This handbook provides teachers with suggestions for planning, implementing and evaluating programs for kindergarten children. Chapter I briefly outlines child development principles and program characteristics for the kindergarten. Chapter II discusses how teachers can create an environment for learning through scheduling, organizing the teaching…

The validity of a screening process for the early identification of gifted and educable mentally retarded children was examined. The process was originally developed by Lambert and Bower, for the identification of learning handicaps. Twenty-five kindergarten and first grade classrooms were studied. The information collected included the teacher,…

Language assessment procedures developed by the Houston Independent School District were undertaken to identify limited-English-speaking-ability (LESA) students, mostly Mexican-Americans, for bilingual instruction. Six phases of program development were included: (1) goals, policies and procedures; (2) language assessment; (3) instructional…

The study was designed to provide a relatively simple method of identifying gifted Mexican-American elementary school children, using as Ss approximately 298 Mexican-Americans (in grades 3-6) from both urban and rural schools. Ss were rated by present and former teachers on traits found to be characteristic of highly creative and talented…

A project to develop instructional and evaluative procedures for special classes of intellectually gifted students in grades four, five, and six was developed as part of California Project Talent. Two demonstration programs were observed over a 3-year period; the two classes were all-day, full-week programs for children with an IQ of 130 or over.…

The early onset deaf are a disadvantaged group with educational handicaps resembling closely those of the economically disadvantaged. Most deaf students score poorly on the commonly used verbal tests of college aptitude and their scores on these tests do not predict their college performance. Gallaudet College, an accredited liberal arts college…

Kindergarten age children were screened at pre-registration through extensive diagnostic procedures for placement in a class designed for normal children with developmental delays staffed by a Special Education teacher and language therapist. Instruction was prescriptive and individualized. Of the twelve children who were high risk failures at the…

Presented is the final report of the Chapel Hill Project, a demonstration model designed to provide services to the Head Start Program for handicapped preschool children in Johnston County, North Carolina. Such services as screening, assessment, establishment of a resource center, development of intake services and individual educational programs,…

"Data Trends" reports present summaries of research on mental health services for children and adolescents and their families. The article summarized in this "Data Trends" discusses research on mental health care utilization among young children, up to age seven, in a low-income urban setting. Overall, the study indicates that…

This paper presents the results of a search for an appropriate test of critical thinking to screen college freshmen. The search for an appropriate test of critical thinking was initiated in the Fall 1995 semester at an open-admissions comprehensive university, which normally assigns entering freshmen with ACT composite scores of 17 or less to…

Noting that the last 40 years have witnessed an enormous increase in the number of psychological tests designed for the assessment of competencies in very young children, this review summarizes the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of psychological tests and other assessment instruments used to evaluate the cognitive functioning of…

The psychological factors associated with paranursing expertise were examined in a study of 135 certified nursing assistants (CNAs) at a geriatric nursing facility in Amarillo, Texas. Data were collected through a project-developed screening tool called the Geriatric Employee Screening Tool (GEST), which is a true-false instrument patterned after…

Noting that Minnesota has developed many innovative services for parents and infants, but does not yet have an organized way to attend to infants' emotional development and mental health needs, this report details a study to ascertain the need for infant mental health services and examined the current level and types of services available. Data…

This issue contains eight articles that represent information on a variety of highly specialized topics involving communicative sciences. Articles include: (1) "The Reliability of the Kay Elemetrics Multidimensional Voice Program (MDVP) for Acoustic Analysis of the Normal Voice" (Ann Marie Cimino and Christine M. Sapienza), which focuses on the…

Surveys of directors of Schools of the 21st Century, an educational model that provides integrated services to children and families, examined the availability of school health services. Results found that the services varied greatly in availability and comprehensiveness. Most schools provided basic preventive screenings, health education, and…