A pilot study attempted to document the existence and incidence of learning disabilities (LD) among primary school children in Botswana. The study also sought to identify effective identification procedures and to determine if LD students are unique to technologically-oriented societies. Data were collected on 620 children from 4 schools (2…

The article traces the development of the concept of learning disabilities (LD) in American education from a sociohistorical perspective, prompting a variety of observations and conclusions. The scientific basis for the conceptualization of the LD clinical syndrome is weak. A clinically identified dysfunctional learning style has been transformed…

The objectives and activities of a 3-year preventive intervention program are described. The project's goal was to demonstrate a comprehensive, coordinated interagency model of preventive intervention for birth to 3-year-old handicapped or at-risk infants and young children. Following an in-hospital screening process of infants delivered at…

A study on female graduates of Southern colleges and universities during the postwar period is presented. The focus is on how their experiences match the assertions of Betty Friedan in her book "The Feminine Mystique." Interviews were done with graduates of public and private, coeducational and women's, and black and white colleges.…

A review of the research on learning-disabled students suggests that these students often exhibit language deficits that are not readily obvious. These language deficits create problems in understanding social interactions and written and oral directions as well as problems in expressing ideas both orally and in written form. The term language…

The 1985 Buros-Nebraska Symposium was devoted to the broad issue of the influence of cognitive psychology on testing and measurement. The (1) "Introduction: The Implications of Cognitive Psychology for Testing" (Royce R. Ronning et. al.) lists four major issues addressed by the symposium--cognitive psychology as a basis for questioning some…

New developments in testing in the United Kingdom (UK) since 1965 are described. Standardized testing at the local level declined dramatically with the widespread introduction of comprehensive secondary education. However, in the late 1970's widespread local testing programs were re-introduced for the purposes of monitoring student progress,…

A summary is presented of a 2-year ethnographic study of the intake process (involving assessment, placement, and educational programming) of 12 Hispanic deaf and hearing-impaired children, aged 3-8. The study, titled "Schooling the Different: Ethnographic Case Studies of Hispanic Deaf Children's Initiation into Formal Schooling" by Adrian…

This handbook for literacy tutors and adult education instructors is a compilation of information about various handicapping conditions and suggestions for working with students with each of the handicaps. Seven handicapping conditions are considered: hearing acuity problems, visual impairments, deaf blindness, speech and language impairments,…

Several models for optimizing incomplete sample designs with respect to information on the item parameters are presented. The following cases are considered: (1) known ability parameters; (2) unknown ability parameters; (3) item sets with multiple ability scales; and (4) response models with multiple item parameters. The models are able to cope…

Part of a volume which explores current issues in service delivery to infants and toddlers (ages birth to 3) with handicapping conditions, this chapter provides an overview of the relationships among screening, assessment, and curriculum in programming for this population, with attention to the potential impact of Public Law 99-457 and the…

The conspicuous absence of Black professionals at predominantly White colleges has serious consequences for Black students. In the State University of New York system, for example, there are only 262 Blacks in a 9,000 member faculty and the highest percentage of Black professionals are low level administrators. For the few Black faculty on…

This study represents a further attempt to establish the long-term predictive validity of teachers' grade 1 early identification (EID) ratings by relating them to students' educational status and performance on standardized tests of ability and achievement in grade 7. (EID ratings consist of a simple scale that ranks a student's preparedness for…

The theoretical African mode of thinking about liberty seems to stand in contrast to the view of liberty that has dominated Western philosophy. Western philosophy accepts as its starting point the notion of an unconstrained and uncontextualized "I" that is defined in relation to the self and its inner being. Greek, Cartesian, and…

This paper, presented at the International Conference on Education for the Gifted, examines the Republic of South Africa's historical provision of education for the highly gifted as well as the present status of such service. A brief review is provided of the educational planning process and recommendations are outlined for a national system of…