Secondary students pretend to be members of a committee studying proposals for a new U.S. constitution. They are given a list of 24 constitutional civil rights, taken from the U.S. and Soviet constitutions, and asked to select the 12 they like best. Discussion and analysis follow the selection process. (RM)

Explains why the transition economies experienced sharp decline after the breakup of the former Soviet Union. Offers some personal accounts and comments on prospects for future development in Central and Eastern Europe. Notes how people in these countries view the transition to market economies. (DSK)

Describes two books of curriculum materials published by the National Council on Economic Education regarding the Central and East European transition economies: (1) "Economies in Transition: Command to Market" (1997); and (2) "From Plan to Market: Teaching Ideas for Social Studies, Economics, and Business Classes" (1997). (DSK)

Explains the leadership role taken by the National Council on Economic Education (NCEE) in running programs in the transition economies to prepare classroom teachers and teacher educators for teaching the basics of how market economies work. Describes training, curriculum development, and exchange programs conducted by NCEE. (DSK)

During the spring and summer 1999, to increase his understanding of the mental pictures that young adolescents hold of their own nation and other nations, the author interviewed students from four sociologically similar urban-area New York schools and students in a junior high school class in Oslo, Norway. He used a semantic differential survey…