Describing the middle school as extending from the fifth or sixth through the eighth grades, this review describes current middle school philosophies and characteristics and cites middle school research and implications. Ideally, the report maintains, the middle school is designed to serve the needs of early adolescents through such techniques as…

The digest addresses ways that parents and educators can nurture giftedness in young children. Problems in appropriate school placement for young gifted children with uneven development are discussed and illustrated with examples. In selecting a program, parents need to look for a highly individualized program in which children are encouraged to…

In developing understanding of social roles, preschool children proceed from an initial awareness of single behavioral categories to the ability to comprehend, first, simple relationships between categories, and second, complex systems of categories. At each developmental level, children show characteristic modes of distortion when faced with…

Offers selected ERIC references on the application of Piagetian theory and the use of Piagetian tasks in beginning reading/language arts instruction. (RL)

Presented are abstracts and abstractors' analyses of 10 studies related, in some manner, to learning. These studies focus on: (1) problem-solving processes used by experts and novices as they worked five mechanics problems (J. H. Larkin and F. Reif); (2) formal reasoning patterns of Italian high school students (M. L. Aiello-Nicosia, et al.); (3)…

The report examines, from a cognitive developmental view, research on the teachable moment or critical learning period in handicapped infants. The author explains that developmental gaps are produced by a mismatch between the infant's readiness and opportunity to learn. Characteristics and educational implications of specific handicapping…

Noting that college-level critical thinking instruction is now an interdisciplinary movement coordinating such fields as English, rhetoric, philosophy, and developmental psychology, this digest surveys the history of critical thinking studies in these converging disciplines and argues that literature study preeminently encompasses the mental…

The review of science education research for 1981 includes individual analyses of approximately 400 dissertation abstracts, journal articles, research reports, and papers presented at conferences. The organization of the review is topical. Topics include: (1) status studies of science education; (2) cognitive style; (3) Piagetian studies; (4)…

A review of Piaget's theory and research on children's cognitive development is presented, including a discussion of the psychological structures of intelligence, developmental constructivism, and the evolution of knowledge as a subject-object relation. Piaget's assessment techniques are summarized, including moral development, number…