Asserts that economics can be taught more effectively at all grade levels using the whole-language approach. Describes the role of teachers, students, and the instructional process in the whole-language classroom. Discusses student evaluation using portfolios and includes a portfolio description table used in an economics class. (CFR)

Reviews research on interactive computer learning. Examines the extent to which learner-computer interaction and learner-learner interaction can interfere with or support one another. Finds that viewing collaborative learning as joint negotiation of a common problem helps to define optimal characteristics of educational software. (CFR)

Reports on a study of 22 pairs of third-grade students and 22 pairs of seventh-grade students who worked on a variety of computer-based tasks. Finds that older students were more likely to focus on internal pattern construction than remaining oriented toward external characteristics of the patterns. (CFR)

Task engagement and conceptual change were studied for 12 sixth graders in 2 classrooms where teachers and instructional materials provided students with extensive support to understand science better. Results indicate that some students recognize the value of science learning and demonstrate cognitive engagement, whereas others pursue alternative…

This review of the past 10 years of computer-based instruction (CBI) with students having mild disabilities notes constraints (such as unrealistic expectations and limited access to hardware and software), and then considers the impact of CBI on curriculum, teacher training, teacher role and attitudes, instructional design, and learning of basic…

Mel Levine writes about learning disabilities in a way that sometimes invites satire. The premise of his 2003 book, "The Myth of Laziness," for example, is that a child who appears lazy probably does not lack motivation, but rather suffers from "output failure." Levine, a professor of pediatrics at the University of North…

This study evaluated the cognitive and achievement profiles of college students experiencing difficulties in foreign language (FLD group). Because past research appears to have generated different results based on the type of comparison groups utilized, we attempted to obtain a better representation of students with foreign language difficulties.…

The present study looks at the levels of activation of different languages a trilingual language user operates in at the moment of text construction in one of these languages. Forty-eight Portuguese advanced users of English (L2) and intermediate in German (L3) were asked to perform a translation task. The subjects were divided into two subgroups:…

Socioeconomic status (SES) is strongly associated with cognitive ability and achievement during childhood and beyond. Little is known about the developmental relationships between SES and specific brain systems or their associated cognitive functions. In this study we assessed neurocognitive functioning of kindergarteners from different…

This study compared sentence comprehension skills in typically developing children 5-17 years of age, children with language impairment (LI) and children with focal brain injuries (FL) acquired in the pre/perinatal period. Participants were asked to process sentences "on-line", choosing the agent in sentences that varied in syntactic complexity…

Introduction: Our aim is to investigate differences of causal attribution among participants in bullying, as they judge the facts from their particular place of participation in the abuse at any given moment, as well as their habitual profile in bullying situations. Method: Using a sample of students between 10 and 18 years of age, and the CIMEI…

A Computer Tutor for Writers (CTW) was designed to provide procedural facilitation to high school students while they learn the skills and knowledge associated with composition writing. Four previous year-long studies helped identify how to facilitate specific elements of the writing process. The CTW was designed to combine lessons learned from…

In order for schools to help students with learning difficulties and disabilities improve their achievement in mathematics, educators, researchers, practitioners, and policymakers need a better understanding of the evidence based on what is behind these students' difficulties in learning math. That is just what they will get with this landmark…

Issues in the testing of bilinguals are examined, particularly in the context of poor results attained on standardized tests by bilingual children. Discussion begins with an examination of definitions and classification of bilingualism, citing some evidence of confusion in use of terminology. Causes for this confusion are seen in popular…

This guide for parents of children with dyslexia begins with case summaries of several children who exhibited reading and other academic problems that were later diagnosed as dyslexia. Misconceptions about dyslexia are refuted, and developmental problems in the areas of auditory perception, visual perception, and language processing are discussed.…