The Self-Directed Learning Readiness Scale and Deterrents to Participation Scale were completed by 103 of 181 adults inquiring about continuing education programs. Such deterrents as lack of confidence and low priority correlated with low learning readiness. Other factors interacting with deterrents and readiness were gender, previous enrollment,…

A scale containing items rated by a Delphi panel of 11 nurse educators was administered to 201 nursing students. The questionnaire appears to be a valid and reliable measure of nursing students' self-directed learning readiness, overcoming some problems in the instrument developed by Guglielmino. (Contains 26 references.) (SK)

Reading achievement in the United States has stagnated. In 2009, only 33 percent of Fourth Graders were proficient or above in reading--a mere two percentage points higher than in 1998. At the same time, double-digit achievement gaps between African American and Latino/Hispanic students and their white counterparts have changed little in nearly…

Increasing numbers of educational institutions are adopting an online approach to teaching and learning; however, little regard has been given to the prerequisite personal and technical qualities required for academic achievement and satisfaction within this environment. In recognition of this, researchers have been exploring the design,…

Giftedness researchers have long debated whether there is empirical evidence to support a distinction between giftedness and attained level of achievement. In this paper we propose a general theoretical framework that establishes scientific criteria for acceptable evidence of superior reproducible performance, which any theory of exceptional…

Good health is important to a child's ability to learn in school and succeed in life. This guide is intended for the use of health and education professionals who are working with a national campaign designed to teach parents and parents-to-be the critical connection between good health and their children's ability to learn. The campaign deals…

In response to the first of the National Education Goals (1991), which reads, "all children in America will start school ready to learn," this paper addresses four interpretations of the term "readiness" and the methods that have been devised to assess children's learning at the outset of formal schooling. The idealist or nativist view claims that…

Discusses the concept of bioplasmic forces--the foundation of human growth, regeneration of cells, and life energy--and the relationship between physical and mental development of the child, focusing on the theory that premature or forced learning may cause intellectual or academic retardation. (TO)

A description of the hierarchy of learning'' suggested by Gagne in the book, The Conditions of Learning.'' (SP)

Includes a 23-item bibliography. (JES)

Herman T. Epstein's hypothesis that the brain grows in five stages contradicts the conventional theory that growth is constant until approximately age 18. Epstein argues that the curriculum should be adapted to students' cognitive skills and that special attention should be given to the plateau stages in brain development. (WD)