This book describes FIRST (Focussed Instruction in Reading for Successful Teaching) Reading, a computer program that takes answers to 20 questions about a learner and matches this profile against profiles in the database. FIRST Reading, formerly called "Consult Reading," can recommend the most-likely-to-succeed teaching focus(es) for…

This document presents excerpts from Chapter 388 of the Nevada Administrative Code, which concerns definitions, eligibility, and programs for students who are disabled or gifted/talented. The first section gathers together 36 relevant definitions from the Code for such concepts as "adaptive behavior,""autism,""gifted and…

Prompted by repeated failure on a required English language proficiency test by a large proportion of undergraduates, educators at Cardinal Stritch College (Wisconsin) conducted a study to determine predictors of failure or success on the test, and whether revision of course placement standards should be considered to improve test performance.…

This book, also available on audiocassette, is written for preadolescents and adolescents with learning disorders, and offers them empowering suggestions for overcoming their problems in school. The first chapter deals with basic concepts related to learning disorders and brain function. It emphasizes that there are many types of learning…

This study examined the relationship of multiple-choice and free-response items contained on the College Board's Advanced Placement Computer Science (APCS) examination. Subjects were two samples of 1,000 randomly drawn from the population of 7,372 high school students taking the 1988 examination of the APCS "AB" form. Most were high…

To reduce the possibility that children who do not fit stereotypical profiles of gifted children will be passed over, identifying students from diverse backgrounds for talent should be a multipronged effort. Outreach is especially important in areas when parents may be absorbed in meeting their family's immediate needs. To facilitate…

This manual was developed as part of a project to identify and serve the needs of gifted and talented economically disadvantaged students (grades 3-8) from ethnically diverse populations. Section 1 presents a leader's manual for a workshop designed to help teachers understand that many gifted students are not being identified for program…

This longitudinal study was designed to ascertain if those teacher candidates (N=388) having failed to make or having made a more or less successful transition into the teaching field 7 years after the commencement of teacher preparation differed in academic aptitudes and academic abilities assessed upon commencement of teacher preparation. MANOVA…

This longitudinal study was designed to compare the academic, personal, and family characteristics of those teacher candidates persisting and not persisting through teacher preparation and the early years of classroom teaching. The candidates' (N=551) personal, family, and academic characteristics were collected upon commencement of teacher…

Using data from the same source as that employed in Herrnstein and Murray's book, "The Bell Curve," this study reexamined links between the test scores of mothers and children, paying close attention to what the scores measure and whether these measurements mean the same things for blacks and whites. The study replicated Herrnstein and…

This paper discusses whether or not revisions of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and the American College Test (ACT) have created such significant differences between the two tests that a student could conceivably score significantly higher on one than the other. The SAT has been revised to meet the needs of an increasingly diverse student…

Multilog (Thissen, 1991) was used to estimate parameters of 225 items from the Quebec Adaptive Behavior Scale (QABS). A database containing actual data from 2,439 subjects was used for the parameterization procedures. The two-parameter-logistic model was used in estimating item parameters and in the testing strategy. MicroCAT (Assessment Systems…

This report presents a framework for considering general and work-related adult cognitive performance that is drawn from current theory and research on life-span developmental and cognitive psychology. The first section considers the concept of basic skills and the classical distinction between achievement and aptitude. By drawing linkages between…

The Urban Education staff at Research for Better Schools (RBS), Inc., has developed a conceptual framework to address the complex issues that must be dealt with in urban school-restructuring efforts. This overview of the Urban Learner Framework (ULF) describes its two major features: four research-based themes that are the foundation for a new…

The Urban Education Project developed by Research for Better Schools, Inc., has focused on meeting the needs of urban students in a changing and demanding society. In the second contract year of a 5-year contract, the project developed the Urban Education Restructuring Framework by categorizing relevant literature and school-oriented experiences…