Compared criminal court verdicts after trials with and without juries. A study of 58,336 trials of persons charged with felonies showed that juries convict substantially more often than judges trying cases alone. Jury toughness is seen as a response to the growth of popular conservatism on criminal justice issues. (JAC)

The most common approach to computer education is the computer literacy model which suggests that students need some basic familiarity with computers to compete in the job market or to become informed citizens. Discusses why this model for computer education should be rejected by professional educators. (JN)

Discusses geography's rather low status and relatively poor public image in the United States and some of the consequences. Among the world's educated industrial nations, the United States ranks among the least literate in a geographical sense. (RM)

The lack of support for art education in the public schools is attributed to the westward, industrial, and technological movements which do not foster uniqueness and sensitivity. The mission of the educator is to introduce and lead students through a powerful, lasting relationship with the arts. (Author/KC)

Describes the results of a national survey of public perceptions of inequities in the criminal justice system. The analysis focuses on the effects of the respondents' race, class, and status positions, with class position measured in neo-Marxian terms. (Author/AM)

Reports generalizations about specific patterns emerging from a panel employing a decision-making Delphi process that attempted to forecast the long-range general environment for higher education in Michigan. Participating were 24 influential persons with knowledge of factors important within the state. (Author/RH)

Responds to an article questioning the construct validity of the Beck Hopelessness Scale. Suggests that social desirability should not be invoked as a potential confound unless the obtained covariation is theoretically inconsistent or is so overlapping as to make the respective scales redundant with respect to factorial content. (Author/RC)

Gives a brief history of the polling phenomenon and step-by-step instructions for conducting a reliable poll for a high school newspaper. (HTH)

Utilizing data from the 1977 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) survey of young adults, summarizes attitudes toward genetic modification research and the demographic, educational, and occupational correlates of these attitudes. (Author/SK)

Argues that the news media actively promoted presidential debates, sought to establish expectations, and then became active critics. Concludes that presidential skills were seen as more important than message content. Notes that the current format does not enlarge public understanding and suggests a Lincoln-Douglas format in the future. (PD)

School District 126 in Cook County (Illinois) conducts its own opinion polls to stay in touch with its constituents--and then puts the results to use. (Author)

Reports the results of a recent survey of 2,282 educators to determine their perceptions of the major problems facing U.S. public schools. Compares findings of the survey with those of the 1981 Gallup Poll of public attitudes toward the public schools. (WD)

This paper analyzes the concept of research in education and relates that analysis to the Scottish situation. Some of the areas of neglect are identified and explanations of a "political" kind are offered for the present unsatisfactory state of affairs. (Author/KC)

This paper establishes a set of criteria which can be used by a curriculum specialist for accepting or modifying a client's goals, and discusses the possible justification of attempting to replace a client's goals with one's own. (Author/KC)

To assess whether newspaper advertising would affect attitudes toward handicapped children, a series of newspaper advertisements were run over a five-month period. It was concluded that the ads produced significant difference in attitudes of persons manifest by their response to the questionnaire. (SB)