EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION.
ARTICLES.
Evaluating Peer Mediation Outcomes in Educational Settings: A Meta-Analytic Review (Nancy A. Burrell, Cindy S. Zirbel,Mike Allen)
Meta-analysis is a means of assessing the strength of a body of research findings, and as such, has important implications for policy. Peer mediation programs have been researched frequently but have rarely been assessed through meta-analysis. This meta-analysis provides convincing support for the benefits of peer mediation.
Conflict Resolution and Moral Reasoning (Warren R.Heydenberk, Roberta Anna Heydenberk, Sharon Perkins Bailey)
Sometimes critics of conflict resolution education claim that it may affect skill development but not moral and character development. This study presents evidence that conflict resolution education does positively influence children’s moral reasoning and social development.
Mediator Mentors: Improving School Climate, Nurturing Student Disposition (Pamela S. Lane-Garon,Tim Richardson)
Linking higher education conflict resolution education with K–12 programs is a very important agenda for the future. Mediator mentoring structures are one means of bridging educational levels engaged in CRE. This research suggests that such efforts yield impressive benefits for students and schools.
CONFLICTALK: An Instrument for Measuring Youth and Adolescent Conflict Management Message Styles (William D.Kimsey, Rex M. Fuller)
Conflict styles are a staple of the ADR field; discussion of them is included in most training and they are often measured as an index of conflict education effectiveness. Yet research in this area has been somewhat limited, given the shortage of conflict style measures designed specifically for use with students. The development and validation of a message-based conflict style instrument for children and adolescents are reported in this article.
Our Neighborhood: Using Entertaining Children’s Television to Promote Interethnic Understanding in Macedonia (Lisa Shochat)
Mass media, and particularly television, are often cited as a nemesis in a society attempting to create just and caring citizens. However, this article reveals that television can be a powerful, positive educational tool, even in a society rife with interethnic conflict.
Exploring the Intragroup Conflict Constructs and Behaviors of African American Public School Children in an Inner-City Conflict Resolution Education (CRE) Program (K.Michelle Scott)
If we are to help students understand and handle conflict more effectively, we have to appreciate how they experience conflict. This is particularly true for diverse populations and students of nondominant groups. This qualitative study examines how African American inner-city students perceive conflict in their groups and how those perceptions can be used to design conflict resolution education.
Building the Container: Curriculum Infusion and Classroom Climate (Tricia S. Jones,Rebecca Sanford)
Ask any teacher and he or she will agree that you cannot teach a student who does not feel physically and emotionally safe in class. It is critical to “build the container” of a caring community in the classroom in order to promote social and emotional development as well as academic achievement. These results from one site in the National Curriculum Integration project offer evidence that CRE builds a caring community.
RESEARCH MATTERS.
Cost-Benefit Analysis of CRE Programs in Ohio (Jennifer Batton)
Do CRE programs save schools money? This preliminary cost-benefit analysis research, conducted by Kent State University on Ohio school CRE programs, suggests that they do.
