Taking the Show on the Road in Holding Academic Classes in Community Agencies: Exploratory Study Findings

Social work educators often teach students clinical knowledge within a university classroom, whereas students tend to learn clinical practice through their practicum experiences. This article describes data from a cross-sectional, mixed-method study on one way to effectively bridge the gap between teaching clinical knowledge and practice to graduate students. In this study, students participated in a newly developed and delivered 3-hour weekly course, over 12 weeks, based around students’ observation of ongoing live family therapy sessions at a children’s mental health organization. Findings suggest that this course design can fill a gap between the classroom and practicum experiences for students.     

The Relationship Between Relational Aggression in Kindergarten Children and Friendship Stability, Mutuality, and Peer Liking

The current study examined relational aggression in kindergarten children and how it relates to aspects of their friendships over a 2-month period. Participants were 74 boys and girls (ages 5 and 6). Teacher report and peer nominations assessed relational and physical aggression. Children also rated each child in their class on liking and identified their friends. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses showed that peer nominations of relational aggression were negatively related to Time 1 liking, Time 1 number of mutual friends, and friendship stability even when teacher ratings of physical aggression were controlled. Physical aggression was also significantly related to these variables. Relational aggression (but not physical aggression) significantly predicted declines in the number of mutual friendships and liking two months later.     

The effects of students' academic,financial, and demographic variables on time to the doctorate

The time taken to earn doctorates is of major importance to administrators and faculty. By using stepwise multiple regression techniques, this study predicted time to doctorate from the available demographic, academic, and financial variables and determined the significance of each variable on time to the doctorate. The data for this study came from the National Research Council's Doctorate Records File extract prepared for UCLA. This institution is particularly appropriate for a study of this kind, since it annually awards over 400 doctorates in over 75 different majors. Its doctoral recipients represent the range of academic fields of study. The results of this study indicated that source of support was the most important variable in predicting time to doctorate. Following source of support were postdoctoral plans, number of dependents, sex, and field of study. Together these variables explained a significant amount of variation in the criterion variable.     

An assessment of college recruitment literature: Does the high school senior understand it?

This study investigated the reading difficulty level of college recruitment literature and the ability of college-bound high-school students to understand the terminology frequently used in college admissions. The reading difficulty of the forty-two catalogs and analyzed was at a level appropriate to an advanced college student or college graduate. Moreover, high-school students had considerable difficulty identifying the correct use of terms commonly found in sections of college catalogs.     

A study of the effect of sustained,whole‐school professional development on student achievement in science

This longitudinal study of middle school science teachers explored the relationship, if any, between teacher participation in whole‐school, sustained, collaborative professional development and student achievement in science. Eleven teachers from Glendale Middle School participated in the Discovery Model Schools Initiative 2‐week summer institute, followed by monthly release day professional development sessions focused on implementing instruction outlined in the National Science Education Standards. Student achievement was assessed using the Discovery Inquiry Test in Science. The same students completed the test in grades 6–8. Students of teachers at Glendale Middle School significantly outperformed students at the control school. Findings in this study revealed the positive impact that whole‐school, sustained, collaborative professional development programs have on student achievement, indicating that programs of this nature could be a means to narrowing or eliminating achievement gaps in science. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 44: 775–786, 2007     

Role Stress Among Practicing School Counselors

Practicing school counselors (N = 512) were surveyed, using the Role Questionnaire (J. R. Rizzo, R. J. House, & S. I. Lirtzman, 1970), to determine levels of role conflict, role incongruence, and role ambiguity. Additionally, 8 characteristics of the participants' positions as school counselors were examined to determine what factors might affect role stress. Data were examined for the total group and by school level. Elementary school counselors were found to have lower levels of role conflict and role incongruence than high school counselors. Believing that the job matched their initial perceptions, that they were adequately trained, and that peer supervision was available were predictors of reduced role stress among the group and for various school level subgroups.