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To identify independent correlates of reported gambling problems amongst the Indigenous population of Australia. A cross-sectional design was applied to a nationally representative sample of the Indigenous population. Estimates of reported gambling problems are presented by remoteness and jurisdiction. Multivariable logistic regression was used to identify independent correlates of reported gambling problems amongst individuals and their social and family networks. The analysis was stratified by remoteness. Indigenous people living in remote locations reported significantly more gambling problems than those living in non-remote locations. In non-remote areas, being female, having high personal income, being more socially connected (i.e. involved in an Indigenous organisation or living in a household where all members were Indigenous) and reporting community problems were associated with higher levels of reported gambling problems. In remote areas, multifamily households, participation in sports and cultural events, and reporting of community problems were associated with higher reported gambling problems, while having a relative removed from their natural family was associated with lower reported problems. Problematic gambling is clearly related to the social and environmental contexts in which it occurs. Harm minimisation policies that focus on a reduction in crowding (especially in remote locations), increased public awareness of the negative consequences of gambling, improving access to support services, and lifting the socioeconomic status of Indigenous people may reduce gambling related harm in the medium to long term.

Five experiments examined crowding effects with letter and symbol stimuli. Experiments 1 through 3 compared 2-alternative forced-choice (2AFC) identification accuracy for isolated targets presented left and right of fixation with targets flanked either by 2 other items of the same category or a single item situated to the right or left of targets. Interference from flankers (crowding) was significantly stronger for symbols than letters. Single flankers generated performance similar to the isolated targets when the stimuli were letters but closer to the 2-flanker condition when the stimuli were symbols. Experiment 4 confirmed this pattern using a partial-report bar probe procedure. Experiment 5 showed that another measure of crowding, critical spacing, was greater for symbols than for letters. The results support the hypothesis that letter-string processing involves a specialized system developed to limit the spatial extent of crowding for letters in words. (Contains 3 footnotes, 4 tables, and 8 figures.)

Residential crowding in both U.S. and U.K. samples of 36-month-old children is related concurrently to the Bracken scale, a standard index of early cognitive development skills including letter and color identification, shape recognition, and elementary numeric comprehension. In the U.S. sample, these effects also replicate prospectively. Statistical controls for income, child gender, maternal age, and maternal education are incorporated throughout. In both samples the association between crowding and cognitive development are mediated by maternal responsiveness. Mothers in more crowded homes are less responsive to their children. (Contains 4 tables.)

Conflicts over East Jerusalem are often thought to reflect larger conflicts in the Middle East. In this article, the authors focus on schooling in East Jerusalem in order to provide a better appreciation of the protracted conflict in the area. This close examination of schooling in East Jerusalem can illuminate reasons for the political paralysis that has beset Jerusalem since 1967. Their study draws on a series of in-depth interviews with officials, principals, teachers, and students. Their purpose is to show both the unique sociopolitical position of the East Jerusalem residents and their system of education. In addition, the authors illustrate the challenges that this distinctive system faces in terms of crowded classrooms, funding of school programs, and the teaching force. The day-to-day reality of schooling in East Jerusalem exposes why it is so difficult to separate the Israeli and Palestinian political entities. The evidence leads to the conclusion that, in the absence of a fundamental change, the exceptional predicament of East Jerusalem and its educational system--centered in the midst of a state of exception--is likely to remain poor and frustrating, paralyzing both sides in a contained exchange of blows on an otherwise roaring political volcano. (Contains 1 table, 1 figure, and 8 footnotes.)

Erving Goffman's concept of the gathering: the co-presence of two or more individuals in a common location in space and time. Research has shown that most gathering members assemble, remain and ultimately disperse together with one or more companions. "Singles" assemble and act alone but may intermittently interact with other "singles: or "withs" and occasionally join others in more inclusive forms of collective action. In this article, the author talks about gatherings as patchworks and reports the works of sociologists that hold much promise for the replacement of "crowd psychology" with a sociologically informed social psychology of what individuals do alone and with others in temporary gatherings.

The literature on prison crowding underscores the potential importance of both state- and facility-level effects on crowding, although empirical research has not assessed these relative effects because of the sole focus on states as units of analysis. This article describes findings from bi-level analyses of crowding across 459 state-operated facilities in 45 states. Findings from cross-sectional models of prison crowding in 1995 and 2000, measured as a ratio of a facility's inmate population to its design capacity, revealed significant differences in levels of crowding based on costs, types of inmates held, and court orders (at the facility level), as well as sentencing policies and the annual number of drug arrests (at the state level). A longitudinal analysis also revealed that differences in crowding levels between 1995 and 2000 coincided with changes in whether facilities increased their design capacity and with rising costs of incarceration. The implications of these findings are discussed. (Contains 8 tables and 3 notes.)

This article shows how sixth graders engaged in authentic problem posing related to overcrowding at their school. Students posed authentic problems about their school space and then used mathematics as a tool to investigate and act on the situation. (Contains 6 figures.)

Public opinion surveys conducted by Public Agenda confirm that parents, students, and educators from diverse ethnic groups share the same fundamental aspirations for education and agree on the basic reforms needed in schools. The author, a senior advisor for Public Agenda, describes survey findings that suggest that all groups see education as the key to success in life. Black and Hispanic parents and students, however, report greater dissatisfaction with their schools' standards and climate. The authors suggest that the key to closing achievement gaps and responding to increasing diversity is not to redesign schools, but to "work harder than ever to provide all students with strong academic programs, qualified and motivated teachers, and respectful and nurturing school climates."

Damage to the brain in children results in a multiplicity of visual difficulties which have to be managed both at home and at school. Parents of such children have detailed knowledge about the nature and characteristics of their child's visual difficulties and develop a range of coping strategies, often without realizing they have done so. The parents of children with such problems were invited to a meeting in which they were encouraged to share their experiences with each other. This article provides a detailed account of the approaches which the parents described as being helpful in the day to day care of their children.

In the last five years, a growing number of large, urban school districts have moved to close what are termed "troubled" 6-8 middle schools and have opened K-8 schools in their place: Boston, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Milwaukee, Newark, New Orleans, New York City, Oklahoma City, and Philadelphia have been among the first to do so. With a little fervent support for its continuation, and a preference for an alternative gathering momentum in major urban American school districts, it is possible that a substantial reconfiguration of schooling for young adolescents will continue. District leaders moving to K-8 have asserted, that their young adolescents will be better served in K-8 schools with an "elementary flavor" than they have been in the so-called "troubled" middle schools. In this article, the author discusses the negative and positive outcomes of this reconfiguration. Thus, the author states that "troubled" middle schools are likely to result from troubled lives and that troubled schools are not the result of the grade configuration or the name of the school. (Contains 1 figure.)

The authors provide a version of a double-auction market simulation designed for classes too large for most computer labs to accommodate in one sitting. Instead, students play the game from remote computers, wherever they may be and at any time during a given time period specified by the instructor. When the window of time expires, students can view the results in a variety of pedagogically relevant displays. The authors also provide a set of on-line activities that take the student "by the hand" through a simple analysis of the simulation. Educators can use, copy, modify, and distribute the source code for this software under the GNU General Public Licence.

Pictorial space can be conceptualized as aggregate space (where figures compete for limited available space) or as axial space (where space is infinite and exists independently of figures). That these two kinds of space concepts follow a developmental sequence was tested by investigating size regulation mechanisms in 7- to 12-year-old children's figure drawings. An earlier longitudinal study had shown that the more figures were drawn and the more complex the spatial axes system, the smaller the figures. Two studies confirmed that object-driven size reduction was the size regulation mechanism in younger children, whereas axes-driven size reduction was the only factor regulating figure size in 12-year-old children. Size reduction occurred in a gradual fashion in younger children, whereas size reduction was more pronounced in crossed axes systems in older children. In addition, 7-year-old children showed a dynamic and fluid interaction between internal and external task demands for size regulation.

Zoo projects that encourage reflective learning and are legitimate undertakings for untrained undergraduates are hard to develop. In this article, the author, as a professor in anthropology, discusses and teaches primate studies. His pedagogical goal in teaching primate studies is to enhance the process of learning, and to consider that students taking this course come from various backgrounds. Integrated into the course are two semester themes and projects relating to them: "Conservation" and "Well-Being in Captivity." These two themes lead students to observe and evaluate the social behavior of nonhuman primates. Thus, the author states that his intent is for students with disparate backgrounds to reflect on the world condition of nonhuman primates (NHPs) in their natural habitats--that is, issues of conservation and species preservation.

Jail crowding is a substantial concern for many local jurisdictions. Although several authors have suggested a system-wide approach to reduce crowding, relatively little is known about how top local criminal justice officials view this issue. Using interviews and surveys of criminal justice leaders in a large southern metropolitan county, this study examined perspectives on jail crowding and perceived interagency relationships. Consistent with prior studies, the respondents agreed that jail crowding is a problem and that the consequences of crowding extend beyond the correctional facility. Greater discord was observed on issues of agency responsibility for changing policies to effect reductions in crowding. Findings are interpreted within the context of a "loose coupling" framework of criminal justice organizations. (Contains 5 tables and 6 notes.)

Discusses how to address the issue of a course becoming too popular. Uses as an example the Age of Dinosaurs course at the University of Texas at Dallas. Describes some issues that can arise such as classroom overflow, overwhelmed labs, cheating, testing methods, and asynchronous instruction. Recommends looking to web-based course management software for solutions. (Author/NB)

The annual report on the state of education notes that after the shock of September 11, came a renewed sense of patriotism among young people. Charts and graphs display test results of the civic knowledge of U.S. 9th graders, scores from 4th-grade reading tests, 4th-, 8th-, and 12th grade math tests, and SAT scores Other items include postsecondary plans, dropouts, overcrowding, and teacher retention. (MLF)

Several districts have taken a radical approach to middle/high school transitions, removing ninth-graders from the mix to give them the attention needed to succeed in high school. Three ninth-grade-only schools with 720 to 750 students in Virginia, Texas, and Pennsylvania are profiled. Students experience less social pressure from upper-classmen. (MLH)

Explored coping mechanisms in outdoor recreation in response to crowing and conflict, measuring perceived changes in amounts and types of recreation use occurring at one national park and the extent to which park visitors adopted coping mechanisms. People near the park adopted coping mechanisms at relatively high levels. Coping related to perceived changes in amount and type of outdoor recreation. (SM)

Provides national data on the condition of public school facilities and the costs to bring them into good condition; school plans for repairs, renovations, and replacements; the age of public schools; and overcrowding and practices used to address overcrowding. Data are from the Public School Facilities Survey of the National Center for Education Statistics. (Author/SLD)

Examined association between residential density and parent/child speech in toddlers and parents participating in the University of Kansas Language Acquisition Project. Found that parents in crowded homes spoke with children in less complex, sophisticated ways than parents in uncrowded homes. The association was mediated by parental responsiveness; parents in more crowded homes were less verbally responsive to their children. (Author/KB)

Examined the practices and experiences of three elementary-level physical education teachers as they attempted to provide quality learning experiences to large classes of students. Data from lesson observations and interviews indicated that while the teachers provided high quality instruction, they were working under considerable hardship and had feelings of marginalization and powerlessness over their students. (SM)

Discusses the reasons why schools choose year-round multi-track (YRMT) scheduling. Asserts that YRMT scheduling seriously affects music teachers since they spend less time with the students and must plan in smaller increments. Provides the results from a survey where music teachers in Florida (Orange County) commented on their experiences with YRMT scheduling. (CMK)

Examined the connection between chronic residential crowding and student adjustment, academic achievement, vulnerability to learned helplessness, blood pressure, and parent-child relationship in 10- to 12-year olds in urban India. Found that crowding was positively associated with blood pressure only among boys, and with learned helplessness only among girls. Perceived parent-child conflict accounted for several correlates of crowding among children. (Author)

Describes the Youth Art Month exhibit in Howard County (Maryland) where students submitted their art focusing on school buildings and their interiors. Their art reveals concerns and desires about overcrowding, space utilization, school building height, outside lighting, solitude needs, and visual stimulation. The artwork is discussed in terms of the importance of learning environments and future facilities planning.(GR)

Growth in student enrollment is a statewide phenomenon in California. Options to overcrowding include year-round education, portable classrooms, new school construction, and maintenance of existing schools. The Association of California School Administrators is seeking specific legislative remedies. (MLF)