Presents social scientists' claim that IQ scores can determine a person's social, educational, and occupational future at an early age. Echoes the Platonic idea that each individual should be put to the use for which nature intended, and that IQ, which is thought to be hereditary, can effectively predict this use. (58 citations) (EMH)

Seventy-two items testing various aspects of mathematics were given to 12,131 10-year-old British children. Despite the absence of difference in intelligence level, the mean scores on the mathematics test for children with dyslexia was not only lower than that of normal achievers, but also lower than that of underachievers. (Contains references.)…

Differences among states' average SAT scores are almost entirely attributable to differences in percentage of test takers, parent education and income of test takers, and the high school rank and GPA of the test takers rather than to the quality of the states' education systems. Recommends changes in interpreting and reporting SAT scores.…

We review past and current psychometric theories about intelligence and critically evaluate the usefulness of modern IQ tests in guiding decisions within an educational context. To accomplish this we consider whether knowledge about intelligence extends beyond mere description to provide a scientific framework for further advancing our…

Recently, talk of a new type of learning disability (LD)--a foreign language learning disability, or FLLD--has made its way into the LD and foreign language (FL) literature. However, no empirical evidence has been published to support the concept of a "disability" for FL learning by those professionals who use the term. In this article, the author…

In this paper we consider the extent to which learning objects that focus on higher level thinking might be seen as Type II applications, as defined by Maddux, Johnson, and Willis (2001). We conclude that learning objects are at best hybrid applications, with some Type I and some Type II characteristics. We also consider whether the educational…

The authors assessed the effects of out-of-school hours academic coaching on students' (at academic performance on end-of-year examinations in English, mathematics, and science; (b) attainment of academic scholarships; and (c) acceptance to Gifted and Talented (GT) classes and selective high schools. Participants were 1,724 elementary and…

I studied how the grade point averages (GPA, a post-enrollment descriptor) of first-year developmental education students relate to two pre-enrollment descriptors: students' Academic Aptitude Ratings (AAR, a pre-enrollment criterion) and students' voluntary or forced attendance at a mandatory summer-orientation program. Students who involuntarily…

Childhood bilingualism may develop toward a steady state of balanced competence in 2 languages or toward an imbalanced competence in which one of the child's languages begins to undergo attrition or early stabilization. In child second language learning an analogous distinction is often drawn between additive and subtractive bilingualism. This…

Most psychometric tests of spatial ability are paper-and-pencil tasks at the ''figural'' scale of space, in that they involve inspecting, imagining or mentally transforming small shapes or manipulable objects. Environmental spatial tasks, such as wayfinding or learning the layout of a building or city, are carried out in larger spaces that…

To determine whether the visuospatial n-back working memory task is a reliable and valid measure of cognitive processes believed to underlie intelligence, this study compared the reaction times and accuracy of performance of 70 participants, with performance on the Multidimensional Aptitude Battery (MAB). Testing was conducted over two sessions…

This article discusses how Roland G. Tharp and his colleagues from the Center for Research on Education, Diversity, & Excellence, a federal research center at the University of California, identify methods to help "nonmainstream" pupils make academic gains. Tharp has identified five standards that he says mark effective instruction…

This paper reports on a study undertaken to discover what instruments were available for use in career assessment. The study population was all sources of information that listed or described career assessment instruments. To identify those instruments used with special populations, a survey was sent to all regional service centers in Texas for…

This publication provides career information for middle school students on 266 different kinds of jobs. Each job is described in a four-page format that provides the following information: brief overview, background on what it is like to have that career, earnings/salary, hours of work, preparation for this job, helpful high school courses, other…

This packet on vocational assessment is one in a series of materials for use with career ladder students in the Middletown, Connecticut, Public Schools. Career ladder students are those ranging from the mentally retarded to the high-risk dropout in the regular education program. The document first explains the nature and purpose of vocational…