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A needs assessment was conducted to identify top priorities for the development of a Comprehensive Guidance Program (CGP). The assessment was given to junior high students (grades 7-9) and their parents. This thesis is a comparison of students' and parents' perceptions of the needs of students in junior high school setting. The findings indicate the parents and students shared similar views on themes of support for career and future plans, concern for more information on health issues, and concerns of what servics the school should provide. However students' and parents' individual needs were not similar. A Spearman Rho test showed a very low overall correlation between the ranking of needs of the two groups. The findings led to the recommendation that thematic similarities should guide the development of programs and that community support should be sought to address individual priorities identified by each group. A major benefit of the study was the development of a process for the engagement of the community in school development. Further investigation may be needed to help understand the differences in the parents' and students' perceptions. / viii, 120 leaves ; 29 cm.

This study investigated levels of general, academic, and social self-concept in junior high school children. The effects of Gender, IQ and achievement level, as well as type of program were also considered in relation to self-concept. / Subjects were 85 students in grades 7 and 8 attending a large comprehensive high school, 40 of whom participated in a specialized Talented and Gifted (TAG) program. The remaining 45 were drawn from the regular school population and constituted a comparison group. Measurements included the Piers-Harris Childrens' Self-Concept scale and the Otis-Lennon Mental Ability Test. / Results indicated no significant differences between groups on measures of general or social self-concept. On measures of academic self-concept, TAG students scored significantly higher than students from the regular program. With regard to gender effects, no significant differences emerged between males and females on measures of self-concept. Finally, no significant differences were determined on measures of self-concept between TAG participants scoring higher on measures of IQ and achievement and those scoring lower. Educational implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.

While studies in the social sciences have looked at lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth, few have focused on how they experience school. Sexual orientation is still a taboo subject or only treated cursorily in educational institutions and teacher-training programmes. Research that does look at schools is mitigated by subjects who are at different degrees of being out in their schools, or are treated as a monolith with other LGBT youth, or have been recruited through psychosocial agencies, and by data gathered retrospectively and/or at arms-length through surveys. / This dissertation describes the experience of being gay and out at school for seven male students aged sixteen to eighteen. Data was collected through multiple semistructured interviews with participants recruited through the various urban, suburban, and alternative high schools they attended at the time of this study. / Data was analyzed using a modification of the Stevick-Colaizzi-Keen method of analyzing phenomenological data (Moustakas, 1994). The theoretical framework undergirding this study is phenomenological research, arts-based research, and queer theory in education. Findings are represented as a literary novel in order to better preserve participants' voices. / Data analysis indicates that the experience of being out in high school is characterized by: (a) managing "the secret" of being gay before and during coming out; (b) seeing being gay as just being yourself; (c) perceiving the school as privately supportive, but publicly indifferent to gay students; (d) emotionally reflecting the school environment; (e) valuing relationships as a positive; (f) seeing harassment, gossip, and gender differences as negatives; (g) ascribing to perpetrators of homophobia and harassment character flaws and anachronistic beliefs; (h) being left on your own to deal with homophobia and harassment as others abdicate their responsibilities; (i) employing escapist, self-protection, and resistance strategies to deal with homophobia and harassment; (j) searching for connectivity to other gays and the LGBT community; (k) facing the silence of information and resources in schools on LGBT issues and people; and (l) advising others to be true to themselves. / This research has implications for teachers, administrators, policy-makers, and those involved in teacher education programmes who are interested in addressing the needs of gay students.

This study surveyed 527 high school seniors in five Indiana high schools. It measured their political attitudes regarding high school and the local community. The study is based on two assumptions: first, that high school is a significant agency in the political socialization process, and second, that high school plays an important part in the creation of political attitudes. The overall scope of this study deals with the effect of high school on the political attitudes of students. It is concerned with these attitudes as they relate to the political process and culture of high school and the local community. Four hypotheses are tested:1. There is no significant difference between a student's perception of the political culture of high school and his perception of the political culture of the local community.2. The student's sense of political efficacy is related to his discernible view of the willingness of teachers and school administrators to discuss school related problems with him.3. The student's discernible view of his ability to influence decision makers in school is related to his sense of political efficacy.4. The perception that high school students have of their ability to influence decisions made by high school authorities is related to their perception of their ability to influence decisions made by local governmental authorities.The final survey was developed from a pool of 72 questions whose reliability and validity were proven by their use on prior instruments, and by a pilot study. A Pearson correlation and a factor matrix were the statistical tools used to determine which questions would be used in the final survey.The survey dealt with three aspects of the political socialization process: political culture, political efficacy and political cynicism. The null hypothesis was supported by use of the Pearson correlation of student responses. There is a similarity in student minds between the political culture of high school and the local community. However, insofar as political efficacy is concerned, students do not feel that their effectiveness is the same in both cultures. Students feel that they would be willing to try to use their political influence on high school authority figures, something they would not do with authority figures in the local community. This is particularly true when a comparison is made between student feelings about high school authorities and community authorities. While feelings of cynicism are not at a level that would indicate wide distrust of those in authority, the start of such feelings did appear to exist.Data gathered on the second, third and fourth hypotheses were inconclusive. Student feelings of efficacy are not the same in school as they are outside. Students are willing to talk to school authorities yet they feel that the principal may listen to them but does not seek their opinion. Students feel they cannot use the same methods of influencing high school decisions on community leaders. Student feelings of efficacy in school are such that they think they can or should be influential in school, particularly insofar as curriculum decisions are concerned. Student perception of community leaders is such that they do not see themselves as being able to influence these figures. They feel that authority figures outside school are not as concerned about them as those in school. It appears that what the adolescent has learned to use in school he would not use outside school. Students seem to feel that community leaders care about them, but that they do not actively solicit student opinion. While students feel they can be or may be influential via direct action in school, they cannot see this same course of action being used elsewhere.

This thesis has explored the political attitudes of 149 high school seniors in Muncie, Indiana in the hope that such exploration would provide some insight into the effects the addition of eighteen year old voters to the electorate will have on the political process.The study concentrated especially on the partisan identification with a political party of the study sample since this particular phenomenon has very great influence on electoral behavior. Particular topics examined in the study included: the partisan identification of the study sample, the agreement in partisan preferences between sample respondents and their parents, the confidence of the respondents in the political parties as problem solving mechanisms, the liberal-conservative nature of the sample's ideology, and the amount of alienation from politics present in the study sample.