The perfect kid-friendly introduction to mindfulness. Pedro’s friends — Yulee, Nick, Martin and Sally — are at his house for a sleepover. Pedro is moving in a few days, and he’s been feeling sad and worried about the change. To help Pedro feel better, his mom decides to teach the five friends about mindfulness. As the children practice focusing on their bodies, using their senses, paying attention to their feelings and accepting life as it happens, Pedro learns there are many ways to manage the stress of his upcoming move. It’s an enlightening journey to peace and calm, and kids will want to be present.

This document is a summary and evaluation of the methodological procedures and results of the full-scale implementation of the Beginning Postsecondary Student Longitudinal Study, 1990-92 (BPS). The BPS starts with a cohort of students beginning postsecondary education regardless of when they completed high school. As a result, information will be available about nontraditional students who have delayed their postsecondary education. Many educational policy questions can be addressed through information gathered by the BPS about student characteristics and patterns of information. An introductory chapter provides a summary of the background, major procedures and results, and scheduled products of the survey. Other sections cover the design and method, data collection and results, data analysis, nonresponse weighting, and data file construction. Eight appendixes provide technical information about survey conduct. Six figures and 57 tables present some survey findings and details about the methodology. (SLD)

In a democracy, we generally assume that voters know the policies they prefer and elect like-minded officials who are responsible for carrying them out. We also assume that voters consider candidates' competence, honesty, and other performance-related traits. But does this actually happen? Do voters consider candidates’ policy positions when deciding for whom to vote? And how do politicians’ performances in office factor into the voting decision? In Follow the Leader?, Gabriel S. Lenz sheds light on these central questions of democratic thought. Lenz looks at citizens’ views of candidates both before and after periods of political upheaval, including campaigns, wars, natural disasters, and episodes of economic boom and bust. Noting important shifts in voters’ knowledge and preferences as a result of these events, he finds that, while citizens do assess politicians based on their performance, their policy positions actually matter much less. Even when a policy issue becomes highly prominent, voters rarely shift their votes to the politician whose position best agrees with their own. In fact, Lenz shows, the reverse often takes place: citizens first pick a politician and then adopt that politician’s policy views. In other words, they follow the leader. Based on data drawn from multiple countries, Follow the Leader? is the most definitive treatment to date of when and why policy and performance matter at the voting booth, and it will break new ground in the debates about democracy.