Some children experience more difficulty than others becoming literate, often at great emotional, intellectual, social, and economic cost to themselves, but also to those who love and care for them, and for society at large. The causes of those difficulties and what to do about them have been the source of much research and sometimes heated…

This study examined the identification frameworks, specific models, and assessment practices used by school psychologists to identify students with specific learning disabilities (SLD) in public schools in the United States. We surveyed school psychologist practitioners using an online survey, conducted a review of state regulations addressing…

Background: There is an urgent need to accelerate the detection of special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). A recent brief questionnaire designed for teachers and nursery staff, the Brief Early Skills and Support Index (BESSI), shows promising psychometric properties (Hughes, Daly, Foley, White, & Devine, 2015. "British Journal…

The Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test, Second Edition (NNAT2), is used widely to screen students for possible inclusion in talent development programs. The NNAT2 claims to provide a more culturally neutral evaluation of general ability than tests such as Form 6 of the Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT6), which has Verbal and Quantitative batteries in…

The identification of gifted children is an interactive procedure consisting of two consecutive steps--screening for above-average cognitive abilities, followed by their monitoring. Teacher nomination is among the most widely used methods of screening. However, it is not free from bias. The analysis of screening criteria is of prime importance for…

Schools often administer brief intelligence tests as the first step in the identification of students who are cognitively gifted. However, brief measures are often used without consideration of underlying constructs or the psychometric properties of the measures and without regard to the links between screening decisions and educational…

This handbook incorporates the most recent thinking and cutting-edge research from a wide range of fields related to gifted education, including developmental and social psychology, the neurosciences, cognitive science, and education. It consists of six sections: (1) History and global perspectives on the gifted field and talent development; (2)…

In a study involving 59 gifted fifth- and sixth-grade students, Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices test was a more significant predictor of intelligence than Meeker's Structure of Intellect screening form for gifted. The use of either measure in screening or identification was questioned. (CL)

The study comparing the differential validity of the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC) and the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale raised questions concerning the ability of the K-ABC to discriminate among at-risk preschoolers functioning in the lower ranges of cognitive ability. (Author/DB)

The Gifted and Talented Screening Form (GTSF) was initially developed to introduce the screening process to school districts developing their first programs for gifted and talented children. The GTSF, designed for grades K-9, screens for talent in six general areas: academics, intelligence, creativity, leadership, visual and performing arts, and…

The lower percentage of Black and Hispanic students in Gifted and Talented (GT) programs is due to multiple causes, including failure to be nominated, the grade in which students first are nominated, the qualities that constitute the GT program, information considered during the screening process, and the use of national norms. These five issues…

This article comments on the reporting by Douglas Detterman and others (EC 604 995) of a larger magnitude of g among young adults with mental retardation. Reliance on g-based measures for screening and diagnosis may thus be misleading, by implying that those tested were less differentiated than may be the case. (JDD)

The accuracy of SEARCH for identifying children at risk for developing learning disabilities was evaluated with 1,107 kindergarten children. Children identified as at risk were of average intelligence. SEARCH scores were significantly correlated with sequential and simultaneous information processing skills. SEARCH predicted adequacy of…

Two groups of children, 12 to 30 months (N=14) and 31 to 78 months (N=12), showing increased lead burden were compared to a sample matched for age, sex, and socioeconomic status but evincing no increased lead burden. For the younger children, significant deficits in maternal IQ and quality of the caregiving environment were associated with…

Draw-a-Person (DAP) samples from 108 adolescents and adults with mental retardation were scored using Naglieri's cognitive and emotional disturbance scoring systems. Visual-motor skills emerged as the best predictor of DAP cognitive scores, more predictive than intelligence. Findings suggest caution in using DAP as an index of intelligence or as a…