Computerized adaptive (CA) testing uses an algorithm to match examinee ability to item difficulty, while self-adapted (SA) testing allows the examinee to choose the difficulty of his or her items. Research comparing SA and CA testing has shown that examinees experience lower anxiety and improved performance with SA testing. All previous research…

This paper examines characteristics of American Indian children, focusing on their similarities with children with learning disabilities. These similarities include: heterogeneity, language problems, concept of time, learned helplessness, locus of control, and discrepancy between potential and achievement. Culturally sensitive prereferral…

This handbook is designed to address teachers' most common concerns about learning disabilities (LDs) and teaching adults with LDs. Section 1 defines LDs by describing traits that adults with LDs share. Section 2 focuses on identification of students with LDs. LD characteristics are divided into eight categories: academics, speech/language, motor…

The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC) has a long history, dating back to the 1930s, when it was devised specifically for measuring the intelligence of children through verbal and performance subtests. Intelligence quotients (IQs) are developed for verbal and performance skills. The subtests, their factors, indices derived from them,…

This paper looks at broad trends in education of the gifted and identifies elements that states should review and reconsider in terms of the current climate for educational reform. The 1972 Marland report is contrasted with the 1993 report of the U.S. Department of Education titled "National Excellence: A Case for Developing America's…

The impact that high school and college experiences and activities have on students' musical independence (MI) was investigated. MI is related to the actual production and performance of music, as opposed to musical achievement or the mastery of any academic skill related to music. Colwell's Musical Achievement Test 3, Musical Achievement Test 4,…

There has been little empirical research on the gender role socialization of Jewish men. This paper explores Jewish male gender role socialization and provides a model by which gender and ethnicity may be studied. A description of the gender role socialization of Jewish men, with an emphasis on advantages and disadvantages of such socialization…

Originating in the National Survey of Black Americans (NSBA), this book examines this major research project, the first study to sample a truly representative cross section of Blacks in America. The contributors discuss the methodological procedures and approaches used in conducting the NSBA and explain how the study was designed with a…

This guide to residential state academies for academically gifted high school students discusses the history of this movement, student characteristics, curricula, faculty, outreach programs, and evaluation. The establishment of the nine existing state institutions is traced from the prototype, the North Carolina School for Science and Mathematics,…

This paper explores an expanded vision of teacher education as it relates to the concept of personal and marginalized identity. A study conducted in an all-male correctional facility tells the cultural stories of marginalized people who have had an implicit influence on teachers' experiences and development. Teacher development is defined as a…

This paper describes service delivery to Maine's preschool exceptional children (ages 3 to 5) in the context of a public school setting, and examines the relationship among Maine's Department of Education, Department of Human Services, Department of Mental Health/Mental Retardation, School Administrative Units, Child Development Services (CDS),…

Black intellectuals and writers were invited to write essays on assimilation, race, and identity, using a famous quotation from W. E. B. Du Bois about the double soul of the American Negro as a point of departure. Considering the double consciousness of which Du Bois wrote resulted in the following essays: (1) "Free at Last? A Personal…

This document discusses legal considerations in the identification of Michigan students with learning disabilities and suggests guidelines for meeting legal requirements in a systematic and consistent manner. An introduction outlines issues and problems related to the assessment of learning disabilities and provides a rationale for the importance…

This Digest discusses the ongoing effort to develop new methods for identifying talent and giftedness among bilingual and limited-English-proficient Hispanic students. To provide better profiles for the identification of all gifted children, research suggests use of both qualitative and quantitative instruments. Several instruments are recommended…

This paper discusses the results of a study that explored the influence of two major external factors on children's potential giftedness before the identification process is initiated. The study involved 13 children (ages 4-6) and investigated parental perceptions of the influence of internal and/or external factors on their child's cognitive…