A survey of 51 state departments of education (including Washington, DC) regarding their definitions of learning disabilities, identification criteria, and operationalization procedures showed the continued effect of the 1977 federal definition and criteria, while revealing variations in state definitions and criteria. The impact on prereferral…

A 10-year longitudinal study investigated whether 37 children identified as academically gifted at preschool but who received no specific support would be identifiably different from their peers after 10 years of Finnish comprehensive school. The gifted group scored significantly higher than controls for final school grades and scholastic…

This article discusses England's national strategy to improve the quality of gifted and talented education. The strategy includes: intensive area-based programs through localized excellence initiatives; a regional dimension through "GATE A", the new gifted and talented education arm of the London Challenge; and resources for student,…

This reprinted paper was originally published in 1981 and addresses issues of classification of children with disabilities in the United Kingdom. It considers several "within-child" and several interactive models in special education and concludes by encouraging the stating of children's special educational needs rather than…

Argues that giving voice to students with learning disabilities is requisite of moral education. Explains that schools practicing student marginalization abrogate their moral responsibility. Presents cases of two students with opposing needs who attend schools with diametrically different philosophies toward learning disabilities. Evaluates…

A survey of states (n=51) found less than half require prereferral intervention. In comparison to research in 1989, 13 states that previously did not have statewide mandates now do so, 4 states moved their policy from required to recommended, and 5 states moved from required or recommended to no mandate. (Contains references.) (Author/CR)

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…