Describes research on the development of a measure of student metacognition. The brief, domain-independent measure serves as a collateral measure in construct validation, supporting exploration of the self-regulatory demands of performance assessment. Results show that metacognition can be directly and explicitly measured in the context of…

Attempts to express a group of children's understanding of inversion, retrograde, and retrograde-inversion as it applies to musical composition and color schemes. The children, ages six to nine, displayed idiosyncratic approaches to the problems. Discusses the possible implications for symbolic language and cognitive development. (MJP)

Examines four key themes from a national study, focusing particularly on beliefs and practices of middle school teachers and principals as they relate to academically diverse learners. Provides insight into how middle level educators think about and address academic diversity in their schools and classrooms, and suggests areas for staff…

A general equilibrium schooling model shows that greater school efficiency is complementary with more equal opportunity, increased overall learning, more integration, stable teacher salaries, and fewer course preparations per teacher. Transferring students to area schools with curricula suited to their abilities would secure these ends. (Contains…

A study assessed an intensive fluency intervention for low-achieving at-risk beginning Spanish readers in grades 1-2. Data from 53 first- and second-graders in bilingual classrooms in southeast Texas indicated that implementing intensive reading fluency interventions in bilingual classrooms is feasible and valuable if conducted with fidelity and…

This article describes critical events that have shaped gifted education, including: Renzulli's definition of giftedness, Sputnik, the Marland Report of 1971, and the development of the National Association for Gifted Children, the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented, and the World Council for Gifted and Talented Children. (CR)

A large number of American elementary school students are now studying science using the hands-on inquiry curricula developed in the 1990s: Insights; Full Option Science System (FOSS); and Science and Technology for Children (STC). A goal of these programs, echoed in the "National Science Education Standards," is that children should…

Children who speak different home languages and dialects in a monolingual classroom often carry the challenge of having to develop literacy in a different language. This article presents a qualitative study of five first graders who speak different home languages in an inner city mainstream English classroom. Through interviews, classroom writing,…

About half of 2,581 low-income mothers reported reading daily to their children. At 14 months, the odds of reading daily increased by the child being firstborn or female. At 24 and 36 months, these odds increased by maternal verbal ability or education and by the child being firstborn or of Early Head Start status. White mothers read more than did…

The study aims to elucidate the characteristics of gifted underachievers at the university level and the reasons for their underachievement. The sample consisted of students from Bogazici University in Istanbul. The "School Attitude Assessment Survey-Revised" ("SAAS-R") instrument was administered to 91 underachievers and a…

Science teachers ask questions to assess students' cognitive abilities and to promote student motivation in learning. Cognitive questions are usually divided into low-order and high-order types. According to the conceptual change model of learning, teachers can also use questions to facilitate the construction of knowledge by students. These…

Background: Several theorists maintain that exact number abilities rely on language-relevant processes whereas approximate number calls on visuo-spatial skills. We chose two genetic disorders, Williams syndrome and Down's syndrome, which differ in their relative abilities in verbal versus spatial skills, to examine this hypothesis. Five…

Background: Information on long-term prognosis in autism is limited. Outcome is known to be poor for those with an IQ below 50, but there have been few systematic studies of individuals with an IQ above this. Method: Sixty-eight individuals meeting criteria for autism and with a performance IQ of 50 or above in childhood were followed up as…

This chapter is adapted from the address that inaugurated the American Educational Research Association annual lecture series commemorating the anniversary of the 1954 Supreme Court decision in the case "Brown v. Board of Education." The authors begin this chapter by paying tribute to Kenneth Bancroft Clark, who led the distinguished group of…

This article presents the author's response to Edmund Gordon and Beatrice Bridglall's paper titled "The Affirmative Development of Academic Ability: In Pursuit of Social Justice." Placing her comments in a historical context, the author states that Gordon and Bridglall point out that the "Brown v. Board of Education" case was the result of decades…