Describes a community peer participation, alcohol prevention program designed to prevent or delay alcohol use among young adolescents. Groups of students from 20 Minnesota schools planned supervised, alcohol-free activities. Program goals included peer leadership, social support for nondrinking, creating opportunities for alternative behaviors,…

Examined the relevancy of group social functioning to individual social, academic, and psychological adjustment in China. Found that social functioning--including sociability, aggression, and shyness-inhibition--of group peers had unique contributions to individual social and school adjustment and adjustment problems, and that contributions of…

This case study describes use of apprenticeship opportunities in a collaborative writing context with two primary grade students with multiple disabilities in an inclusive setting. Analysis of written work and verbal interactions revealed the collaborative peer approach fostered active and constructive participation by both students. (Contains…

A study investigated the ethnocultural composition of the peer networks of 896 suburban high school students. Results indicated that gender mix, setting mix, and frequency of contact significantly differed across homogenous, integrated, and heterogeneous peer structures, demonstrating the mitigating impact of environmental factors on the interplay…

Studied what types of parental involvement are effective as students make the transition to high school; also sought to elaborate on the role parents play in connecting their children to desirable peer networks during this transition. Identified five forms of parental involvement that helped students succeed. (Author)

Explored interrelationships among day-care experience, temperament, and preschoolers' social behaviors in a peer play laboratory. Found that sex predicted both aggressive and prosocial behaviors, and daycare inhibited socialization for some children. Findings suggest that variables of temperament and day-care experience are important to consider…

This study examined the behaviors and experiences of students who needed assistance while working in peer-directed small groups on mathematics problems and the processes that helped or hindered their learning. Students in 4 seventh-grade classes worked in heterogeneous small groups throughout a 3-week unit on operations with decimal numbers.…

Trustworthiness was examined in children and early adolescents from two countries. In Study 1,505 children in the fifth and sixth school years in the United Kingdom (mean age = 9 years 7 months) were tested across an 8-month period. In Study 2,350 sixth- through eighth-grade Canadian children and early adolescents (mean age = 12 years 11 months)…

All Stars Core is a school-based drug abuse prevention program for 11 to 14 year olds from the United States. It focuses on five qualities that protect children from drug use: viewing drug use as uncommon and unacceptable to the peer group (norms); viewing drug use as interfering with future goals; commitment to avoid drug use; positive attention…

This report reviews the benchmarking practices that are presently being used at community colleges. It introduces the concept of a "culture of inquiry" as a means for judging their potential value. It classifies benchmarking efforts among three types--performance, diagnostic, and process--and characterizes each by its typical use. The…

Students around the globe have unique first-year experiences but struggle with many of the same challenges. This monograph focuses on their journeys and provides insights for educators interested in learning about how institutions across the globe provide supports to students dealing with first-year transition issues. Based on the successful…

Human beings are in a constant ebb and flow; transcending boundaries at work and play, they learn, pray, and exist in an interdependent society. Given this reality, many practitioners, from kindergarten to college, have devised various methods of collaborative learning to meet the challenges of an increasingly diverse demographic and ethnographic…

The present study was conducted to investigate the effects of peer collaboration and individual study as modes of practice, using the lesson content of a required introductory accounting course. The study also examined the effects of using content organizers on the practice worksheets. Data were analyzed using a 2 x 2 analysis of variance…

The Urban Institute organized a workshop to receive the reactions of experts to a model for helping underclass youth, the Mentor, Peer Group, and Incentive (MPI) Model. This model uses the three components of mentors, peer groups, and incentives to improve the life chances of adolescent males in socially distressed neighborhoods. Workshop…

Alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use among public school students continues to be a major concern in Oregon as it is across the nation. This report, the sixth of the biannual public school drug use surveys conducted in Oregon since 1986, discusses major findings. These findings are (1) marijuana use is up for both the eighth and eleventh grades;…