A survey conducted by the American Association of University Women (AAUW) polled 3,000 boys and girls between the ages of 9 and 15 years regarding their attitudes toward self, school, family, and friends. Results confirmed that the passage into adolescence is marked by a girl's loss of confidence in herself and her abilities. The AAUW discovered…

This book presents a comprehensive survey and analysis of the concept of self-direction in learning. Part 1 (Chapters 1-3) distinguishes uses and meanings of the term self-direction and provides an historical introduction. Part 2 (Chapters 4-7) contains a more careful analysis of the four principal domains of self-direction: personal autonomy,…

A nationwide sample of home-schooling parents and their children was surveyed in a study of: (1) the characteristics of home-schooling families; (2) variations in instructional approaches used by home-schooling parents; and (3) the possible relation of creativity of home-schooled children to differences in family characteristics or instructional…

This manual presents a developmentally focused group intervention, ("But Mom (Dad) - I'm an Adult Now") developed by the Student Counseling Center at Illinois State University for college students who are having difficulty establishing autonomy from their family of origin. The group uses a condition of didactic presentations,…

Researchers are finding that high demands plus low control over how the job is done make a job stressful. According to Professor Robert Karasek of Columbia University, the statistics on heart disease and high blood pressure prove that nonprofessional workers such as typists are under more stress than professional workers such as teachers. Dr.…

The study obtained cross-cultural measures of quality of life (QOL), based upon perceptions of individuals with mental retardation/developmental disabilities (MR/DD) of their degree of satisfaction, productivity, independence, and community integration. The Quality of Life Questionnaire was administered to 92 persons in MR/DD programs in…

This document describes and discusses aspects of the transition to adult life for people with disabilities in Great Britain and sets it in an international context. The first three sections describe the transition process, the difficulties of implementing a framework for transition, and the aims of the transition process. The aims are the…

This report presents first year (1984-85) findings of The Writing Project, a 2-year school-based study of the use of word processing to improve learning disabled children's writing skills. Based in three Massachusetts school districts, the project focused in the first year on intensive observation of 14 fourth grade children as they wrote with…

The report, which is part of a series, provides an analysis of approximately 100 documents focusing on education, employment, and independent living outcomes across 10 handicapping conditions, including those students considered to be disadvantaged. Document summaries are organized by the 3 outcome areas and 11 conditions (learning disabled,…

Students earning a Master's Degree in Special Education in 1985 at West Virginia University were surveyed concerning their job satisfaction and their teacher training programs. The majority of the 54 respondents found special education to be a personally satisfying career and believed that their individual efforts made a difference. However, many…

An interview of 64 students in eight 3rd- and 4th-grade classrooms and an assessment of their teachers' control orientation were conducted for the purpose of testing the hypothesis that students of autonomy-granting teachers are better means-ends thinkers than those of controlling teachers. Dimensions of students' classroom socialization of…

This book for teachers, counselors, or group leaders, provides a set of activities through which young persons can experience issues relating to their own sense of identity. The activities are based on the life experiences of 100 adult women interviewed in 1977-78. The exercises can be used in a variety of high school, community college, or…

A 135-item survey was administered to 279 students enrolled in tertiary distance education programs in Queensland, Australia. The study was intended to identify (1) factors that are highly predictive of positive and independent learning growth and (2) strategies that students and educators can adopt to help students achieve a high level of…

Process writing and communicative-task-based instruction both assume productive tasks that prompt self-expression to motivate students and as the principal engine for developing L2 proficiency in the language classroom. Besides this, process writing and communicative-task-based instruction have much else in common, despite some obvious…

Five conditions of psychological maltreatment of children can occur in schooling: discipline through fear; low quality human interaction; limited opportunities to develop competency and self-worth; encouragement to be dependent; and denial of opportunities for healthy risk-taking. Issues associated with these conditions and methods for overcoming…