The Prestige of the High School as Viewed by Parents

Rather than being an inherent attribute of the school, prestige is conceived as attribute conferred upon the school by the public. The present research sought to explore the factors that contribute to the prestige of high schools, in the view of parents. Data were obtained from 465 parents of 9th and 11th graders attending 18 state‐secular junior and senior high schools. Educational attainment was found to be the prime correlate of school prestige, followed by—in descending order—the quality of teachers, students, parents, school policies, climate, management, and physical facilities. Although factors intrinsic to education proper were found to be the prime source of attribution of prestige to schools, certain parents subgroups were identified for whom prestige was related primarily to extrinsic features. A ‘halo effect’ was indicated demonstrating the reliance of prestige attribution on stereotyped perception. The findings of this pilot study are discussed and suggestions for further research are outlined.     

Advancement of Preschoolers' Resilience: The A. R. Y. A. Project

While it is well known that resilience develops from a young age, specific interventions that might promote resilience in very young children remain to be developed. The A.R.Y.A. Project addresses 4-year-old inner-city kindergartners. The project comprises individual sessions, 20 minutes each, and group sessions (involving either part of or the entire kindergarten)—lasting altogether for an approximately 8-month period. In both the individual and group sessions, children learned and discussed various topics concerning animal stress and coping behavior. Subsequently, they are guided to adapt this knowledge to their own personal life. First-year evaluation indicates that both kindergarten teachers' and parents' evaluations as well as children's responses support the assumption that the project positively affects children's resilience.     

Some assembly required: How scientific explanations are constructed during clinical interviews

This article is concerned with commonsense science knowledge, the informally gained knowledge of the natural world that students possess prior to formal instruction in a scientific discipline. Although commonsense science has been the focus of substantial study for more than two decades, there are still profound disagreements about its nature and origin, and its role in science learning. What is the reason that it has been so difficult to reach consensus? We believe that the problems run deep; there are difficulties both with how the field has framed questions and the way that it has gone about seeking answers. In order to make progress, we believe it will be helpful to focus on one type of research instrument—the clinical interview—that is employed in the study of commonsense science. More specifically, we argue that we should seek to understand and model, on a moment‐by‐moment basis, student reasoning as it occurs in the interviews employed to study commonsense science. To illustrate and support this claim, we draw on a corpus of interviews with middle school students in which the students were asked questions pertaining to the seasons and climate phenomena. Our analysis of this corpus is based on what we call the mode‐node framework. In this framework, student reasoning is seen as drawing on a set of knowledge elements we call nodes, and this set produces temporary explanatory structures we call dynamic mental constructs. Furthermore, the analysis of our corpus seeks to highlight certain patterns of student reasoning that occur during interviews, patterns in what we call conceptual dynamics. These include patterns in which students can be seen to search through available knowledge (nodes), in which they assemble nodes into an explanation, and in which they converge on and shift among alternative explanations. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 49: 166–198, 2012     

Female ‘big fish’ swimming against the tide: The ‘big-fish-little-pond effect’ and gender-ratio in special gifted classes

This study takes a second look at the “big-fish-little-pond effect” (BFLPE) on a national sample of 769 gifted Israeli students (32% female) previously investigated by Zeidner and Schleyer (Zeidner, M., & Schleyer, E. J., (1999a). The big-fish-little-pond effect for academic self-concept, test anxiety, and school grades in gifted children. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 24, 305–329). The reanalysis of the data, using HLM methodology, was designed to partition individual differences from aggregate group variance, as well as to test a number of focused hypotheses regarding the effects of gender and gender-ratio in class on self-concept. With respect to self-concept, the BFLPE hypothesizes that it is better to be a good student in an average-ability reference group than to be a good student in a high-ability reference group. Prior studies explored the BFLPE comparing gifted students in different educational contexts. Here, the BFLPE was exclusively investigated within special gifted classes. Results supported the BFLPE for academic self-concept. Furthermore, whereas girls’ academic self-concept was negatively influenced by gender-ratio (percentage of boys in class), gender-ratio had no significant influence on boys’ academic self-concept.     

Adolescents' help-seeking behaviour in times of community crisis

Help-seeking behaviours during the 1991 Gulf War of 954 high school students were investigated. This study explored the frequency and determinants of such behaviours, in such a community crisis. Out of respondents, 7.5% expressed a need to talk with the school counsellor about their feelings. Students' tendency to ask for help from the counsellor correlated with their feelings of stress and sense of coping, as well as their evaluations of peers' feelings and coping. Students' views of their teacher's opinion of them also played a role in their decision to seek help. The study concludes that adolescents' help-seeking behaviour in this context was shaped by both situational conditions and self-evaluative factors.     

Dynamics of Isolation and Integration in Ultra-Orthodox Schools: The Epistemological Implications of Using Rabbeim as Secular Studies Teachers

This article explores the complex dynamics that take place in ultra-Orthodox schools as they attempt to maintain a contra-acculturative stance toward secular knowledge, while providing students with the necessary tools to become functioning members of society. Using two case studies, this article looks at how the recent practice of using Rabbeim as secular studies instructors in elementary schools might reflect broader communal and cultural changes in ultra-Orthodox attitudes toward the integration of the secular and the religious.     

The Anne Frank Haven: A case of an alternative educational program in an integrative Kibbutz setting

The essential features of the programme of the Anne Frank Haven are the complete integration of children from low SES and different cultural backgrounds with Kibbutz children; a holistic approach to education; and the involvement of the whole community in an open residential school. After 33 years, it is argued that the experiment has proved successful in absorbing city-born youth in the Kibbutz, enabling at-risk populations to reach significant academic achievements, and ensuring their continued participation in the dominant culture. The basic integration model consists of layers of concentric circles, in dynamic interaction. The innermost circle is the class, the learning community. The Kibbutz community and the foster parents form a supportive, enveloping circle, which enables students to become part of the outer community and to intervene in it. A kind of meta-environment, the inter-Kibbutz partnership and the Israeli educational system, influence the program through decision making and guidance. Some of the principles of the Haven — integration, community involvement, a year's induction for all new students, and open residential settings — could be useful for cultures and societies outside the Kibbutz. The real secret of success of an alternative educational program is the dedicated, motivated and highly trained staff.

---

Zusammenfassung Die Hauptpunkte des Programms des Anne-Frank-Internats sind die vollständige Integration von Kindern aus sozial schwachen Familien und unterschiedlichem kulturellen Hintergrund in die Gruppe von Kibbutz-Kindern, ein holistischer Ansatz zur Erziehung und die Beteiligung der gesamten Gemeinde an einer offenen Heimschule. Das Experiment wird von den Autoren 33 Jahre nach Beginn als erfolgreich angesehen, sowohl bei der Integration der Stadtjugend in den Kibbutz und den eröffneten Möglichkeiten für Risikogruppen, bedeutende akademische Leistungen zu vollbringen, als auch bei deren gesicherter kontinuierlicher Beteiligung an einer dominanten Kultur. Das Grundintegrationsmodell besteht aus Schichten konzentrischer Kreise in dynamischer Interaktion. Der innerste Kreis ist die Klasse, die Lerngemeinschaft. Die Kibbutz-Gesellschaft und die Pflegeeltern bilden einen unterstützenden und beschützenden Kreis, der es den Schülern ermöglicht, Teil der äußeren Gemeinde zu werden und sich dort zu engagieren. Eine Art Meta-Umgebung, die Partnerschaft zwischen den Kibbutzim und das israelische Schulsystem beeinflussen das Programm, indem Entscheidungen getroffen und Richtlinien gegeben werden. Einige der Prinzipien des Internats wie Integration, Beteiligung der Gemeinden, einjährige Einführungszeit für alle neuen Schüler und offene Wohnbedingungen, könnten für Kulturen und Gesellschaften außerhalb des Kibbutz ebenfalls von Interesse sein. Das wahre Geheimnis des Erfolgs eines alternativen Schulprogramms ist jedoch engagiertes, motiviertes und hochqualifiziertes Personal.

---

Résumé L'insertion complète des enfants de bas statut socio-économique et de milieux culturels différents aux enfants des kibboutz, une approche holistique de l'enseignement et la participation de l'ensemble de la communauté à une école résidentielle ouverte constituent les caractéristiques essentielles du programme Anne Frank Haven. On est d'avis, 33 ans plus tard, que cette expérience a réussi à intégrer les jeunes citadins dans les kibboutz, à donner un niveau de scolarité satisfaisant aux populations à risque et à assurer leur participation continue à la culture dominante. Le modèle d'intégration de base est constitué de couches de cercles concentriques en interaction dynamique. Le cercle le plus au centre représente la classe, la communauté qui apprend. La collectivité du kibboutz et les parents nourriciers forment un cercle de soutien enveloppant qui permet aux élèves de prendre part à la vie de la communauté extérieure et d'intervenir au sein de celle-ci. Une sorte de méta-environnement, l'association entre les kibboutz et le système éducatif israélien exercent une influence sur le programme par leurs décisions et les conseils qu'ils prodiguent. Quelques-uns des principes du programme Haven, tels que l'intégration, la participation de la communauté, une année d'initiation pour tous les nouveaux élèves et les structures d'internat ouvert, pourraient servir aux cultures et sociétés à l'extérieur des kibboutz. Le véritable secret du succès d'un programme éducatif non conventionnel repose sur un personnel dévoué, motivé et parfaitement formé.