Because historical objects have a powerful presence, they can be equally powerful as educational tools. Historic sites and the professionals who staff them are uniquely qualified to deal with these objects and their context. By teaching students methods of interpreting artifacts and documents, youngsters can develop higher-level cognitive skills…

The concept of social representations, which was developed by Moscovici in 1984, suggests new ways of understanding the social processes that underlie communication between individuals. A social representation is a set of concepts, statements, and explanations originating in daily life in the course of inter-individual communication. The purpose…

As part of Australia's Education and Local Development project, Tasmanian researchers investigated whether the upgrading of district schools to district high schools had contributed to the social, economic, and cultural development of the local areas. For three selected areas (Glenora, Sheffield, and Ouse), researchers gathered financial and…

The Secondary Transition Intervention Effectiveness Institute studies issues related to secondary education and transitional services for individuals with special needs. This third annual report offers an overview of secondary transitional services in the United States by Jane Dowling. Papers describing preliminary findings of the Institute's…

Sociologist Willard Waller, writing more than 50 years ago, framed many of the key ideas found in contemporary literature on school organization. This paper is both an appreciation and criticism of Waller's seminal case studies of social interaction in schools. The paper is divided into four sections. The first two explore Waller's thought and its…

To provide a framework for the design and implementation of school improvement efforts, this booklet presents summaries of research on major factors influencing student achievement--school and classroom characteristics, educational expenditures, the quantity and quality of professional staff, and social environment--and conclusions based on that…

The paper examines ethnicity in American society and the role of ethnic studies in education in the context of a critical response to a paper presented at the National Council for the Social Studies in November, 1977. The original study, "Ethnicity and the Schools," by Daniel Selakovich, claimed that ethnic studies should play no role in education…

The document describes development, objectives, and activities of an ethnic heritage studies project entitled Preserving Ethnic Traditions (PET). Undertaken to aid high school teachers and students understand ethnic traditions in Delaware, the project focused on development of skills in areas of interviewing, photography, graphics, public…

The purpose of this paper was to determine the effect of the school's structure upon three aspects of the student's political socialization: community, regime, and authorities. Age level divisions foster a sense of community in and out of school, and pupil-teacher authority relationships establish attitudes toward authorities and norms of behavior…

This activity is one of a series of 17 teacher-developed instructional activities for geography at the secondary-grade level described in SO 009 140. The activity is a simulation which involves 15 to 25 students in making decisions about the best use of an inner city tract of land. The developers recommend that the game extend over at least three…

Democratization of education is defined as equality of opportunity, aptitudes being equal, of access to further education following the compulsory classes common to all young people. The situation in France is analyzed in terms of school enrollment ratios by social class. The situation in France is compared to that in Great Britain, the United…

This national study was conducted to determine the problems of the elementary school principal; the types of assistance available to principals from the U.S. Office of Education, State departments of education, colleges and universities, State elementary school principal associations, and regional educational laboratories; and the relevance of…

An effort to assess the status of the more than 4 million Spanish-speaking Americans (La Raza) in the Southwestern 5-state area of California, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and Colorado resulted in this collection of papers. The historical perspective of the positive factors in the development and persistence of the Spanish language is examined. The…

This paper develops a conceptual framework as a guide for research analysis and the designing of experimental interventions aimed at the improvement of the socialization process of the community. Socialization agents are the parents, older and like-age peers, formal education agencies, churches, leisure time child and youth serving agencies, legal…

There is solid consensus among researchers, program providers, and families that participation in constructive activities during out-of-school time hours can contribute to a youth's healthy and positive development. This paper explores some of the key issues and challenges facing program and city leaders in creating and sustaining afterschool…