Presents results of empirical research examining job satisfaction among proprietary school teachers in the new Laender in Germany. Identifies three main areas of concern; academic freedom, professional satisfaction, and job-related stress. Suggests significant differences between these findings and those of earlier studies. (MJP)

A study of 304 social work faculty examined faculty sensitivity and responses to critical classroom incidents related to race. African Americans, women, assistant professors, and faculty experienced in teaching diversity courses showed more sensitivity to racism than other ethnic groups, men, full professors, and faculty who had never taught…

Investigated sociometric status, aggression, and gender differences in African American second-graders' expression of anger, happiness, and sadness during a competitive game. Found that rejected children expressed more facial and verbal anger than average-status children and more nonverbal happiness, but only during turns that were favorable to…

Describes evolving efforts to promote African American children's social and emotional competencies, examining moral competence. Proposes a cultural psychology framework to highlight the theme of communalism and morality of care. Identifies various moral events, offering knowledge of moral emotions and moral self-efficacy as key constructs.…

Several measures of children's reactions to disasters were employed with 212 elementary and middle school students 6 months after experiencing Hurricane Andrew. Higher levels of intrusive symptomatology were found for girls and for elementary school children. Discusses lack of findings concerning race and implications for future research.…

Examined how separation of competency and affect components of self-concept domains varied in 7- to 13-year-olds. Found that Self-Description Questionnaire factor loadings were invariant over age comparisons. Correlations among reading, math, and school self-concepts decreased with age. Correlations between competency and affect within domains…

Examines four fifth-grade students' stances and their responses to a narrative text in three classroom activities--a peer-led discussion group, a story map activity, and written responses. Investigates issues regarding the accessibility of shifts in stance for the students. Calls into question L. Rosenblatt's construct of the aesthetic-efferent…

Asserts that elementary students should learn economics to prepare for their adult roles as consumers, producers, and voters. Discusses the "Voluntary National Content Standards in Economics" that consist of 20 standards and the respective benchmarks that describe the concepts students need to know by the end of grades 4, 8, and 12. (CMK)

Examined association between infants' emotional reactivity and reliance on mother and cognitive and language development at 2 years. Found that infants with high reactivity and reliance on mother during emotion challenges had higher cognitive and language skills than infants with low reactivity and reliance. Poor developmental outcomes were…

The standards of the National Association of Social Workers (2001) for culturally competent practice and the Council on Social Work Education's (2001) accreditation standards require monitoring and evaluation of the multicultural competencies of students and professional social workers. The absence of assessment instruments impedes feedback about…

This article presents the results of a study that was conducted as an effort to identify the needs of sex workers as potential beneficiaries of future HIV prevention and empowerment activities. The purpose of this study was to assess the situation and needs of sex workers in the context of HIV/AIDS. Data were collected from one of the small…

Effective regulatory skills are essential in busy preschool classroom environments where children must maintain some control over their emotions and behavior to interact effectively with peers and teachers. Regulatory abilities can play a crucial role in a child's successful adjustment to preschool. We investigated whether individual differences…

Background: To investigate whether recent first episode major depression in adolescence is characterised by selected executive difficulties in attentional flexibility, behavioural inhibition and decision-making. Methods: Selected executive functions were compared in adolescents with recent (past year) first episode major depression (n = 30) and…

In response to the American Association of Applied Linguistics' presentation of the Distinguished Scholarship and Service Award for extraordinary contributions to the fields of language learning, teaching, and testing in May 2004, Merrill Swain described her own work as "moving in cycles of research, theory and practice." These "spirals" ("cycles…

Low level acts of aggression in school are associated with a host of emotional arousal, social problem-solving, peer relationship, and academic difficulties. School-wide interventions may decrease aggressive interactions and promote cooperative play and social skills among students. In the current study, the authors used a participatory-action…