inant ethnic groups in the community. Specifically, the staff is 89 percent African American and 11 percent Hispanic.
The writer/researcher works as an administrator at the center. Responsibilities of this position include several tasks. These responsibilities consist of: developing/implementing curriculum; coordinating staff development; establishing parent and personnel partnerships and youth organizations; budget planning; and fundraising activities.
In her capacity as an administrator, the writer is often called upon to discuss student behavior with teachers and to assist in determining the causes of this behavior as well as possible solutions. Moreover, when students are referred to the Office for disciplinary problems such as disruptive behavior, it is the writer who will often discuss the behavior with the student. This places the writer in an excellent position to hear about any problems arising at the Center and provides her with a backlog of experiences in identifying and solving problems.
Ideally, children at any school should not only learn the information being provided to them, they should also enjoy the learning activities and experiences offered to them by the school. this enjoyment could be demonstrated in many ways, some of the most important of which would be: (1) willingness to participate in the offered activities and learning experiences; (2) expressions of interest in the offered activities and learning experiences; and (3) agreement from teachers that, in their opinions as educational experts, children are interested and willing to join and cooperate in the school's activities and learning experiences.
For many children at the Children's Center, cooperative participation and interest in the programs is strong as indicated by the behavioral indices just listed. However, 20 students, all of whom are between the ages of nine and ten years, are not evidencing this ideal behavior.
Rather, the ...