The paper describes the implementation of a 3-year cognitive skills development curriculum, Instrucmental Enrichment (IE), at the North Carolina School for the Deaf in a question/answer format. The following questions are addressed: What are the goals? Who is it for? How is it taught? What is the IE classroom climate like? What is the theory? What…

This article describes the use of problem-based learning (PBL) with gifted students, in which the focus of the curriculum is "ill-structured" problems. Particular advantages of PBL with these students include effectiveness in teaching the art of problem finding and solving, active learning, higher order thinking skills, and using interdisciplinary…

The article points out that the label "cognitive" has been used to designate five substantially different approaches to learning disabilities: information processing, metacognition, genetic epistemology, cognitive behavior modification, and the specific-abilities model. Despite the similar label, the instructional interventions of these approaches…

This response to Detterman and Thompson (1997) analyzes their criticisms of special education and presents evidence of the effectiveness of current instructional techniques for children with disabilities in contrast with the cognitive approaches favored by Detterman and Thompson. Assumptions about the significance of intelligence testing and…

Described are procedures used to assess reasoning in congenitally blind students. It is explained that the Piagetian Battery of Reasoning Assessments for concrete and formal or abstract thought measures the following basic abilities: reversability of thought, classifacatory thought, spatial orientation, and mental imagery. (CL)

This interview with Howard Gardner, author of such books as "The Theory of Multiple Intelligences" and professor of education, addresses such concerns as the nature of cognitive science; parenting; the importance of human relationships in education; the meaning of "intelligence,""talent,""and giftedness";…

Described are a Texas special education region's activities with the 3-year Project CCEC (Changing Curriculum for Exceptional Children) which provides training in the application of the theories of J. Piaget to the education of exceptional children, and with Project SERT (Special Education for Regular Teachers) which trains regular classroom…

According to Alfred North Whitehead, education precedes through three stages as it develops students' minds: (1) romantic; (2) precision; and (3) generalization. These stages are related to Whitehead's ideas about prehension and symbolic reference. Educational practices should strike a balance between the stages to encourage learning. (PP)

The text reviews characteristics of gifted students and educational approaches for gifted and talented students. A definition of giftedness is presented in the first chapter. The development of giftedness is traced in the next two chapters (sample subtopics in parentheses): becoming gifted (prenatal and perinatal influences and intellectual…

The paper describes an innovative treatment approach to severe learning disabilities in use in St. Gallen, Switzerland. The multisensory approach is based on the assumption that learning disabled children have perceptual cognitive deficits. Reality based problem-solvng events connected with tactile-kinesthetic input become the primary foci of…

This book presents the characteristics of children affected by prenatal drug exposure, fetal alcohol syndrome, fetal alcohol effects, and fetal cocaine/polydrug effects. It outlines incidence, service needs, prevention, and identification. The medical literature on the physical, cognitive, and behavioral characteristics of this population is…

Written in response to requests from local school districts in New York State, this document provides information about the middle grades (grades 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9) and the changing nature of students in these grades. The first section reports results of studies on this difficult developmental period that were conducted by three New York school…

The bibliography contains approximately 1500 citations (1954-1976) regarding deaf blind children. Entries are arranged alphabetically by author within the following 13 categories: the population; parents, family, and the adult community (including parent education and infant intervention); professionals/paraprofessionals; medical/neurological…