Ninety-three students in a high school alternative learning center for disruptive, disaffected youth were assessed on potential giftedness and talent. Based on the Otis-Lennon School Ability Test, the IBRIC Biographical Inventory, and nominations by teachers and peers, eight students (8 percent) were identified as potentially gifted and talented.…

Factor analysis performed on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) for 252 subjects (ages 6-16), who were mentally handicapped, slow learners, or learning disabled, identified 3 factors: verbal-conceptual, perceptual-spatial, and distractibility-short-term memory. Findings suggest that the factor example can be used to…

Examines accuracy evaluation in published testing programs of the following: J. M. Cattell; C. Spearman; A. Binet; L. M. Terman; R. M. Yerkes; E. L. Thorndike; and W. D. Scott. Developing community and consensus on testing required convergence between theorists and practitioners. (SLD)

In the past decade, testing of young children has been excessive and inappropriate. Leftover IQ tests have been used to track children into ineffective programs or to deny them school entry. Prereading tests held over from the 1930s have encouraged the teaching of decontextualized skills. Assessment advocates must clearly demonstrate testing's…

This study compared the problem-solving skills of 73 children (ages 6-14) with mild mental retardation, who exhibited either adjusted classroom behavior or impulsive or inhibited behavior. Irrespective of age or intelligence quotient, adjusted children had a larger number of relevant solutions to problems and a higher ratio of aggressive…

Bad intelligence tests seem as inevitable as death and taxes. However, new theories of intelligence are resulting in some promising developments. Thirteen approaches to the measurement of intelligence are described, divided into the following categories: classical psychometric; developmental; culture-sensitive; cognitive; biological; and systems.…

Results of an 18-year longitudinal study of 48 Israeli high school students who were seniors at the study's start suggest that measures of creative thinking and creative leisure activities were more important than school-oriented predictors of intelligence and school grades in predicting creative attainments in adults. (DB)

This study examined the relationship that exists between high school teachers' (n=25) understanding of the Piagetian developmental model of intelligence; its inherent teaching procedure, the learning cycle, and classroom teaching practices. The teachers who exhibited a sound understanding of the model were more likely to effectively implement the…

Relationships among home environment, nutritional status, maternal intelligence, and intellectual development were investigated for 177 5- and 6-year-old children in the Philippines using culture-relevant scales. Results support the generalizability to the Philippine cultural setting of relationships among these factors found in American settings.…

This study tested two Web personal spiders (i.e., agents that take users' requests and perform real-time customized searches) based on best first-search and genetic-algorithm techniques. Both results were comparable and complementary, although the genetic algorithm obtained higher recall value. The Java-based interface was found to be necessary…

Examines the educational potential for intelligent agents as cognitive tools. Discusses the role of intelligent agents: managing large amounts of information (information overload), serving as a pedagogical expert, and creating programming environments for the learner. (AEF)

Investigated long-term effects of infant temperament on problem behavior and cognitive abilities at age 5 years, taking into account interactions between infant temperament and biological and social risk. Found that when high scores on temperamental factors are combined with social or biological risk, the level of later behavioral problems is…

Educator and author Tom Armstrong talks about events that influenced his radical educational philosophy; the interconnectedness of spirituality, culture, and the inner learner in all of us; the difficulty of linking spirituality to education in light of the First Amendment; attention deficit disorders and the medicalization of education; and the…

Describes an alternative, multicomponent assessment model that increases the probability of early identification of at-risk children who demonstrate the potential to be gifted. The model combines the use of traditional intelligence tests with nontraditional assessment strategies, including behavioral observations and curriculum-based assessment.…

School violence is more likely in schools located in high-crime areas, in large schools with large classes, in schools containing a large percentage of male students, and in schools with weak administrators. The "Practical Intelligence" curriculum enables middle-school youths who are not classically successful students to make a contribution and…