary schools in Montana addressed the relationship between school size and student scores concerning the individual and society, e.g., fitness, citizenship, careers, and environmental issues. Although few correlations were significant, the majority of the results indicated that smaller schools received higher scores…

The results of a colloquium of specialists in postsecondary pedagogy from 12 countries concerning the extent, importance, and encouragement of student independent scientific research are reported. Emphases include the need for training in research methodology, the importance of the student-faculty relationship, and interest in strategies for…

Presents two articles describing objectives for the American College Personnel Association (ACPA) in developmental terms emphasizing intellectual maturity, professional life-styles and values, and professional growth. Looks at future trends affecting student affairs and advocates systematic confrontation of these forces through staff development…

The author identifies and discusses those developments during the next decade most likely to affect students and the work of student affairs. (Author)

Engagement is a potentially useful construct for organizing strategies to support adjustment, achievement and retention in school, particularly among our most vulnerable student populations. Even if high quality schooling is available, high levels of achievement will implicitly demand engagement on the part of students. This initial analysis,…

A study investigated the effects of a fine arts program on elementary school students relative to methods used, student development, student attitudes toward school, and student achievement and motivation to learn. After developing and implementing a 12-week integrated fine arts curriculum, 95 elementary school students' pre- and…

Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program has been around for over 30 years and is seen as "one of the most important means for students to foster mentoring relationships with faculty and research staff." By analyzing data obtained through semi-structured interviews and survey results, a…

If teenagers do not find support at school, home, or in the community, then they will find it with peers, gangs, or other means. Subsequently, the importance of extra-curricular involvement for at-risk youth is reported in this paper; to what extent this involvement had potential to influence performance in academics is also examined. Involvement…

With teacher assistance and computer availability, composition students may use the World Wide Web as a valuable learning tool in the networked composition classroom and during personal studying time. The paper offers a list of six online providers and the number of subscribers for each. The paper then presents 118 selected web sites, including:…

Recommendations over a decade ago from the National Institute of Education have led to a paradigm shift in the teaching profession, based on changes in how knowledge is acquired, what role students play, and what purpose faculty members serve in the process. In the old paradigm, knowledge was transferred from faculty to student in what was…

As part of the research for a dissertation on composition at Bryn Mawr College during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, hundreds of student essays and daily themes were read. Over and over students affirmed the essential worth and significance of events in their daily lives and of their college education in general. More often than not,…

This book presents three models for teaching social studies to young children, each of which is based on use of the senses, concrete experiences, and opportunities to discuss observations. The models can be used as needed with children at differing levels since each addresses a particular level of development. The book focuses on a cognitive…

The Early Childhood Prevention Project (ECP) is an innovative effort to integrate psychosocial and educational approaches for promoting children's healthy development in elementary school. ECP takes a holistic approach to the prevention of academic and psychosocial problems and the promotion of students' educational and interpersonal development.…

This final report describes accomplishments of Project Discovery, a 3-year project in Kentucky to assist teachers in creating an innovative learning environment for gifted and talented primary-aged children. Major goals focused on and achieved by the project included: (1) increasing the percentage of disadvantaged students identified as gifted in…