The "Research & Action Report," published twice a year, is a window on the activities and initiatives at the Wellesley Centers for Women. The report typically features news about the Centers, interviews with researchers, commentary on recent events or social trends affecting women and girls, announcements of new publications, and much more.…

Education has become one of the most important issues in American society, often dominating the political landscape in response to lagging academic achievement and persistent gaps in performance between advantaged and disadvantaged children. In response, a variety of educational reforms have been implemented ranging from increased accountability…

Student departure is a long-standing problem to colleges and universities. Approximately 45 percent of students enrolled in two-year colleges depart during their first year, and approximately one out of four students departs from a four-year college or university. The authors advance a serious revision of Tinto's popular interactionalist theory to…

As schools pursue their mission to educate and as communities pursue the aim of improving the quality of life of their residents, major initiatives have been introduced and progress is being made. At the same time, it is evident that there remains considerable fragmentation and significant gaps in some of our efforts to assure no child is left…

The purpose of this research brief is to summarize the literature on research conducted with at-risk students. Emerging from the research are three central groups of factors that are characteristic of at-risk students: (1) social and family background; (2) personal problems; and (3) school factors. In spite of the presence of several risk factors,…

This action research project evaluated the impact of a program for enhancing interpersonal problem-solving skills on academic achievement in elementary students in an industrial, urban Illinois community. The lack of social skills and inability to think critically were documented through office referrals and teacher observations of kindergarten,…

Seventy-five families of children with special needs were interviewed after one year's experience with early intervention services and 69 of these families were then re-interviewed a year later after two years of such services. Five themes were identified in the families' views of "what works well." These were: (1) consistency of staff, (2) home…

This monograph provides information on identifying children and youth who could benefit from social skills instruction, highlights strategies for teaching social skills, and presents ideas for reinforcing social competence. After a chapter that introduces the issues, Chapter 2, "Social Competence," defines social competence and discusses…

This guide for administrators provides a step-by-step process for establishing new or revised policies to deal with student misuse of alcohol and other drugs on college campuses. Emphasis is on a new doctrine of environmental management which stresses the school's responsibility to take measures against foreseeable hazards and risks in the school…

This final report/doctoral dissertation describes activities and accomplishments of Project LIFT (Looking at Intervention Factors with Teachers), which assessed the relationships among classroom intervention acceptability, integrity, and effectiveness. Two studies were conducted. The first involved observing interventions implemented in 10 Iowa…

This paper presents a case study of Aaron, a 9-year-old Australian gifted student who has exhibited an outstanding interest and knowledge in science and mathematics, while at the same time displaying unusual behavioral and learning characteristics typified by inconsistent performance of many routine tasks. Aaron attends a moderately sized…

This manual addresses the issue of sexual abuse in Canadian aboriginal communities, and advocates a community sexual abuse response team approach in building a viable solution to the problem. The manual introduces the main issues and problems relevant to a community sexual response team. Chapter 1 looks at the cultural and historical past of…

Access to early childhood education and social exclusion are issues currently of importance for policy and program development in Europe. This paper explores links between early education access and social exclusion in regard to profound and rapid changes in Europe that are forcing families to find new ways to remain integrated within their…

Increasingly, school services are being guided by a problem solving approach and are evaluated by the achievement of positive outcomes. This shift is explored here in 96 chapters and 11 appendices. The volume provides a comprehensive reference relating contemporary research and thought to quality professional services. Part 1, "Professional…

As the preschool and early years of schooling were becoming the focus of increasing attention, the Scottish Office Education and Industry Department commissioned a review of United Kingdom and international literature on the use of early intervention schemes for disadvantaged students. The resulting review presents evidence on the most appropriate…