Discusses the consistent underrepresentation of minority groups in gifted programs and legal issues surrounding the identification of gifted students, including the relationship between classification and government purpose. Model legislation that defines gifted students and traditionally underserved populations and declares nondiscriminatory…

Sixty-four authorities on gifted education responded to five questions about issues in the field of gifted education. Common responses were: a need for consensus on how to define, conceptualize, and identify giftedness; new procedures to increase the representation of gifted minority students; and the importance of translating research on…

This article reviews problems in identification of learning disabilities and considers proposed alternatives to present procedures. It argues that the major problems of over identification, variability, and specificity, can be eliminated by increasing specificity and consistency of state criteria and strict adherence to identification criteria on…

Aspects of the current state of education for learning disabilities (LD) discussed include the theoretical and philosophical orientation, definitions of specific learning disabilities, especially for preschool children, delivery of services, and the role of the LD specialist. (MSE)

Educational planners must work within the same definitions and assumptions as their clients so that future facility planning will be based on educational programs incorporating equity, adequacy, and efficiency as inherent concepts rather than designs that respond to legal strictures. (MLF)

The article provides a definition of the Regular Education Initiative, considers implications for students with mild learning and behavior problems and examines such issues as labeling, assessment, identification, placement, and attitudes in special education. (DB)

This discussion of assistive technology (AT) provides case studies, a definition of AT, and consideration of its benefits and challenges. The Assistive Technology Project, a two-year qualitative study, looked at AT evaluation, funding and acquisition, training, daily use, factors affecting implementation, and demands on school personnel. (DB)

Reports the major findings of the Pedagogical Relations between Adult Literacy and Communication project, which examined the relationship between the fields of adult literacy education and communications. It was found that the knowledge each field has of the other is, overall, very limited and often erroneous. (six references) (MDM)

The experience of Napier University (Scotland) with new mandatory quality assessments is examined, focusing on issues arising in the first two rounds of evaluation site visits, including defining quality; role of the lead evaluator; framework for the visit; role of the student; quality of the reports; and cost-benefit analysis. (MSE)

Discusses how and why college students commit plagiarism, suggesting techniques that instructors can use to help student avoid plagiarism. Instructors should define and discuss plagiarism thoroughly; discuss hypothetical cases; review the conventions of quoting and documenting material; require multiple drafts of essays; and offer responses…

Addresses the question of how constraints are established by which Hispanicity is determined vis-a-vis language. It argues that, if Spanish-English bilingualism comes to prevail among American Hispanics, they will lose the Spanish language as a mother tongue and their distinct culture, becoming an Anglophone subculture similar to Irish or Italian…

This article discusses word definitions within the context of language development in school-age children and adolescents. It explains the importance of the ability to define words, reviews the growth of word definition during school years, describes standardized tests, and offers suggestions for expanding the normative database for word…

This paper defines key educational outcome terms, discusses national and international practices in the assessment of educational outcomes, describes activities of states in outcomes assessment, notes objectives of the National Center on Educational Outcomes, and delineates major considerations in the development of a comprehensive system of…

Examines inconsistencies in science textbook discussions of vector quantities and force. Provides illustrations of textbook inconsistencies related to Newton's laws of motion and the concepts of centrifugal and coriolis force. (MDH)

Compares present agriculture practices to permaculture farming techniques, presents a historical perspective of permaculture and where these techniques are being successfully practiced around the world. Inserts (vignettes) enumerate the principles of permaculture and the background of Bill Mollison who conceptualized this farming practice. (MCO)