One population at risk of academic failure comprises students who are of average ability, but who score significantly higher in nonverbal aptitude than verbal aptitude. Careful identification and instructional intervention can help these students to perform better. The findings of two studies are presented. The first study was conducted in 1964…

There is little agreement about how the ability to read route maps initially emerges and about how it should be stimulated by early childhood educators. This study assessed the route map reading behavior of young children and the basic skills that might contribute to that behavior. In individual videotaped sessions, 120 four, five, and six year…

The literature describing deaf persons' intelligence was subjected to a quantitative and qualitative review in this analysis of 85 studies containing independent samples of 43,177 deaf subjects. First, bibliometric analyses were conducted to define the scope, dissemination, and trajectory of the research investigating deafness and Intelligence…

Serious crises (death, divorce, hospitalization, moving, and physical, emotional, or sexual abuse) occur to the students a teacher sees daily, and teachers must learn to help students when these problems occur. To determine the extent and effects of such crises on academic work, students (N=300) from grades 2-6, 9-12 and college, who had undergone…

This paper examines the issue of the loss of less competent children from schools as a result of the emphasis upon academic excellence. Studies are cited indicating that more than 90 percent of all secondary principals feel that their schools are improving; yet, as many as 25 percent of all children in a given sixth-grade class will drop out…

Developing an effective school or district academic competition program that highlights as many academic areas as possible while showcasing the achievements of individual students requires thoughtful assessment and planning. The School Academic Competition Inventory provides a way to determine the potential for such a program. If the potential…

Twenty-two junior-year college students were tested at a college language, speech and hearing clinic. A statistical analysis was performed on their scores on the Woodcock-Johnson Psychoeducational Battery and on oral and written language samples. Results were compared with those of a group of 25 normal college students in their junior year.…

This collection of activities is designed to show how graphics display calculators can be used to explore pentominoes and tangrams. Activities include games and puzzles developing spatial relations. Teaching notes, solutions, and calculator instructions are included as are blackline masters. (MM)

Popular sentiment toward the teaching of thinking skills and, in particular, higher order skills, is on the rise. Many people are wondering about the best way for teachers to foster the growth of reasoning skills in their classrooms. This study attempts to improve the teaching of reasoning by investigating teaching behaviors or characteristics…

The paper describes a Logo environment designed by an occupational therapist to help 10 disabled students (6-9 years old) explore relative distance, directionality, and spatial relations. The program's goals include enhancing students' language development, planning skills, decision making, risk taking, and problem solving. Logo is briefly…

This study sought to extend previous research by investigating performance of intellectucally gifted children on the Mental Processing Composite of the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC). A sample of 54 children (aged 6-12) referred for possible gifted placement were administered the Sequential and Simultaneous scales. Average scores…

Interdisciplinary approaches to instruction are generally dominated by linearity, with an emphasis on linear progressive time. A more productive approach is the development of spatial constructs that provide a more directly visual approach to thought and discussion. The study of languages and cultures will be more effective if students are given…

A number of issues must be considered if those in the profession are to construct a theoretically and pedagogically sound definition of literacy as a word and a concept. The profession agrees that literacy is the encoding and decoding of meaning, but there is little agreement on the term "meaning." Sociolinguists define literacy as a cluster of…

To demonstrate how discourse tasks can differ in their cognitive difficulties, students in a graduate course on the teaching of writing participated in a procedure called "invisible writing." The purpose was to show the students that as they took on more cognitively demanding writing tasks, their ability to produce coherent discourse…

Libraries serve our nation and its citizens in two primary ways: by preserving our common culture, and by nurturing and sustaining democracy itself. A particular democratic function of libraries is fostering reading. As noted in two reports recently issued by the U.S. Department of Education, "What Works" and "First Lessons," it is imperative to…