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SEVEN ARTICLES FROM THE INSTITUTE FOR RESEARCH ON EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN CONSIDER THE GIFTED CHILD. THE FIRST ARTICLE, "LEADERSHIP TRAINING FOR THE GIFTED--A GRADUATE PROGRAM," IS BY J.J. GALLAGHER, DIRECTOR OF THE PROGRAM. SIX RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PAPERS BY GRADUATE STUDENTS FOLLOW--"THE VARIABLE OF RACE, SEX AND INTELLIGENCE RELATED TO SOCIAL CHOICES OF DIADVANTAGED, GIFTED CHILDREN" BY V. GODMAN, "HONORS PROGRAM STUDENTS--THEIR ACADEMIC ATTAINMENTS, PERSONALITY TRAITS AND SELF CONCEPTS" BY W.D. SIMMONS, "AN ANALYSIS OF THE VERBAL DEFINITIONS OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CHILDREN--A PILOT STUDY" BY M. WEISER, "EVALUATION OF A SUMMER WORKSHOP ON GIFTED CHILDREN" BY F. SHAFFER, "DEVELOPING A SOCIAL STUDIES CURRICULUM FOR TEACHING VALUES IN THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL" BY M. SCHEVERS, AND"THE DEVELOPMENT OF A PROGRAM OF SENTENTIAL LOGIC FOR GIFTED STUDENTS" BY K.A. RETZER. THE STUDENT PAPERS ALL PROVIDE FIGURES, TABLES, AND REFERENCE LISTS. (JD)

This report is essentially a documentary outline of the events associated with the Newark teacher strikes followed by an analysis of the implications of those events for the future of education in Newark and elsewhere. The chronology provides a detailed delineation of the sequence of events before, during, and after each strike. The information provided was drawn from interviews, press reports, documents, and direct observation. The analysis that follows examines the strikes and the circumstances surrounding them to identify the specific issues and participants, determine the relationship these events had within larger contexts, and examine the direction in which precipitating events appear headed in the future. Guiding the analysis is the question of why social conflict in Newark became focused on the school system. In the conclusions, race relations and social stratification emerge prominently as the contexts which define events. (Author/JF)

These studies, conducted at an experimental secondary school which sought to create "community felling" by not separating students by grade or ability, looked at the students' social patterns and groupings and at the impressions which subgroups had of own group and other groups. The first is based on an all-school sociometric questionnaire; the 2nd, on interviews with members of friendship groups that were exposed in the sociometric. It was found that there were some readily identifiable friendship groups, and that they were more homogeneous than diverse, there were many isolates who received no choices at all; there were few cross-sex or cross-grade-level friendship choices; and choices within the Home Groups showed great differences from the choices made in the school at large. There were few cross-race choices. Students in some of the clear-cut friendship groups frequently lacked information about others, had negative feelings towards them, and spoke of groups not identifiable in the sociometric in terms of stereotypic language. Particular efforts were made to minimize differences amongst the individuals within their own groups. (KS)

The major purpose of this literature review is to determine what is known about a) prevailing patterns of interaction between leaders and other adults in public schools and b) conditions under which specific patterns of behavior of leaders are connected with variations in the behavior of other people in the school. A second objective is to find out what patterns of behavior make a difference in the performance of others and under what circumstances such connections between leader behavior and the behavior of others occurs. The literature is reviewed in terms of a network of forces, or of independent conditioning and dependent variables, with student learning considered as the major output or dependent variable. A heuristic model of this network is diagrammed and discussed in the introduction. The literature review is organized into sections on the role of the leader, leader behaviors and characteristics which have impact on others, and conditions affecting leader behavior and its consequences. References are included. Related documents are ED 084 658, SO 006 685, 686 and 688. (Author/KSM)

The basic problematic issue confronting us in the study of black American writers and literature is that of determining whether we can identify the factors which conduce to the development of given social role conceptions, since the latter determines intellectual and artistic orientations to reality. In general, the problem is that of ascertaining the extent to which these roles are the consequences of common socialization or of concrete social relations. Once we have identified a writer's social role, we expect a convergence in stylistic orientation between his and that of other writers who possess similar role conceptions. Analysis proceeds by empirical inquiry into the variety of structural contexts within which writers are located from one historical period to another; and identification of the process by which the writer's social role is an outcome of given types of structural and historical locations. In general, the issue is that of the greater degree of instability of the literary artist's role, which is the consequence of its weak institutionalization in modern American society. By treating the issue of intellectual and social role this way, the sociology of knowledge achieves sharper differentiation of the occupationally problematic mandates in which these roles consist, and clear perception of the variety of references to which such roles are oriented. (Author/JM)

Discussed are some sociological theories about instability in black ghettos, the Negro social class structure, and some policy implications derived from such analyses. The point of departure for this document is Norton Long's theory that ghetto unrest is a result of the absence of a black middle class. The consequent lack of Negro middle class leadership results in an unstable lower class community without brokers to act as middle men between whites and blacks. An assessment of this theory raises some questions of its relevance to current conditions--class antagonism within the black community, the urban crisis, economic factors, and the radical search for a different society. (NH)

Educational, medical, and other services in rural areas have been undergoing a consolidation and centralization process to bring about more efficient operation. A research project sponsored by the United Methodist Church was designed to assess the position of the church as a decentralized unit in a small community relative to its leadership responsibility and its assumption of that responsibility within its community. This two-volume document contains 14 research studies designed to measure the economic and social structure of 3 small Indiana communities. Demographic data are presented and methods of inquiry and measurement are explained. Appendices provide census data and examples of the instruments used in the study. (DK)

This paper is concerned with conceptualizing from the human potential perspective the quality of life, poverty, the "good social system", service delivery, and social indicators. Theories of Maslow and other humanistic educators which stress the need for self actualization provide a framework to sociologists for improving human conditions by allowing individuals to maximize their potential through a restructured social system. To insure the quality of life, both physiological and psychological needs muat be met. Further, the extent to which social members develop their potential will depend on social structural variables. "Goodness" of social systems can be conceptualized in terms of the psychological health of system members, and of the extent to which human potential is realized. Social indicators such as service availability and quality, income levels, and community differentiation are measures of aggregate and structural system characteristics which are indicative of the extent to which system members are able to develop their potential. In conclusion, the paper offers a starting point for a new approach towards a goal directed sociological inquiry. (SJM)

The goal of this paper was to evaluate four alternative explanations to account for low feelings of political effectiveness and political trust among black school children. A discussion of research findings related to political efficacy and trust and a review of other pertinent research are followed by definitions of the basic concepts in the paper. The normative implications of the findings seem to point out that political attitudes of childhood do persist to adulthood; thus to teach adult blacks to be politically effective, the political attitudes of young blacks must be changed. The alternatives that explain why racial differences may result are: 1) differences in political education within American schools; 2) social-structural conditions that contribute to low feelings of self-competence among blacks; 3) differences in intelligence; and 4) differences in the political environment in which blacks and whites live. The assumptions and empirical consequences of each explanation are discussed. An evaluation of the alternatives concluded that social condition and political environment explanations have the greatest scope and therefore are the best explanations, especially if not considered as being mutually exclusive explanations. (Author/KSM)

The usefulness of the social class construct for life-cycle research is discussed in this paper. Social class is defined as used in the paper, and as it is generally used by students of the human life cycle. It is further evaluated as a descriptor, and a predictor of behaviors and attitudes. The construct seems to be most useful in studies of adults rather than children, and though it possesses important limitations as a predictor, it is the most pervasive of the group variables in its influence on behavior and attitudes. Social class and its relation to social structure, social distance, social mobility, social change, poverty, and conflict are also included. (Author/DM)

This is a final report, for administrative purposes, of studies to be published in the general category of mathematical theory of social groups, with emphasis on the large groups typical of educational communities. Since the study of the large and complicated structures of high school and college communities is difficult by purely empirical methods, they must be represented by mathematical and computer models. Beginning work on such models was the principal activity under the project grant. Abbreviated titles of working papers in the project include: "On the Structure of Large Groups,""The Construction of a Miniature Community,""A Theoretical Framework for the Analysis of Affective Structure,""Sampling Social Structure,""Sociological Applications of Incidence Matrices,""Indifference in Balance Theory," and "Youth Culture." Publication plans for the final versions of these and other working papers in the project will be available by winter, 1972-73, from the Institute of Behavioral Science, University of Colorado. (BW/Author)

Two crucial processes are discussed: (1) that through which social problems become public issues; and (2) that through which conflicts between competing diagnoses of, and responses to, publicly recognized social problems are resolved. Regularities in these transformations are conceptualized as follows: groups differ in their definitions of social problems according to self-interest, ideology, and social values. For a social problem to become a public issue, a complex political process develops around the activities of the media, officialdom and private interest groups. Similarly, conflicts arise among official authorities, underdog partisans, privileged partisans, policy planners, etc. as to how to respond to the problem. Various strategies for handling the conflicts are seen as generating significant political outcomes for the parties concerned and for the policy process. In sum, the paper serves to point out a whole area of important political considerations in the analysis of social problems. (TL)

This report presents the content of the AERA colloquium, held in November 1968, to enable the educational research community to assess and deploy its resources, coordinate research efforts, and obtain more effective communication within the field and beyond it. Several outstanding scholars were invited to present papers on their studies of the social systems and communication networks of scientific communities, and to help elucidate the nature and characteristics of professional behavior of educational researchers. William Garvey and his associates described the more typical communication channels in educational research. William Paisley and David Lingwood examined the concept of invisible colleges as a way of examining the community of educational researchers. Ronald Corwin and Maynard Seider reported on their interviews of scholars who have examined the institutionalization of science. Warren Hagstrom and Norman Storer each examined the educational research community, using conceptual frameworks that have evolved from their studies of the social structure of the hard sciences. These authors were joined by selected leaders within the educational research community who discussed the papers and made recommendations to the research community in general and to AERA specifically. A list of colloquium participants and footnote references are provided. (Author/DB)

A concern with the interrelationship between the formal structure of the high school and the behavior of its continually changing participant constituency is manifested in this paper. The concepts of role theory, status, social organization, and hierarchical structures are discussed in their relation to a processual role model. Within this model, it is stressed that the organization of interest is not the formal organization of the school but the organization of behavior among participants in a social situation. This behavior is noted for its interactive nature, and is thought to be influenced but not determined by the formal organization of the school just as it is influenced but not determined by the extra-institutional norms and goals of the individual participants. The statuses which the formal structure allocates to individuals in the high school situation vary with a series of formal rules, restrictions and obligations. These do not, it is pointed out, define what the individuals in fact will do in that formal status, but set up the parameters within which they may operate. These rules, restrictions and obligations are the components of what previously has been called "role" but is felt here to be more justifiably considered as constraints placed upon the individuals who occupy a particular formally defined status. (Author/KSM)

THIS PAPER DISCUSSES THE STRUCTURE OF SOCIETY IN TERMS OF SIX ELEMENTS OR LEVELS--(1) VALUES, NORMS, AND BELIEFS, (2) SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS, (3) ORGANIZATIONS, (4) GROUPS, (5) POSITIONS, AND (6) SOCIAL ROLES. THE AUTHOR STATES THAT TO SEE SOCIETY IN ITS TOTALITY IS TO SEE DOWN THESE LEVELS OF SOCIETY AND ACROSS EACH OF THE LEVELS, AND TO LOOK FOR THE NATURE OF THE RELATIONSHIPS AMONG THE MANY PARTS. THE FIRST TWO LEVELS MAKE UP THE SOCIETY'S CULTURAL SYSTEM, AND THE OTHERS ARE ALL PART OF THE SOCIAL SYSTEM. THE LEVELS ALL POINT TO THE PATTERNING THAT CAN BE FOUND IN HUMAN SOCIETIES. IN AN ATTEMPT TO PROVIDE AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORKINGS OF SOCIETY, A FUNCTIONAL SYSTEM IS PRESENTED WHICH EMPHASIZES THE INTERRELATIONSHIP OF THE COMPONENT PARTS (LEVELS) THAT CONSTITUTE SOCIETY AND WHICH ALLOWS THE CONSIDERATION OF BOTH COHESIVE AND INTEGRATIVE FORCES IN SOCIETY, AS WELL AS THE PERSISTENT PROBLEMS AND SOURCES OF TENSION THAT ULTIMATELY TRANSFORM THE MAKEUP OF SOCIETY. THE BASIC INGREDIENT IN THIS VIEW OF SOCIETY IS THE LEVEL OF SOCIAL VALUES. VALUES "SEEP DOWN" TO SHAPE SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS AND, ULTIMATELY, IMPINGE UPON THE INDIVIDUAL AS THEY SHAPE THE POSITIONS HE OCCUPIES AND MOLD THE ROLE RELATIONSHIPS IN WHICH HE BECOMES INVOLVED. THESE VALUES, HOWEVER, CAN ALSO BE SHAPED BY MAN AND SOCIETY. MEN MOLD THE POSITIONS THEY OCCUPY AND, ULTIMATELY, THE VALUE SYSTEMS OF THEIR SOCIETY. BOTH PERSISTENCE AND CHANGE OF SOCIAL FORMS ARE ACHIEVED BY THIS PROCESS OF MUTUAL INFLUENCE. THIS PAPER WAS WRITTEN AS PART OF THE SOCIAL SCIENCE EDUCATION CONSORTIUM, A CURRICULUM PROJECT TO OUTLINE THE CONCEPTS, STRUCTURE, AND METHODS OF SEVERAL OF THE SOCIAL SCIENCES FOR USE OF TEACHERS AND CURRICULUM WORKERS AT ALL ACADEMIC LEVELS. (JH)

This paper tests the idea that the experience of violence in childhood constitutes a factor leading to the approval of adult violence for achieving socially desirable goals. Using the data from a national survey conducted in 1968, the study constructs indexes on Interpersonal Violence Approval, National Violence Approval, and Political Violence Approval to measure the following aspects of violence experienced in childhood: observing violence, carrying out violence, and being the victim of violence. By computing the correlation of each measure of violence experienced to indexes of violence approval, the study tests the hypothesis that violence in childhood relates to adult approval of violence. Results show that approval of interpersonal violence most highly relates to experiencing violence as a child. The authors conclude that a "social structural theory of violence" featuring social learning and role-modeling has more import for the study than does a "culture of violence theory." (Authors/LAA)

In contrast to those Sociologists who have in the past identified with and accepted the ruling class notion of Integration and have proceeded to develop elaborate models of race relations cycles, pluralism or other assimilationist and functionalist models to support this basic assumption, the author argues that Sociologists should instead attempt to develop dynamic models (e.g. based on the Dialectics) to show why some form of black Separation is inevitable and the form that it can take as well as the processes which are leading to this. In trying to locate blacks in the American social and political structure politicians, scholars and laymen alike have used the concept of "Integration" and "Separation" to designate polar points on a continuum which relates blacks to the American social structure. These two terms are elevated to "ideals" in the United States because the best majority of blacks are suspended on the margins of both possibilities. The predominant and recurring fact is neither integration or separation, but a state of limbo, of marginality. The Sociology of Black Separation should therefore be concerned with basically three facts: the white denial of integration, the condition of black marginality, and the ensuing imperative of black separation. (Author/JM)

In this study, the author seeks to demonstrate that Swedish is unique in its avoidance of the pronouns of address, extreme in its use of impersonal questions and circumscriptions, and that such language usage is directly related to the perceived relationship of social status, as explicitly and implicitly expressed by informants. The author also attempts to demonstrate that if a language, Swedish, possesses a universal feature--personal pronouns of address--and if the speech community systematically avoids this feature under specific situations, then this language usage is indicative of cultural-political conditions in that social structure, in this case the dichotomy between social class stratification and Social Democratic idealogy. Examples of ways to avoid pronoun use in the question "What do you want?" are provided, and remarks on the data solicited from informants are included. (Author/VM)

The conditions for the acquisition of communicative competence in standard English must be considered in the case of language learning by immigrants, indigenous minority language groups, and speakers of Black English. The crucial factor in language learning is the relationship between the minority group and the local society. Among immigrant groups and indigenous minority language groups, interlanguages have arisen containing norms which fall partially between those of the mother tongue and the target language. Economic, social, and cultural variables are at play in the creation of interlanguages as they are among speakers of Black English. Efforts to teach standard English to speakers of nonstandard dialects do not consider societal realities. Most current literature on teaching standard English as a second dialect maintains that language is the key to social mobility rather than social mobility being responsible for changes in language. Nobody can be expected to learn the language of a social group if, at the same time, he is denied the means by which he can become a member of that group. (Author/VM)

An investigation of the characteristic structuring of rural communities in Appalachia and the institutional channels for change which exist within such communities comprise this revised version of a paper read at the Extension Leaders Conference, Morgantown, West Virginia, 1968. Specifically, this essay discusses how education, the mass media, religious institutions, the local governmental structure, the economic contact between urban America and rural agricultural communities, and the contact structure between outer and inner educational systems in Appalachia attempt to integrate rural and urban subcultures. Emphasis is placed on the communication and linkage between these analytically distinct systems and how the nature of that contact situation affects an articulation of the regional community and national sociocultural systems so that they function as a single system. Two main inferences emerge in the conclusion: (1) that a heavy investment of societal resources in the educational institutions at the elementary and secondary level would be a most effective strategy for securing the well-being of the Appalachian people, and (2) that agencies, such as the Extension Service or Programs of Adult Education, and organizations, such as the Community College System and Teacher Training Schools, should become more cognizant of the supportive role they play in strengthening the linkages between rural Appalachian communities and modern, rural America. (HBC)

If community psychology is a discipline of principles, methods, and techniques designed to adapt tomorrow's psychologists to a community orientation and commitment, then ecological parameters necessarily become fundamental concerns. It is no revelation that urban America, particularly the central city, is characteristically the home site of "Black America." What are the ecological implications of this life style, or pattern, for community psychology's development? A fundamental implication for community psychology curricula suggests an emphasis on the phenomena of power and oppression in community dynamics. It is within this framework that the community psychologist can be seen as a "social interventionist" with a mission of assisting the power structure or bureaucracy to become more responsive to the needs of its clientele while simultaneously promoting people power by assisting community residents to cope and deal with the system's institutions. One means of implementing this educational process is to focus on a given neighborhood base. Further, it seems appropriate to attempt to study the role as community resources of selected neighborhood-based community institutions for both the people they serve and the power structure with which they interface. (Author/JM)

Many professional 4-H staff members lack a sufficient background in the social sciences, fail to understand the complexity of the socialization task, and are not aware of the changes made by other socialization agents in the community. This paper is designed to help the professional 4-H adult worker improve his role as a socialization agent. Socialization, the process by which a person learns the ways of the group in order to function within it, is viewed from the perspective of the individual and society. Among society's socialization agents are the family, the peer group, and the school; the adult agent learns to work within the framework of these influences. Some of the difficulties confronting the adult socialization agent are changing expectations and roles, the impact of technology, lack of cooperation, and less of adult influence. Better recruitment and training techniques are suggested, as are planning, implementation, and evaluation of programs. A bibliography is included. (RS)

A study was conducted concerning: (1) the manner in which neighborhoods, social cliques and church groups structure interpersonal communication of information about farming in two agricultural Missouri communities--Prairie, economically stable, and Ozark, undergoing rapid change; and (2) how this changed between 1956 and 1966. Interviews were conducted with 238 and 227 farmers (1956 and 1966 respectively) in Ozark and 218 and 174 (1956 and 1966 respectively) in Prairie. Each was asked to whom he talked most frequently about farming, from whom he obtained general farm information, where he obtained first and additional information about new farm practices he had adopted, the sources that were most influential in his adoption decisions, with whom he exchanged work, and the persons with whom he associated most closely or regarded as his best friends. The unit of analysis was the dyadic relationship of one farmer naming another rather than farmers as individuals. Results included the following: (1) there was a continued inclination for the proportion of opportunities to obtain farm information from fellow group members to persist at a much higher level than in the cross-group situations; (2) social cliques took the lead as a retaining influence in the low-importance relationships, dispossessing neighborhoods from this position; and (3) neighborhoods showed a marked tenacity of the retaining power. (KM)

This study develops a method for empirically investigating the bureaucratic structure of secondary schools in order to measure student alienation. After a brief review of the literature on bureaucracy and student alienation, the report presents two propositions undergirding the study and the hypotheses tested: (1) while bureaucracy and alienation are dimensionable variables, they can be regarded as integrating concepts under which each of the dimensions is subsumed, and (2) these integrating concepts are positively related to each other. The report notes the implications of this study for future research, draws conclusions, and provides recommendations for improving secondary school organization. (Author/JF)

This paper offers a fresh perspective on causes of and solutions to environmental problems, and would be useful as an initiator of classroom discussions. The author argues that in our pursuit of a society based on environmentally sound principles, we have perhaps misidentified the villains, and have latched into solutions that may be either naive, or narrow. One commonly identified villain, for example, is population growth. While there is no doubt that more people put a greater burden on natural resources and human amenities, and that population growth should be controlled, this factor is not so important as high per capita consumption based on high per capita income. Other more complex examples, such as corporations, technology, and our socioeconomic systems, are similarly examined in terms of their contribution to the environmental crisis. The author concludes that an intelligent use of regulation and incentive penalty systems which take into account the complex interrelationships in modern industrialized society, will go a long way toward solving the problems, while leaving the most individual freedom intact. (JLB)