"Whole-child development" can mean different things to educators, researchers, other child- and youth-serving professionals, and policymakers. Multiple bodies of research and methods of analysis affirm that child development (and human development in general) is dynamic, bi-directional (i.e., the child and context influence each other),…

The identification of his son's high ability can cause a father to confront his own experiences as a gifted child and adult and change his emotional life, family dynamics, and career. Over the past decade, Fiona Smith has worked closely with numerous multi-generations of grandfathers, fathers, and sons in Australia to analyze their backgrounds,…

We suggest that special education could die among common myths about it. That is, special education could cease to exist, at least as we know it, because its true nature and requirements for its functioning are misunderstood. We discuss only 12 common myths about special education, recognizing that there are many more myths and that the ones we…

Through the previous detection of existing learning styles in a classroom, a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) has been designed for students of several Engineering degrees, using the Learning Management System (LMS) utilized in the University of Jaen, ILIAS. Learning styles of three different Knowledge Areas; Chemical Engineering, Materials…

Differentiated instruction is a way to meet the instructional needs of all students. Students are met at their academic levels rather than given work that is above or below their level. Even though differentiation may appear to be something that is easily achieved, there are some who decide otherwise. Many educators are considered to be exemplary…

Why do some students go above and beyond what is asked of them while others do just enough to get by? This "Focus On" debunks common underachievement myths (such as "some students aren't capable of learning" or "underachievers are lazy") and looks at ways to create a motivating classroom by providing teachers with effective strategies for engaging…

The National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC), in collaboration with the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), and the Association for the Gifted (CEC-TAG), has developed national standards for teacher preparation programs in gifted and talented education. Typically, these programs are at the masters level, but they may also be endorsement…

Self-efficacy, a core construct of Bandura's social cognitive theory, has wide appeal and usefulness in the health and social sciences. Self-efficacy is frequently used across disciplines to assess an individual's beliefs about her likelihood to engage in a certain behavior. Because of the behavioral-change approaches common in rehabilitation…

The article presents the feature sampling signal detection (FS-SDT) model, an extension of the multivariate signal detection (SDT) model. The FS-SDT model assumes that, because of attentional shifts, different subsets of features are sampled for different presentations of the same multidimensional stimulus. Contrary to the SDT model, the FS-SDT…

Describes efforts at Worthington High School (Ohio) to use a diagnostic/prescriptive program based on students' learning styles to improve instruction. Utilizing the Learning Style Inventory, the school's staff believe they have made a breakthrough in high school instruction. (Author/WD)

In this paper I comment on recent recommendations that students' responsiveness to instruction (RTI) provides a basis for identification of students as learning disabled. I repeat an earlier argument (Gerber & Semmel, 1985) that teachers embedded in schools are naturally variable in their capacity to respond to differences in students' response to…

Three aspects of the learning strategies model are discussed: its philosophy (that intervention should be based on principles of cognitive psychology and learning); its major components (including identification, decision making, and cooperative planning); and its application to a 15-year-old LD student. (CL)

The scope of this article is to discuss the impact of underrepresentation of girls in separate, self-contained special education classes for preschool children in a large school district in the southeastern United States. On a regular basis, preschool girls identified with special needs are being placed in self-contained classes where there they…

The document contains information presented at a conference session on crucial learning strategies and approaches for Black preschool handicapped children by school personnel involved with the Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana, school system. Introductory information is provided on the following topics: speech and language remediation; parent…

Describes culturally appropriate strategies developed by American Indian Research and Development (AIRD) for gifted and talented education. Discusses AIRD's multicriteria approach to identification, and its weekend and summer programs incorporating individual education plans, role models, cooperative learning, exclusive grouping, holistic design,…