Students have diverse learning styles, and the challenge to educators is in designing a balanced curriculum across all styles, teaching essential content through a rich repertoire of instructional strategies. This short guide presents information essential to individualized teaching for diverse learning styles. The guide begins with an explanation…

This brief reviews the concept of multiple intelligences (MI) and discusses the implementation of the theory of MI in the New City School, an independent school in St. Louis (Missouri). The theory of MI, as developed by Howard Gardner, says that there are at least seven different intelligences: linguistic, logical, musical, bodily-kinesthetic,…

The term "scaffolding" refers to adult behaviors that support and guide children's participation in activities, including speech events, enabling the children to extend the range of what they are able to do without assistance. A study examined how scaffolding behavior in support of expository discourse differed among preschool teachers in…

A study used the think-aloud method to determine how adult learners beginning to learn a second language through oral input construct meanings, and what processing behaviors they engage in to help them construct future meanings more effectively. The subjects, 5 adult undergraduate and graduate students aged 23-55, were taught 20 Hindi lessons…

This study examined learning style differences in samples of the native Spanish-speaking population of the Texas-Mexico border region, focusing on possible culture- and gender-related variation. Subjects were 187 students at six universities in Texas, who were administered a Spanish translated version of the Gregorc Style Delineator. Results…

The purpose of this study was to describe and evaluate the operational theories of six early childhood teachers in a child care center and kindergarten in New Zealand. It is suggested that teacher educators have a responsibility to address the significant gaps in some teachers' theoretical accounts of their own practice, and that practice is most…

The Adaptive Dimension refers to the concept of making adjustments in approved educational programs to accommodate diversity in student learning needs, and to practices undertaken to make the approved core curriculum, instruction, and the learning environment meaningful and appropriate for each student. Adaptation takes into account the shift away…

This paper examines past and present issues in special education and offers proposals toward the goal of providing special assistance to every student who needs it. Examples of past errors include the categorical assumption that disabling conditions can be defined precisely and followed with appropriate services, and the assumption that there is a…

This collection of essays, in honor of child psychiatry pioneers Stella Chess and Alexander Thomas, focuses on their idea that important life outcomes are the product of ongoing interactions between a child's behavioral style and the complimentarity or lack of fit of the parenting environment. Following an introduction, the remaining chapters are:…

This study used a case study approach to examine how 30 Pennsylvania State University students used out-of-class experiences while studying abroad to enhance their learning. Students, who spent a semester or academic year abroad during the 1990-91 school year, were interviewed about their experiences. Three basic categories of learning activity…

An adult education program designed to help limited-English-proficient students through the transition from basic English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) instruction to more comprehensive adult basic education (ABE) is described. This transition is often difficult because of a mix of student needs, literacy backgrounds, and language proficiency levels…

Maps or graphical browsers of structural knowledge allow the user of a hypertext system to navigate from node to node through the structure as they portray the links between concepts spatially. This study examined the results of using two different graphical browsers that provide different amounts of information about the structure of the…

This 2-year longitudinal study is being conducted better to understand the lives of secondary school students as they move from one social setting to another and to draw implications for learning as teachers are provided with a more holistic picture. The study describes students' interrelationships with family, school, and peers; perceptions of…

The project evaluated the effectiveness of using Total Communication (simultaneous use of sign language and speech) with six infants with Down syndrome as a means of fostering communication while verbal skills and articulatory proficiency develop. Each child was seen within the home environment every second week through 24 months of age and once a…

Arranged in three parts, this booklet provides teachers at the early childhood and primary grade levels with guidelines for using children's literature in social studies instruction. Chapter 1 discusses rationale and procedure. Separate subsections emphasize the significant role reading books can play in developing a child's self-concept,…