This study examined academic literacy (the reading, writing, and verbal demands on students) as a foundation for a collaboration between high school and university faculty designed to ease transitions by students from secondary to postsecondary education. The 3-year project was conducted at an urban public university that enrolls approximately…

This document is intended to assist South Dakota schools in the development and implementation of Gifted Education Plans, and includes state laws and rules pertaining to gifted education, guidelines for reporting, and explanations of the necessary components of a district's written plan. A brief statement of philosophy addresses characteristics of…

The aesthetic judgments of experts (casting directors and high school drama teachers), theater buffs, and novices were compared as they rated the videotaped performances of high school students performing Shakespearean monologues. Focus was on going beyond the determination of between-judge agreement to determine whether there were objective…

A guide to help instructors improve or review their questioning skills is presented, with a focus on devising appropriate questions and interpersonal skills that maximize student responses. Questions that entail knowledge, comprehension, and simple application levels are distinguished from questions requiring complex application (e.g., analysis…

An academic characteristics profile database for freshmen at the Pennsylvania State University is briefly described. The database was constructed through the Freshman Testing, Counseling, and Advising Program (FTCAP), which is designed to assist new freshmen in evaluating their educational plans by providing them, prior to initial registration, a…

An overview is presented of the epistemology of the three types of constructivism. Criticized is another interpretation of constructivism; it is stated that this interpretation is trivial, cognitively abridged, and disrespectful of students' capacities, creativity, and imagination. Constructivism has to go beyond saying that knowledge is…

The articles in this issue consider key issues in the selection of populations for gifted education program services. Titles and authors of articles include: "The Identification Blues and How to Cure Them" (Ernesto Bernal); "Recognizing Giftedness in Your Child" (Linda Kreger Silverman); "Instructional Grouping, GATE and Honors Classes" (Bill…

Twenty third-grade teachers and their low ability reading group students participated in a naturalistic study to test how teachers' explanations during a year of reading instruction affected either metacognitive awareness or student use of strategies while reading. The 10 teachers in the treatment group were trained to be explicit when teaching…

This document consists of four research reports and one research note focusing on several aspects of the cognitive and emotional development of young children. The first article explores two theories of the relationship between cognition and emotion, reporting on an investigation of that relationship in a simple learning task involving 60 Japanese…

Providing both rationale and technique for practitioners, this book emphasizes the influence of visual literacy upon the reading, writing, and creative development of learners. The nine chapters of the book are arranged into three sections, with the first setting forth the basic components of visual literacy and how they manifest themselves in…

This paper addresses the problem of heterogeneity of samples of learning disabled (LD) children by comparing five different systems for identifying homogeneous subgroups in terms of their ability to predict longitudinal reading and mathematics scores. One hundred and sixty LD children served as subjects. Three of the five subgrouping systems were…

As part of an effort to develop a nontraditional alternative educational program for mentally gifted and talented students at Fullerton College, a study was conducted to determine the characteristics of 72 self-identified gifted students and to look at differences between high potential-low achievement students and high potential-high achievement…

This paper updates available evidence on the costs to society associated with noncompletion of school by substantial numbers of American youth. The only comparable treatment of this topic was published in 1972 by Henry M. Levin. The findings of this earlier study are recast to account for current earnings projections and price levels, and for…

This guide familiarizes teachers with children's books and ways that they can be used to highlight and reinforce reading skills. Each of the 10 sections provides annotated lists of books, suggesting practical follow-up activities for skill development, extension, or enrichment. The beginning of each section includes remarks concerning the nature…

Supported employment offers opportunities for severely disabled adults to carry out paid work at regular work sites within their communities and provides a path to normalization. Supported employment differs from traditional programs in that the positions are integrated into the community, skills are taught on the job, and support is need-based…