A study involving 58 adults with mental retardation and mental disorders found few correlations between the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) and the Assessment of Dual Diagnosis (ADD). The major exception was the Mania scale of the MMPI, which correlated moderately well with the ADD Schizophrenia and Dementia scales. (Contains…

This article describes a method of assessing individuals with mental retardation that operates within financial and human constraints using informant-based measures that assess adaptive and maladaptive behaviors, psychiatric disorders, behavior function, and medication side-effects. Integrating the assessment results for treatment planning is…

Interviews with 33 students who are deaf of Asian American, Hispanic American, and African American background were analyzed for themes regarding self-reported identities. Results indicate people are constellations of many parts and that four factors are central to this intraindividual model: individual characteristics; situational conditions;…

A review of 2001 state policies on gifted education found that states varied on their definitions of giftedness. Twenty-seven mandate full or partial gifted education, 9 require an individualized education program for gifted students, but only 4 require gifted students and children with disabilities to be identified, located, and evaluated…

A study involving 1,097 2-year-olds examined whether the items located on the Child Behavior Checklist/1-5 would provide reasonable indicators of the seven first-order behavioral dimensions purportedly measured by this instrument. Results support the presence of six factors: somatic complaints, withdrawn, attention problems, aggressive behaviors,…

Focuses upon the selection and fitting of hearing aids for young children in Japan. Explains fitting methods and their evaluation. Suggests that although most of the schools for the deaf are making serious efforts to establish binaural fitting and use of residual hearing, lack of professional training hinders those efforts. (AA)

The genesis of a formal gifted education program in Nigeria is traced from the period of the articulation of a national policy on education, through the pioneer magnet school approach, to the establishment of an academy for gifted children in 1987. Issues and problems besetting gifted education are recounted. (Author/CR)

States unequivocally that the classification of humans into races has no validity within the discipline of biology. Maintains that such classification is strictly cultural and any attempt to discern differences in cognitive or other abilities among populations must confront the limits of scientific knowledge. (MJP)

Experiential programs should augment the positive self-perceptions of African American youth. Nigrescence and the Cross Model of Racial Identity are explained, along with their usefulness in helping experiential educators identify personal cultural awareness, accept differences, and create positive communities of self-confident African American…

This study documented the prevalence of exercise-induced asthma (EIA) in rural elementary schools, examining the use of a free-running asthma screening test and peak expiratory flow-rate measurement for school screening. Results indicated that 5.7% of the students had EIA. Absenteeism and poverty were related to EIA. (SM)

The development of an experimental measure for assessing growth in movement in children (ages birth-3) is described. Results from the use of the Movement General Outcome Measurement with 29 infants and toddlers demonstrated the feasibility of the measure. The 6-minute assessment was found reliable in terms of inter-observer agreement. (Contains…

Parents of 401 infants and toddlers completed the 81-item Infant/Toddler Sensory Profile. Findings suggest that 48 items best characterized sensory processing for children 7-36 months, whereas 36 items appeared relevant for children birth-6 months. Reliability analyses were consistent with clusters identified in Dunn's model of sensory processing…

Data from 143 children with reading disabilities (RD), 100 with arithmetic disabilities (AD), and 121 controls (ages 6-16) found the RD and AD groups had significantly lower scores on all verbal IQ subtests. Many also showed significant differences between verbal and performance IQ scores, but so did many controls. (Contains references.)…

Described is an activity that uses discarded evergreen trees from Christmas. Tree age and growth characteristics are investigated by looking at the number of whorls and rings of the trunks. Extensions and follow-up activities are included. (KR)

This article documents the growing worldwide concern for identifying and serving gifted students, primarily via curriculum and instructional differentiation through special classes, enrichment, and acceleration. Programs in Brazil, Canada, Australia, the Middle East, Israel, the Philippines, the Soviet Union, Bulgaria, Poland, Indonesia, Taiwan,…