Reviews current trends and needs in gifted education. Discusses six types of gifted students, six northwestern states' policies on gifted education, and five rules for planning appropriate gifted programs. Pinpoints learning environment, curriculum content, and skills mastery as three areas where adaptations should be made to challenge and…

Studied how differences in race, gender, and academic ability affected students' use of computers and attitudes toward computers. Results with 73 suburban fifth graders show that computer technologies were less available to students who did not do well with traditional approaches, in spite of the interest traditionally disadvantaged students…

A study of 114 children examined the relationship of children's competence with objects and peers during free play with stimulating, involved teacher behavior; activity setting; as well as teacher and peer presence. Results are discussed in light of current research and theory on classroom practices designed to enhance children's development. (TJQ)

Uses the biography and work of M. C. Escher to introduce a unit on art history. Tells about Escher's influence not only on artists, but also on mathematicians and physicists. Outlines a student project in which students employed one of these themes: impossible geometry, rotating symmetry, or geometry. (DSK)

Describes roles libraries play in battling illiteracy, and the need for schools to adopt some of these practices. Uses as examples the efforts of one children's librarian. Discusses interaction in storytelling; obstacles students face in learning to read; picture books and visual storytelling; parental involvement; adult literacy programs; and the…

Uses National Longitudinal Survey of Youth data to examine whether measures of male teenagers' skills (academic, reasoning, and self-esteem) predict their wages at ages 27 and 28. All three skill types help predict subsequent wages, but have differing importance in explaining white/minority wage gaps. (Contains 37 references.) (MLH)

An interactive, child-initiated software package was used in teaching reading and communication skills to 3 groups of children (n=30), including 20 children with autism and mixed disabilities. Results suggest that such programs may stimulate reading and communication, but that interventions must be individualized and include detailed planning and…

Introduces six articles on interventions, practices, beliefs, and contexts designed to facilitate early adolescents' school achievement and overall development. The articles focus on middle school reform, separate schooling for African American males, ability grouping, teacher roles, interdisciplinary programs, and the role of cooperation and…

The relationship between oral and written language skills was explored in this study involving 97 participants in an adult literacy program. Analysis of pragmatic language skills identified behaviors likely to detract from communicative effectiveness. A test of metalinguistic/semantic skills correlated with reading levels of subjects. Follow-up…

Examines two theoretical approaches on how we understand our own and others' minds: a causal explanatory and an interpretive social approach. Explores the relations between these views and suggests that the real challenge of the cognitive revolution is to unite the two approaches, to achieve a causal naturalistic account of the acquisition and…

Suggests that a better understanding of the development of children's theories of mind, requires theoretical perspectives that do not privilege the child who conceptualizes or actively participates in social interactions. Proposes that a better understanding of the relationships among brain, psyche, behavior, and culture should be promoted. (AA)

Examines Astington and Olson's proposal under the context of von Wright's and Hempel's theories of explanation and understanding. Suggests that for taking children's meaning making seriously, researchers should find a principled way to acknowledge the role of interpretation in scientific thinking even in the making of explanation itself. (AA)

Examines the relationship between causal-explanatory and interpretive-hermeneutic approaches to how we understand our own and others' minds. Suggests that the two approaches discussed by Astington and Olson are mutually enlightening but, contrary to the proposed position, are irreducible to each other. (AA)

Points out agreement that the concepts a child acquires are variants of those exemplified by the cultures in which they grow up. Suggests, however, that learners interpret these cultural practices in terms of models causally determined by their cognitive or representational capacities and by the stock of concepts currently available. (AA)

Sought to determine if there is a psychological and somatic pattern for adolescents with eating symptomatology. Used psychological instruments to evaluate self-esteem, personality, school abilities, anxiety, and depression in 515 adolescents between 13 and 14 years old. Generally, low self-esteem and high anxiety were the most important predictors…