Social stories and comic strip conversations were successfully used to teach social skills to a 14-year-old student with Asperger Syndrome. As a result of the training, the student's behavior changed. The student enjoyed using comic strip conversations and began to request their use from others at school and home. (Contains references.) (CR)

This article discusses ways that sophistication can be incorporated into the curriculum to address the needs of gifted learners. Educators are urged to use questions, integrated curriculum, problem-based learning, independent and self-directed study projects, and mentor experiences to facilitate the exploration of ideas beyond the scope of the…

This interview with Howard Spicker discusses his early leadership in the Head Start programs of the mid-1960s, his establishment of the Indiana University College for Gifted and Talented Youth, and his development of alternative procedures, instrumentation, and programs for gifted students from special populations. His work on Project SPRING is…

This article discusses a systematic method for selecting assistive technology that enhances or enables people with visual impairments to perform literacy skills. The method identifies critical tasks, personal preferences and abilities, and the relationship of visual, auditory, or tactile media needs to the critical tasks and personal preferences.…

A study explored the internal consistency of items in a visual screening instrument developed by Project PAVE: Expectations for Visual Functioning (EVF). The test includes 20 items that evaluate a child's functional use of vision. A pilot test involving 129 teachers indicates the EFV is internally consistent. (Contains three references.) (CR)

Explores Montessori's concept of cosmic education and recommends expanding it in school curricula. Suggests integration of science about the universe and earth with intuitions about the meaning of life and humans' role in the universe. Discusses God versus chance as the source of life, and emphasizes developing cosmic values and responsibilities.…

Transfers the environment of a large enrollment oceanography course by modifying lectures to include cooperative learning via interactive in-class exercises and directed discussion. Results of student surveys, course evaluations, and exam performance demonstrate that learning of the subject under these conditions has improved. (Author/SAH)

Describes how elementary teachers can give students a boost in content area reading by reading aloud paired nonfiction and fiction text sets, explaining: why nonfiction is so important; how to teach children how nonfiction works; how to carry out a paired text read-aloud; and how to look for evidence of learning in the reading/writing workshop.…

Presents suggestions to help elementary school teachers incorporate journal writing in math class, discussing a math journal's many uses (problem solving, process prompts, language experience, and class discussion) and explaining how to respond to what students write in their journals. A sidebar explains how to create a system for storing…

Presents innovative, multiple intelligence math practices that can boost student learning and promote fun in the classroom. Suggestions include doing picture book math, working on open-ended problems, doing math all day and everywhere, and working on cooperative group math. (SM)

Describes a research and development project, Cognitively Guided Instruction, to illustrate how theory and research inform the teaching and learning of mathematics. The project engaged first grade teachers with research-based knowledge about the development of children's mathematical thinking, studying teachers' use of this knowledge in the…

Discusses the need to understand the interplay between children's developing mathematical conceptions and mathematical structures in order to understand what it means to teach differently and create opportunities for children to learn a different mathematics, focusing on reform in mathematics education, social situations and shared meanings,…

explains the work by the Maryland Association of Public Library Administrators Birth to Five Task Force that has helped public libraries get involved in community programs for preschoolers. Topics include national resources and initiatives; brain research; reading research; Early Childhood Longitudinal Study; systems reform for solving community…

Describes the development of a curriculum-integrated and tiered instruction program over the course of five years at the University of Montana as well as the implementation of a Web-based assessment tool as a mechanism for establishing levels of information literacy. (Author/LRW)

Presents results of a study of postgraduate students who were asked to create Web pages using HTML in order to explore the relationship between matching and mismatching instructional presentation style (breadth-first and depth-first) with students' cognitive style (field dependence-independence) in a computer-based learning environment. Findings…