Describes how child well-being has been conceptualized and measured in research on family foster care, and discusses the essential dimensions that should be included in a useful measure of child well-being. Discusses challenges in incorporating measures of child well-being into ongoing evaluations of family foster care. (Author)

Responding to the author's "discourse on democracy" in this journal's inaugural issue, Jim Scheurich claims that "democracy" used in conjunction with educational change is a code word for "white majoritarian racial domination or supremacy." To Glickman, democratic ideals (equality, liberty, fraternity) are universal and worth struggling for. (11…

Proposes a social need for solidarity, examines sources of the term, and shows how principles and practices of solidarity, although construed in various metaphors, is deeply rooted in the scriptural story. Provides a holistic frame of reference for proposing the promotion of solidarity as a foundational concern for religious education. (DSK)

Offers an explanation of the concept of Discipline-Based Art Education (DBAE) as developed at the Southeast Center for Education in the Arts. Using the DBAE model, develops expanded definitions of the four DBAE discipline perspectives and six organizing principles under which the arts may be taught and studied. (DSK)

Provides a narrative review of some literature--research, theory, and commentary--conveying the concept of school as community. Reviews sociological writings about community over two centuries and merges this line of thought with contemporary inquiry into the social contexts of schooling, including family relationships. (34 references) (MLH)

Analyzes the application of levels of deficits or supports in the classification of mental retardation in published research. Analysis of data from three professional journals indicated that the supports model of classification has had no significant impact in subject descriptions reported in mental-retardation research. Implications for teacher…

Discusses how the Guckenberger v Boston University case illustrates the interaction of the psychometrics of ability differences with the concept of learning disability and with the sociopolitics of schooling and society. Urges a more inclusive definition of learning disability which abandons aptitude-achievement discrepancy requirements and a more…

Introduces this special issue on how educators in various countries facilitate creative thinking in their students. Notes that some of the articles contain information or examples demonstrating originality, flexibility, or important personality traits that contribute to creativity, such as risk-taking, and that others address the need for…

This response to Mahoney et al. (EC 623 392) by a faculty/researcher, a practitioner, and a parent of a child with disabilities, suggests that the term "parent education" be eliminated from the early-intervention lexicon. These four perspectives agree that the term is belittling to parents and does not offer any particular benefits to trainers,…

Stresses the importance of common understandings of cost definitions and data collection in order to create reliable databases with optimal utility for inter-institutional analysis. Examines definitions of common expenditure categories, discusses cost-accumulation rules governing financial reporting, and explains differences between direct costs…

This study compared 23 children with high-functioning autism with 12 children with Asperger syndrome using DSM-IV diagnostic criteria. Findings indicated few group differences in current functioning but many early history differences. The Asperger syndrome group generally demonstrated less severe early symptoms, a milder developmental course, and…

Discusses what children with developmental language disorders should be called, how they should be defined, and how we might differentiate children with specific language impairments from other children with developmental language disorders. The lack of congruence between clinical and research constructs is discussed. (Author/CR)

Notes that along with adding new technologies for literacy, and changing the ways in which older technologies are used, users also create literacies that are hybrids of existing practices. Lists electronic journals concerned with adolescent and adult literacy and includes a nine-item glossary. (RS)

Asks a spate of questions about the nature of research and boundaries of identification. Points to numerous ambiguities inherent in the research prescriptions of critical postmodernism writers. Suggests the miasma that the many implications of postmodernist injunctions about identity and representation can become. (DSK)

A longitudinal study of the influence of education on children's ability to define and explain astronomical concepts was conducted with 20 students aged 10 and 11. At 2 months after the lessons, students recalled the explanations they were taught, but 4 years later they provided only everyday and inaccurate explanations. (SLD)