Predicts, using independent variables such as student effort and campus environment, how community college students perceive their gains in general education and personal and social development. Finds that quality and quantity of student effort, as well as a positive perception of the campus environment, were significant predictors regardless of…

Discusses the difficulties that high-ability black college students face in blending their academic interest and racial affiliation into their sense of self. Student narratives show how a strong peer community and positive student-faculty interactions can overcome these obstacles and promote healthy identity development. (Author/DB)

Examines whether a relationship exists between the number of students per computer in schools and traditional educational outcomes. Findings indicate that the allocation of class time and resources to educational computing is not associated with a loss in traditional outcome measures while the students are accumulating computer experience and…

Addresses the problems with conventional assessment in social studies and describes an alternative form called dynamic assessment. Explains how to use dynamic assessment in social studies, and in particular, for evaluating citizenship participation. Provides two charts that demonstrate how dynamic assessment can modify teachers' evaluation…

Uses a national sample of 27,811 undergraduate students who had completed the American College Testing College Outcomes Survey to evaluate the effects of the college environment on academic and intellectual development and to compare the outcomes for adult learners with those for younger students. Comparisons revealed that adults reported slightly…

Offers a perspective on talking about the arts to kids. States that the meaning of an art work is a negotiated transaction between the work and the viewer. Argues that students must be taught how to "see," understand, and value arts experiences that open up a new language system and new ways of understanding themselves and their world. (CR)

Explores personal and institutional factors associated with professional status, job satisfaction, career patterns, and professional preparation of law-school placement officers (N=127). Compares law school graduates with non-graduates; discusses career implications arising from professional placement. (EMK)

Explores the associations between romantic relationship status and intimacy development during students' (N=297) first semester of college. Examines the relationship of intimacy development to psychological well-being and discusses implications for interventions. (EMK)

This model for assessing the readiness for college of high school students with learning disabilities offers a life-span developmental perspective. It identifies life-event stressors, mediating variables (abilities and attitudes), the social-psychological adaptation process, and adaptive/maladaptive outcomes. (DB)

Case studies of six preservice teachers assessed their emerging perspectives about problems confronting diverse students, commitment to teaching diverse students, and beliefs about causes of failure for diverse learners. The paper describes students' perceptions of influences on their perspectives including coursework, background experiences,…

A qualitative survey explored the professional educational experiences of 63 Native American social workers and social work students. Most respondents identified the need for more cultural content in the curriculum, personal struggles experienced in pursuing an education grounded in Anglo cultural norms, but also available supports, especially…

Examines preservice teachers' exchange of dialogue journals with sixth graders. Finds that preservice teachers experienced the value of journal-based written and oral discourse activities for understanding and fostering both their own social and academic development and that of their younger partners. (PA)

Constructed and tested for validity the Developmental Rating Scale (DRS), which uses teacher judgments about the academic development of children to evaluate student achievement. Teachers evaluated children at the pre-kindergarten, first-, and second-grade levels using the DRS and the Developmental Profile II (DPII). Found that the DRS, unlike the…

By the time students graduate from college, most still have not achieved the kind of self-authorship that would allow them to think independently, make choices, and pursue their dreams. What can be done to help them develop this capacity and make the most of their college experience? One way, says the author, is to be better company. (Author)

This study investigated the abilities, self-concept, personality, interest, motivational traits, and other determinants of knowledge across physical sciences/technology, biology/psychology, humanities, and civic domains. Results are consistent with theoretical predictions that development of intellect as knowledge results from investment of…