In the midst of unprecedented knowledge generation in the field of education, the definition of learning disabilities and the methods used for its identification have essentially remained the same for nearly 30 years. Working from a sociohistorical perspective, the authors' distinct professional positions within education (university academic,…

This article describes the relationship between learning disabilities (LD) and homelessness. Research describing the connection between disabilities and homelessness has focused on individuals presenting with disabilities such as mental illness, physical disabilities, medical disabilities, or substance abuse. At this time, the presence of LD in…

Circles of Care grantees were provided the opportunity to develop a locally relevant definition of serious emotional disturbance (SED) that would be used to define what type of emotional, behavioral, and mental disability would be required to receive services. After conducting detailed assessments of the definition in the guidance for applicants…

The 1972 publication of the Marland Report by the U.S. Commissioner of Education proposed a multifaceted definition of gifted and talented education, enhancing what traditionally had been a focus on academics. Leadership materialized as a component of giftedness, along with general intellectual ability, specific academic aptitude, creative or…

Analyses of responses to the Hoffman Gender Scale (R. M. Hoffman, L. D. Borders, & J. A. Hattie, 2000) questions "What do you mean by femininity?" (female respondents) and "What do you mean by masculinity?" (male respondents) provided a framework for conceptualizing respondents' personal definitions of these constructs. Implications for…

This article examines whether the idea of "temperament" is a useful construct for families to understand babies' and toddlers' behavior. The author suggests that "regulatory skill" may be a more neutral term than temperament for parents and practitioners to use in discussing individual differences among babies and toddlers and suggests that…

Effect Sizes (ES) are an increasingly important index used to quantify the degree of practical significance of study results. This paper gives an introduction to the computation and interpretation of effect sizes from the perspective of the consumer of the research literature. The key points made are: (1) "ES" is a useful indicator of the…

This paper is basically about terminology. In it I discuss the terms "masculinity" and "femininity" and how they relate to being male and being female. My theme arises from an increasing difficulty that I am finding in understanding how individual identities relate to dominant constructions of masculinity and femininity. Christine Skelton and…

Object-oriented instructional design (OOID) offers the promise of universal access to online instructional materials, increased productivity among trainers and educators, and solutions for individualizing learning. However, it is unclear whether it can fulfill these promises to the degree many envision. As with every new instructional technology,…

This article presents a study conducted among 148 men from the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in Israel. A self-administered questionnaire was utilized to examine their definitions of and beliefs about wife abuse. The definitions provided by the majority of the participants were highly consistent with definitions that are accepted in the…

The question of the status of cause-and-effect explanations of human behavior that posit physically existing causative factors and those that, on the other hand, posit hypothetical entities in the form of "useful fictions" has a long history. The influence of the works of Jeremy Bentham and Hans Vaihinger, as well as the later influence of Francis…

Many districts are considering revamping the systems determining which schools students attend. These discussions are, inherently, about the fate of the neighborhood school. But this term has never been well defined. We develop a three-dimensional, theoretically, and empirically grounded definition of a neighborhood school. The authors' two case…

A number of universities have recently started to add baccalaureate programs in Information Technology (IT) to their existing programs in Computer Science (CS) and (Management) Information Systems (IS). While some have welcomed this development, others have argued that (a) there are significant differences between the baccalaureate programs in IT…

This article discusses how a teacher can prepare the terrain for students to understand what it means to define a figure. Drawing on writings from mathematicians and mathematics educators on the role of definitions in mathematics, the authors argue that students develop a greater appreciation for the conciseness of a mathematical definition if…

For at least 40 years, there has been a recurring argument concerning the nature of experimental amnesia, with one side arguing that amnesic treatments interfere with the formation of enduring memories and the other side arguing that these treatments interfere with the expression of memories that were effectively encoded. The argument appears to…