(1989). We Teach Them How To Drink!. Since 1983 the Health Education Authority Schools Education Unit has been providing a survey service to schools throughout the United Kingdom. The purpose is to make the planning of programs in Health and Social Education in the schools more realistic. Health behaviors in the areas of substance use, dental care, diet, homework, jobs, leisure, medication, money, physical activity, road use, self-esteem, sharing problems, social activities, smoking, sleeping times, and television habits were examined. The 1988 sample included 33,459 students between the ages of 11 and 16. This document focuses on alcohol-related statistics. Discussion of results in these areas is presented: (1) age of onset of regular drinking; (2) percentage of boys and percentage of girls who consumed shandy, beer or lager, cider, wine, fortified wine, or spirits; (3) percentage of children who obtained alcoholic drinks from home, a pub or bar, supermarket, off-licence, friend's home, relative's home, or disco or… [PDF]
(1990). Transformational Leadership: How Principals Can Help Reform School Cultures. Collaborative school cultures have been associated with achieving various school reform objectives for both teachers and students. One central dimension of school restructuring is the empowerment of teachers within a school culture that is both shared and technical. Little is known about how such cultures develop and whether or how school administrators can facilitate that process. This report describes results of a study examining administrator practices in 12 Ontario (Canada) schools that had developed highly collaborative professional relationships over a 3-year period in the context of school improvement initiatives. The study specifically examined the extent to which these schools had achieved collaborative cultures, the significance of improvement processes, and the strategies used by administrators to develop more collaborative school cultures. Data were collected by two interviewers during a 2-day visit to each school. A causal network was developed for each school and… [PDF]
(1990). The Campus Green: Fund Raising in Higher Education. ASHE-ERIC Higher Education Report 1. This report reviews the research on fund raising in higher education in the United States. It considers such questions as: What are the costs of fund raising? What is known of donor motivation? and What is the connection between successful intercollegiate athletics and successful fund raising? Research findings indicating the consistent association between dollars spent on fund raising and results of fund raising, and the preference of exchange models over models of altruism in understanding donor motivation are noted. The first section of the report looks at the American tradition of private philanthropy by considering annual alumni funds, charitable gifts from business gains and professional fund raising and fund-raiser organizations. Institutional effectiveness, policies, and programs are examined next, and this is followed by a brief consideration of organization and costs in the third section. Donor behavior and motivation are discussed in the fourth section, which takes up the… [PDF]
(1987). Family-Centered Care for Children with Special Health Care Needs. The book defines and discusses eight key elements of a family-centered approach to care for children with chronic illnesses and special health care needs: (1) recognition that the family is the constant in the child's life, while the service systems and personnel within those systems fluctuate; (2) facilitation of parent/professional collaboration at all levels of health care; (3) sharing of unbiased and complete information with parents about their child's care on an ongoing basis in an appropriate and supportive manner; (4) implementation of appropriate policies and programs that are comprehensive and provide emotional and financial support to meet the needs of families; (5) recognition of family strengths and individuality and respect for different methods of coping; (6) understanding and incorporating the developmental needs of infants, children, and adolescents and their families into health care delivery systems; (7) encouragement and facilitation of parent-to-parent support;… [PDF]
(1977). LULAC National Scholarship Fund for Americans of Spanish Origin, 1977. Many of the problems facing Hispanos stem from inadequate representation in the economic, social, and governmental processes of American society. The LULAC National Scholarship Fund for Americans of Spanish Origin (LNSF) was established in 1975 as a means of weakening the poverty cycle which has inhibited full participation by Hispanics in American society. As a component of the LULAC National Educational Service Centers (LNESC), the LNSF is the only systematic network existing on a national level specifically aimed toward helping Hispanic students. LNSF utilizes the Fund-Sharing Concept. Under this concept, monies are raised on a local level by individual LULAC councils and on a national level by the LNSF Washington, D.C. headquarters. At the end of the year, national funds are distributed to local councils based on the relationship of their particular local amount raised in proportion to that of all other councils raising scholarship funds. The growth rate of the LNSF has been…
(1977). The Cities. Over the past two decades, direct payments from the Federal Government to local governments has increased more than sixfold as a percentage of the revenues local governments raise on their own. Both the Ford budget and the Carter budget revisions for 1977 and 1978 contain policy changes with important implications for cities. In this document urban conditions, the problems of cities, and the role of the Federal government in relation to them are examined. The population shift away from the northeast quadrant to the Southern and Western States is discussed as it relates to urban decline. Three factors are used as indicators of city problems: population decline, old age, and economic conditions. Regional differences in the effects of these phenomena are cited. It is stressed that the urban crisis is not nationwide, as many large cities are well off. Structural and demographic differences among cities are shown to complicate Federal efforts to formulate effective urban policy. Various… [PDF]
(1980). Children's Feelings About Themselves. Unit for Child Studies Selected Papers Number 1. A positive self-concept is important for all children. Parents can assess their children's feelings about themselves and improve their children's self-respect. Feelings about the self are important because they affect children's success, sense of worth, ability to love others and to learn. Adults may inadvertently undermine a child's self-esteem so that he/she does not have sufficient ego strength for taking the risks inherent in learning. Questionnaires can be used by parents to gain a more detailed understanding of a child's identity. After the level of the child's self-concept has been ascertained, many types of activity can be employed to raise the self-respect of a child who has a low self-concept. In an atmosphere of trust, teachers and parents may explore the outcomes of the following games and activities: (1) providing a personal time line on which children may record personal experiences on cards clipped to the line; (2) sharing success symbols such as photos or…
(1978). This Is About Attendance Counselling. The days of the formidable truant officer who chased after hooky-playing delinquents and led them back to school by the ear are gone. Today's "attendance counselors" see their function as protecting a child's right to a meaningful education. Although their goal is still to get absent students back to classes, their approach is now a more understanding and sophisticated one. A questionnaire study was sent to 73 Canadian school boards concerning the roles and opinions of attendance counselors. Of the 39 respondents, most thought that attendance records should be forwarded to a new school. Nearly all counselors thought that parents should be informed of responsibilities, school policy, transportation, and consequences of rule infractions. They favored notes from parents explaining absences over those from students and approved of a five- to ten-day suspension when necessary. Slightly less than half the boards specified that their attendance workers are known as attendance…
(1975). Council for Cultural Cooperation and Cultural Fund. Annual Report 1974. This report summarizes programs, studies, and symposia conducted by the Council for Cultural Cooperation (CCC) to enhance communication and interaction on educational and cultural matters between the members of the Council of Europe. The first section describes activities undertaken to promote European interaction. These include (1) exchange agreements for teachers and students, (2) improved multi-media language programs, and (3) activities concerning equivalence of qualifications and mobility of students and college faculty. In the second section, "Co-operating in Remodeling Educational Systems," a long-range goal goal is defined as education extending over a lifetime. Activities at all levels of education are discussed, including pre-school, vocational, and adult education. This section also examines the coordination and cooperation in the production, development, and use of multi-media materials. The European Documentation and Information System for Education (EUDISED)… [PDF]
(1975). Evaluation of One Type of Non-Traditional Program of Higher Education. Creative Learning through the Application of Sociological Principles (CLASP) is a nontraditional program designed to help students develop their own concepts, theories, and skills during a nonstructured sociology semester. The program consists of seven phases: (1) first week: testing, simulating, and preparation; (2) second-third weeks: human relations and survival lab in wilderness; (3) fourth-seventh weeks: post-wilderness community problem solving upon return to campus; (4) eighth week: midterm evaluation; (5) ninth-twelfth weeks: skilled experiences; (6) thirteenth-fourteenth weeks: reporting, sharing, discussing, and analyzing; and (7) fifteenth-sixteenth weeks: evaluation and grading. A group of students who had completed two evaluation phases of an outdoor survival program and two different CLASP groups all involved in wilderness educational programs, were examined together with two control groups. The control groups were a conventional beginning class in sociology and a… [PDF]
(1958). The Dakota Indian Family. Community Studies on the Pine Ridge Reservation. South Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletin 470, May 1958. The traditional kinship organization of the Dakota Indians was compared with contemporary patterns of family living on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Effects of the cultural change on the economic and social conditions of the present day Pine Ridge Indians were evaluated. The study revealed remnants of the traditional kinship pattern and the nature of the changes which had taken place in the family organization during the transitional process, and offered suggestions to guide the direction of future change on the reservation. Three communities, located in a contiguous area on the Pine Ridge Reservation, were characterized as traditional, transitional, and transpositional. During the summers of 1956 and 1957, information on 86 families from these communities was gathered, using a series of previously prepared questions. Among the findings were: the traditional community had the smallest average family size and number of children per family and had most nearly retained elements of the… [PDF]
(2005). Academic Honesty through Technology. Association of Small Computer Users in Education (ASCUE), 38th, Myrtle Beach, SC, June 12-16,. Over the past two decades, technology use has increased in the classroom. What started out as a single computer in a classroom has evolved into a laptop or handheld for every student, with a wireless connection to the Internet and other network resources. Cell phones, PDAs, and other electronic tools have opened up new horizons for utilizing technology in the classroom to better educate students. With these advancements have also come the inevitable drawbacks. With ubiquitous connections to the outside world, students have even more resources to share information, knowledge, and work with each other. These same connections also allow students to access unprecedented means for plagiarism and cheating. Today's students are in a \always connected\ or \always on\ mode where they have access to many different methods of communication. On most college campuses, there is an ever-present wireless network that students can use to access Internet resources. Students also use cellphones, PDAs,… [PDF]
(2002). The Use of Multimedia and the Arts in Language Revitalization, Maintenance, and Development: The Case of the Balsas Nahuas of Guerrero, Mexico. Even though Nahuatl is the most widely spoken indigenous language in Mexico, it is endangered. Threats include poor support for Nahuatl-speaking communities, migration of Nahuatl speakers to cities where English and Spanish are spoken, prejudicial attitudes toward indigenous languages, lack of contact between small communities of different dialects, and decreasing intergenerational transmission. Schools are not the best places for language revitalization because the Mexican state's policies promote Spanish and perpetuate a degrading stereotypical view of indigenous people. An innovative program organizes workshops during key moments in local ceremonial life, such as patron saint festivities. Workshops are conducted in Nahuatl, and videos narrated in Nahuatl are shown. Audience participation is encouraged by giving books or tapes on which the videos are based to those who can understand or retell the story. Riddle contests and tales, which are highly valued by these communities, are… [PDF]
(1994). Development of Computer-Based Workstations for the Operation of Engineering Laboratories. Final Report. Laboratory instruction in engineering disciplines in recent years has been adversely affected by a variety of structural problems making it increasingly difficult to provide students with adequate hands-on lab experience on par with the ever expanding requirements of the technical job market. As a possible approach to deal with some of the underlying issues, this project was concerned with the development of computer integrated laboratory facilities or "laboratory workstations" with capabilities for conducting experiments directly from computer terminals. The objective was to streamline the laboratory delivery process, in addition to improving the effectiveness of hardware utilization and enhancing the overall laboratory experience of the students. The computerized system incorporates data, control signal, and video links with the laboratory facilities, and permits operational control over the hardware functions along with data acquisition and analysis, allowing students… [PDF]
(1997). We've Done Research, Now What? Multimedia Authoring as a Report Tool. The professional literature and research conclude that new technologies produce either similar or superior results to conventional classroom instruction, arguably because technology has positive effects on students' attitudes toward learning and gives students more control over their learning. Teacher- librarians, as information specialists, facilitate the student's gathering and understanding of information from all available sources, including electronic. The use of multimedia authoring as a forum for reporting follows logically. Teacher-librarians, as technology coordinators, can facilitate the many aspects of a multimedia project–working with various-sized groups, deciding on the best use of resources, planning with classroom teachers, timelines, and handling challenges. Multimedia authoring extends the reading, writing, and problem-solving skills of the students beyond the basic abilities required in the curriculum, while having fun. It provides a hands-on means of interacting… [PDF]