This article notes efforts to include attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) as a formal disability category and challenges the validity of assumptions that ADHD is a psychiatric disorder and is characterized by academic difficulties. Social and cultural factors are seen as fueling the perceived need for the ADHD category. (Author/DB)

Considers the nature of giftedness, including definitions of giftedness as they affect the self, different worlds at the extremes of intelligence, the psychology of exceptionality, identification of exceptionality, and the frequent misidentification of gifted children as having attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. The need to identify hidden…

To thrive in our media-saturated culture, children must become media literate and learn five lessons: media messages are constructed by a few for the many; constructions involve creative languages; different people experience the same media message differently; media are primarily profit-driven businesses; and media have embedded values and…

A study using data from 14,614 full-time faculty examined total work hours, research productivity, and allocation of work time among teaching, research, and service. The study found variation in time expenditures and research output influenced by gender, race/ethnicity, and marital/parental status, but findings were also sensitive to definitions…

Differentiated instruction is an umbrella concept that allows teachers to pull together many disparate messages about multicultural education, alternative teaching and learning strategies, alternative assessments, learning styles, and standards. Developing a range of instructional strategies represents a fine tuning, not a new instrument. (MLH)

Virtually every public issue depends on data, projections, inferences, and systemic thinking. Besides basic mathematics skills, numeracy (quantitative literacy) encompasses estimating tolerances and errors, constructing complex computer simulations, using flowcharts, drawing inferences, and calculating in three dimensions. The narrow…

Intelligence-friendly classrooms require a teaching/learning process governed by extant knowledge and theories about developing human beings' intellectual potential. Guidelines are based on setting a safe emotional climate, creating a rich learning environment, teaching the mind-tools and skills of life, developing learners' skillfulness,…

Examines conflicting conservative-religious and liberal-humanist ideologies affecting public education. Citizens are divided, due to competing visions of a traditional and new America, parallel and purposive social structures, and modern and postmodern families. Both sides want to bolster parental authority and increase governmental/agency…

Using research findings and statistics to support a policy argument often leads to misinterpretations and exaggerations of public school performance. Two experts illustrate this point by discussing examples of distorted high school drop-out rates, student performance on standardized tests, and international comparisons of U.S. and Japanese…

This paper reviews the Supreme Court's Zebley decision which expanded the definition of disability in young children by including functional equivalence; compares regulations and practices under the Social Security Administration and Part H of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act; and offers guidelines concerning the intent of the law,…

This article describes criteria developed by the three Georgia Learning Disorder Centers to determine eligibility for services of college students with learning disabilities. Five definitions for learning disability in adolescents and adults are compared. The specific criteria used by the centers are detailed, as are criteria for accepting outside…

Reviews research into the effects of full-time day care on parent-child bonding, noting a number of weaknesses in research in this area, namely small sample size. Concludes that while most research finds that early day care can potentially disrupt the attachment bond, the significance of the disruption is unclear. (MDM)

Successful development and implementation of outcome-based education requires long-range planning and ongoing commitment from all planning partners. District-level planning is essential. A well-designed strategic plan embraces OBE philosophies, premises, and principles and should consist of a district philosophy, vision, and mission and a set of…

This commentary discusses whether the American Association on Mental Retardation should change its name. It reviews the history of professional terminology regarding individuals with mental retardation and stresses the need for the AAMR to change its name using terms that envision and announce a social purpose for the organization. (Contains…

Provides definitions of the following words and phrases that are related to technology and its use in the social sciences classroom: CD-ROM, database, discussion group, e-mail, hypertext and hypermedia, Internet, simulation, spreadsheets, virtual field trip, and World Wide Web. (AEF)