Although it is often useful to accept students' value statements nonjudgmentally, values clarification theory recommends that teachers go beyond moral leadership and help students learn to think through their personal values and understand what it takes to live a value-directed life. Methods to promote and clarify our "heritage of moral values"…

Describes a simple pictorial exercise to identify and explore elementary school students' preconceived notions about sex, race, and physical disabilities. By constructively challenging these attitudes, teachers can help students realize how unfounded these views are. Such activities should occur year-round, not just on Martin Luther King's…

Many children are growing up alone, developing their personalities with little moral, ethical, or personal guidance from parents or other significant adults in their lives. This article describes how to bridge the communication gap and establish parameters for meaningful classroom dialog. Two insets provide sample discussion excerpts of sexuality.…

In today's moral environment, teaching the young high moral standards requires cooperation between schools and families. This article describes four successful approaches: developing a school-community consensus about values, forming parent support groups, creating multifaceted parent participation opportunities, and writing parallel curricula for…

Because few public school administrators and teachers have an evangelical fundamentalist religious background, they may have difficulties understanding evangelical parents and their Bible-centered lifestyle. This article recommends steps that administrators can take to improve this stituation and reduce conflict and confrontation. Includes five…

In 1982, the Baltimore County (Maryland) Public Schools began a study of values education and ethical behavior. A countywide task force decided to incorporate values based on the Constitution and Bill of Rights into the entire school experience. This article attributes the project's success to six key elements, including widespread community…

Shoreham-Wading (New York) River School Distict's long-term goal is to build awareness of human rights into teachers' and students' daily activities. Staff workshops and planned human rights activities help school community members explore preconceived beliefs and attitudes and develop personal power, group support, and critical awareness. An…

Many children in our mobile society are growing up with little contact with, and limited understanding of, elderly people. In 1983, the Westwood (Massachusetts) Public Schools initiated a successful structured interactions program between its fourth grade students and senior citizens from Westwood and nearby towns. Includes two references. (MLH)

Describes an Indiana elementary school's first family day, in which over 200 parents participated in a full day of activities (discussions, films, singing, dancing) with their children. This rewarding experiment will pave the way for future attempts to celebrate the family and strengthen school pride. (MLH)

Describes a volunteer Read Aloud Week program at a Milton (Massachusetts) elementary school. To help students strengthen their language development, the growth of their imagination, and their love of literature, 100 community leaders spent over 50 hours visiting the school and reading stories aloud to enthusiastic fourth grade listeners. (MLH)

Using academic conflicts for instructional purposes is one of the most dynamic, involving, and least used teaching strategies. Teachers fear divisiveness and also lack fitting instructional models for structuring controversial discussions. This article discusses the controversy process and how teachers can organize and use it to enhance cognitive…

When the Stanford and CTBS achievement batteries were analyzed, two major findings emerged: (1) the test items included only nine of the 22 general cognitive operations; and (2) the required general cognitive operations had little to do with student achievement on these tests. Implications and alternative assessment techniques are discussed.…

In the late 1970s, teachers were viewed either as weak links to be circumvented or as technicians to be programmed. Now educators recognize the significance of well-educated teachers being able to assume new powers and responsibilities to redesign schools. This article reviews recent teaching research and explores findings developed at the…

Despite recent claims that schools should educate children and leave the rest to others, this overview argues that teachers and principals cannot ignore students' concerns or their troubled, confused, or depressed condition. Although schools' primary goal is intellectual activity, they must also help students cope with life. (MLH)

Combating the teenage substance abuse problem will require total school and community effort. This article presents guidelines for school action, including recognizing alcohol's dominant role in our society, dealing with mixed messages to youngsters, debunking myths about adolescent alcohol use, using available resources in new ways, and creating…