This digest describes types of education programs for gifted and talented children and considers educational acceleration for this population. It reviews such acceleration alternatives as having a child skip a grade, having a child take advanced courses with older students in particular subjects, and having the child tutored and advanced in given…

An action of an individual or a societal action that has an impact on other societies constitutes a "global issue." Global climate change, airborne toxins, ozone depletion, and solid waste management are a few of the global issues concerning the environment. This digest discusses methods by which students learn about global issues and…

This brief paper reviews the literature and provides guidelines on how instructional practices to promote self-determination can be used to help students with learning disabilities make effective choices and decisions. Self-determination is linked to making good choices through five steps: know yourself; value yourself; plan; act; and experience…

This ERIC Digest discusses issues relating to teaching about U.S. foreign policy in the changing international environment following the end of the Cold War era and the disintegration of the Soviet Union. The document treats: (1) the need and rationale for teaching and learning about current foreign policy issues; (2) main themes in foreign policy…

Career certainty refers to the degree to which individuals feel confident, or decided, about their occupational plans. Since Parsons first classified people into career-decided and career-undecided groups, counseling researchers and practitioners have worked to formally assess career choice status. These efforts have yielded two generations of…

This digest discusses promoting self-determination in students with disabilities. It begins by describing self-determination and explains why self-determination is important for these students. Teaching strategies are then provided for students at the elementary and secondary levels. For students in early elementary grades, educators are urged to…

This ERIC digest discusses the use of dissenting U.S. Supreme Court decisions in teaching about U.S. constitutional history. for most of its history, the U.S. Supreme Court has issued a single opinion indicating its decision in a case. The Court disposes of each case it reviews by majority rule (either affirming or reversing) and provides a…

Factors that have led to post-tenure evaluation of faculty are considered, along with concerns that should be examined before designing a post-tenure review process. Post-tenure evaluation is not in opposition to the principle of tenure and to policy statements about tenure issued by the American Association of University Professors, provided that…

Problem solving is the foundation of young children's learning. The role of the early childhood teacher in facilitating problem-solving behavior in children involves trusting children's attempts to learn through problem solving and maintaining a classroom environment that encourages problem solving. Curricula that foster children's problem solving…

Career exploration is a developmental stage identified by career development theorists and occurs typically during adolescents when boys and girls try out various work roles in part time work, volunteer work, or in school/community activities. This digest focuses on gender differences in the role of assessment in the exploration process. Girls…

One method for assessing teacher performance is the teacher portfolio. This is a collection of work produced by a teacher to highlight and demonstrate his or her knowledge and skills in teaching. A portfolio also provides a means for reflection and an opportunity to critique one's own work and evaluate one's own effectiveness as a teacher. Rather…

Although evaluation plays many roles in schools--support for administrative decision-making, curriculum improvement, staff development, public relations, instruction, counseling, diagnosing problems for students and staff, planning--recent studies of school district evaluation practices indicate that little overall consistency exists in the form…

Entrepreneurship, or small business ownership, is an increasingly attractive option to young people and adults (including low-income populations, at-risk youth, and women) who are striving to find careers that are exciting to them and offer the potential for personal and financial success. Entrepreneurs must be self-starters, innovative, willing…

How to locate information that can be used in career decision making is the subject of this digest. The first section lists the career/occupational information collections generally found in public libraries, including printed resources, information about associations, information about local sources of job information, information on specific…