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The purpose of this study was twofold: (1) to examine the nature and causes of school discipline problems and school violence including an increase in the number of racial, cultural, and class hostility incidents; and (2) to offer remedies which might help alleviate disruptions to the learning process. Eight middle schools with a total of 3,212 black and 6,460 white students were surveyed to identify the most frequent incidents of rule violations and school violence by ethnicity. Findings indicated that a larger percentage of black students engaged in fighting, caused disturbances in class, showed disrespect for authority, violated school rules, and cut classes than did white students. Suggested remedies for alleviating the violence and discipline problems in public schools are offered including: clearly defining the school's mission and culture; considering the consequences of judicial mandates such as busing, racial quotas, and student due process; acknowledging cultural and ethnic differences in lifestyles, values, and beliefs; lowering the mandatory school attendance age to 14 years; and establishing transition schools for disruptive students, peer mediation teams, and compulsory orientation programs to teach the school's culture to all students. (LL)

Offered for teachers who are overwhelmed by the task of selecting specific details from referral information for application with the learning disabled child is an analysis of prescriptive teaching for early childhood. Prescriptive teaching is described in terms of utilizing diagnostic information by modifying the educational program and indicating what is educationally relevant to the child's disability and learning modality. Discussed are: (1) the rationale for use of the technique; (2) structuring, which is based on the diagnostic formula and behavior patterning of the child; and (3) the reporting of diagnostic findings, involving only findings that have educational relevance. The teacher who uses prescriptive teaching is described to be a diagnostician who needs to be sensitive to the learning process for detecting factors of attention span, pace of learning, and style of learning. The technique is recommended as a system of teaching which brings about improvement in the therapeutic area and, with time, improves performance of the learner. (MC)

This paper describes the Child Development Associate (CDA) pilot program designed to establish an effective and economical system of training and credentialling for individuals working with preschool children. Candidates must be high school graduates, must have less than 40 college credit hours, and must be employed as an aide or a teacher in the Headstart program or be interested in working in an early childhood education center. Participants were observed during the first two weeks of the program and assessed in terms of the use of the physical facilities, utilization of space, materials available, use of materials, and the general effectiveness of the CDA candidate. This data also indicated the level and intensity of instruction as related to each of the specific competencies. Classes were held once a week to discuss the competencies, and structured and unstructured observations were also made during the week. A checklist was developed and used to determine the overall effectiveness of the program and the level at which each participant demonstrated competency. The results will be analyzed by two indepedent judges. (PD)