To clear up some of the existing confusion in gifted education terminology, the paper suggests several alternative ways of looking at the terms talented, creative, and gifted, with particular emphasis on the last two. Noted among distinctions are that the gifted have a global intellectual ability, the creative have the ability to produce…

Evaluation can be considered as a general activity not specifically confined to educational settings. This paper considers the assumptions leading up to a definition of value, defines value within the framework of the stated assumptions, and discusses evaluation as a conceptual, rationalizing activity. Terms defined in the paper's first section…

The meanings of "evaluation" and "decisioning" are examined and the function, form, and content of educational evaluation are set forth. Philosophical questions which emerge from epistemology, logic, axiology, ethics, social philosophy, ontology, and metaphysics concerning the nature of people are briefly described. In order to address questions…

The problems of modeling a process as complex as reading are discussed, including such factors as the lack of agreement surrounding definitions of modeling, varying levels of rigor within and between models, the disjunctive categories within which models fall, and the difficulty of synthesis across fields which employ very different technical…

This paper examines the nature of complex organizations and describes a new conceptual framework for considering organizational effectiveness. Organizations are viewed as open systems with distinct but interdependent subsystems that must be more or less coordinated to ensure organizational survival and growth. Organizations are also seen as…

Discusses the confusion caused by a variety of definitions of competence and competency based programs, and offers a set of definitions of competence comprehensive enough to be applied to all steps of educational planning. (SF)

Available from: Performing Arts Journal, Inc., P.O. Box 858, Peter Stuyvesant Station, New York, NY 10009. Subscription Rates: individuals, $6.00 per year; foreign add $2.00 for postage.

Argues that the concepts "career" and "dual-career marriage" are loosely defined in the literature, hindering the comparability of findings and accumulation of scientific knowledge. Supports this assertion with a review of recent articles. Finds sociological and psychological levels of analysis not clearly differentiated, with researchers assuming…

An examination of the field of learning disabilities (LD) reviews early efforts to identify the syndrome, effects of the federal definition, and controversies over the conceptualization of LD. The author emphasizes the need continuing the search for a viable paradigm to meet definitional, assessment, and instructional needs of the profession. (CL)

Defines the discipline of instructional science, discusses its applications, and reviews three instructional models--the component theory display, elaboration theory of instruction, and motivational design of instruction--to illustrate the kind of integrative, multi-perspectived common knowledge base needed at this point in the development of…

Examines the history of literacy, identifying four current models of literacy. Argues that literacy does not merely coexist or interact with oral skills but includes them--that the definition of literacy consists in written and oral practices organized around texts in a particular culture. (PD)

This paper describes an incident between an academic researcher and a community member. The encounter, in which a researcher asked questions about farming practices, shows how cultural misunderstanding and failure to communicate the gains of research to the community has the potential to generate distorted information. The academic researcher has…

This paper describes a project of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Project Definition and Selection of Competencies: Theoretical and Conceptual Foundations (Project DeSeCo). DeSeCo was designed to complement past and current international comparative assessments by providing theoretical and conceptual foundations…

This paper attempts to define some critical criteria for evaluating the relationship between what is regarded as "art" and "entertainment" in American mass media by way of presenting a model for classroom discussion. (Editor)

General theories and process models of behavior are analyzed relative to vessels creative functioning, creativity is defined, and theoretical concepts for six phases of the creative process are presented. (MC)