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While antiracist, problem-posing, and culturally relevant curriculum are effective in teaching students how to deconstruct the world, in practice, social justice education often falls short of helping students reconstruct those instances. In response, researchers in this study implemented a social justice action project for high school students that focused on enacting social change. Students engaged in first identifying a social problem and then addressed the issue through a guided and scaffolded process that led to direct action. This study discusses the process of the project as well as locates several patterns that emerged to provide recommendations for critical educators looking to incite student activism and social action in their classrooms.

There is a growing demand in the US for more trained engineers, yet attrition rates from university engineering programs are high and diversity in engineering is low. Few resources have been dedicated to the improvement of freshman engineering courses even though freshman students have the highest rates of attrition. Through a synthesis of the literature on inclusive tools and participant structures in educational settings, we developed, implemented, and researched a freshman mechanical engineering design course that incorporated elements of project-based learning, collaboration, service-learning, and customer-oriented design through a partnership with a local elementary school. Our research was grounded in the value and competence belief constructs defined by expectancy-value theory. Engineering values include enjoying engineering tasks, viewing engineering as useful, and identifying as an engineer and engineering competence beliefs encompass beliefs in one's engineering abilities in the present, as well expectancies for success in the future. Rich qualitative data collected from undergraduate participants suggested that this course was highly valued and helpful for increasing engineering-related competence beliefs. Further, these positive impacts were consistent across gender. From our results, we provide recommendations for strategies to help grow and diversify engineering.

Recent census figures indicate that, compared to all races and ethnic groups, Hispanic students had the lowest rate of graduation from high school. This article explores possible predictors of dropout among Hispanic youth by comparing the Hispanic youth who dropped out of school between the 8th and 10th grade with those who continued. Data for the study came from the base year (1988) and the first follow-up (1990) of the National Longitudinal Study of Eighth Graders. Out of almost 25,000 8th graders tested in 1988, 3,171 were identified as Hispanic. In addition to performance on standardized achievement tests, a variety of individual, school, and family-level variables were also available. Preliminary descriptive analyses indicated that the dropout sample was different from the rest of the Hispanic youth in their attitudes towards school while in the 8th grade. The dropout sample also featured a lowered sense of efficacy, lower self-esteem, and lower educational aspirations in the 8th grade than did continuing students. They also felt less safe at school. Likewise, the dropout sample had lower scores on standardized tests. It is recommended that opportunities be provided for creating positive self-perceptions in minority youth, especially in academic areas. (RJM)

The following addresses or abstracts of addresses are included: "Partnerships: Definitions, Key Ingredients, and Behaviors" (Sujansky); "A Different Mirror: Multicultural Partnerships in Continuing Higher Education" (Takaki); "Mediating Multicultural Crisis in Continuing Higher Education: Partnerships for the Department of Justice and the Academy" (Glenn); "Re-Inventing the University: From Ivory Tower to Civic Partner" (Scott); and "Partners in Learning; Adult Learners and Adult Educators" (Brookfield). Concurrent session presentations include the following: "Course Assignments and the Adult Learner: Strategies that Work" (Campbell); "The Development and Implementation of the Chester County Training Partnership" (Kray); "Partnerships Enhancing International Continuing Higher Education Programming: Three Award-Winning Programs" (Walker, Hendrick); "Leadership in Building Institutional Partnerships" (Sweeney, Ryan, Fitzgerald); "Partnering with Government and Other Higher Education Institutions" (Hoskins, Maras, Murphy); "Partnerships in Learning; An Eclectic Approach" (Kops); "In Matters of Degree, Let Us Show You the Way" (Stickney-Taylor, Stewart); "Partnering--Doing More with Less" (Hendrick, Beisel); "Internal and External Connections: Creating Win-Win Partnerships" (Harris; Vonler); "A Cooperative Partnership in Continuing Higher Education" (Denison, Feather); "Regional Collaboration which Fosters Learning for Adults with Special Needs" (Gadbow, DuBois); "Cohorts: Building Internal Networks for More Effective College/Corporate Partnerships" (Madere);"Partnerships for Learning in International Programming" (Abrams); "Corporation Meets College: A Model Partnership" (Miller, Meehan); "The Dynamics of Partnership Development and Maintenance in Continuing Professional Education Programming" (Donaldson, Kozoll); "Collaborative Partnerships in Degree Programs for Adult Students" (Jones, Verlench, Myers); and "Distance Learning: Exploring New Opportunities through Collaboration" (Anspacher, McCabe). The document also contains a summary of the business meeting of the association, and 17 appendixes detailing association committees and conference information. (KC)

This paper presents findings of a study that explored the governance and administration of elementary and secondary schools in Bavaria, in the Federal Republic of Germany. The sample included 12 Bavarian schools--3 each of the following 4 types of schools--elementary (Grundschulen) and secondary (Gymnasien, Realschulen, and Hauptschulen). Data were gathered from interviews with school principals or headmasters and some administrative staff, observation, and document analysis. Findings showed that the selection process for teachers in Germany is much more rigorous than in the United States. Principals are experienced classroom teachers with proven ability who continue to teach. In addition, the entire district apparatus is missing; there are no superintendents, lay boards of education, and so forth. Bavarian schools appear to function extremely well within a framework of fairly tight external control, while enjoying strong professionalism among educators and freedom from the micromanagement that all too often plagues their American counterparts. Findings underscore the need for fundamental and systemic reform in the United States; high student achievement must be preceded by advances in teacher professionalism. (Contains 35 references and 11 footnotes.) (LMI)

These proceedings record the addresses, concurrent sessions, and business meetings of the annual meeting of the Association for Continuing Higher Education (ACHE). Part 1 consists of three addresses: "World Collaboration for a Global Perspective" (Beverly Cassara); "When Chaos Is the Solution: A Paradigm for 21st Century Mandates and Strategies" (Barbara Mossberg); and "Enhancing Continuing Education through Partnerships" (James Vondrell). Part 2 contains 12 concurrent session presentations: "U.S. Branch Campuses in Japan: An Experiment in International Cooperation in Education" (Michael Harpending); "Fostering Cross-Cultural Communication: English and Business for Internationals" (Alan Lytle); "Recruitment and Retention of People of Color: A Dual Perspective" (Barbara Roseboro, Bobbie Walls); "Can We Ignore Half the Future of Higher Education?" (Honour Moore); "Rethinking Continuing Higher Education: A Survey of the ACHE Membership" (Raymond Campbell); "Institutes for Learning in Retirement Enrich Campus and Community" (James Verschueren); "The Global Technology of Fiber Optics" (Dan Brook et al.); "Improve the Quality of Continuing Higher Educator's Leadership Role in Economic and Community Development Planning" (Michael Vavrek et al.); "Where Is Nontraditional Education Going? Exploring the Dynamics of Change" (Patricia Sparks); "Working with the Federal Government to Provide International Training Programs" (Eric Grosse); "Implementing Gender/Multicultural Equity: A Study of Faculty Response" (Sylvia McLaurin, Elizabeth Tisdell); and "A New Look at Older Adult Programming" (Judith Hochman et al.). Part 3 contains a summary of business meetings. Part 4 includes these appendixes: membership report, comparative financial summary, and committee reports. (YLB)

The conference that generated these papers focused on the range of issues presently facing university libraries. Because there is no general consensus on the nature or importance of the most substantive problems or the solutions to those problems, the conference was designed to encourage discussion of the issues. An analysis of a series of recent government reports on aspects of higher education, which was made available to all speakers and participants, provided a special context for the conference. This publication includes two background papers, a keynote address, and six additional papers: (1) Background Paper: "Confronting the Future: University Libraries in the Next Decade--An Outline of Some Issues (Christine Henderson and W. Boyd Rayward); (2) Background Paper:"Commonwealth Government Policy and Reports on Higher Education: An Overview for Libraries" (Stephen Oakshott); (3) Keynote Address: "Print, Automated, Electronic: University Libraries in the Next Decade" (Michael Buckland); (4) "Challenges Confronting University Libraries and Strategies for Response" (K. R. McKinnon); (5) "Funding of Higher Education: Issues for Libraries" (George Zuber); (6) "Libraries in Education for the 21st Century: Intersectoral Relationships" (Gregor Ramsey); (7) "Shifting the Paradigm: Successfully Managing University Libraries" (Robert Prinable); (8) "Tactics or Strategy? The Future from the University Information Provider's Perspective" (Tom Cochrane); and (9) "Conclusion" (Tony Wicken). The volume also contains highlights of the general discussion and a brief biography of each of the 10 contributors of papers. (KRN)

We developed the Draw-A-Computer-Scientist-Test (DACST) to better understand elementary school students' conceptions of computer scientists and the nature of their work. By understanding how young children perceive computer scientists, we can broaden their ideas about the activities and images of computer scientists. We administered the DACST to 185, fourth through sixth grade students (aged 8-11). We found that students most often drew male computer scientists working alone. Students had a basic understanding of what computer scientists do, but the DACST did not always capture the nuances involved in this work. Commonly drawn actions included programming websites, games, and animations. Some students drew positive expressions of excitement around programming. A small percentage of students confused "computer scientist" and "scientist."