Analyzes historical and contemporary cases where outstanding achievement resulted despite the lack of a strongly supportive environment. It concludes that personal strengths of the individual are the key factor in overcoming deficiencies in environmental support. Models of Feldman, Piirto, Tannenbaum, and Gagne are applied to the development of…

Examined mothers' and preschoolers' emotion talk for age- and gender-related patterns in use of labels and explanations. Found that children used emotion words mainly in labels. Boys' emotion talk increased with age. The youngest girls had more emotion talk than same-age boys. Mothers used more explanations than labels with boys but similar…

People leading renewing lives typically recognize and break out of ruts; engage in self-inquiry; view education as a lifelong process; embrace failure as a learning experience; and pursue mutually respectful, caring relationships--a complex process. Reformers often ignore organizational complexities in pursuit of outdated accountability notions.…

There are three effective strategies for allaying parents' trepidations about using technology in their children's classrooms. Principals should acknowledge and respect parents' apprehensions, recommit to educational goals shared by educators and parents, and focus on student achievement. Student exposure and protection must be balanced. (MLH)

Examined impact of phonological-awareness training with or without explicit attention to articulation and with or without manipulation of sounds. Subjects were 7- to 11-year olds with reading difficulties. Found that children in all training conditions outperformed controls on all tests except math. Individual differences in response related to…

Discusses the rationale for, and end results of, a small-scale study of the effects of learners' creativity on language learning. The study was part of an ongoing, larger-scale project on individual differences at Eotvos University in Budapest, Hungary. (Author/VWL)

Used time-lapse video to record sleep/wake states of preterm infants for three 24-hour periods at 33 and 35 weeks conceptional age. Found that very-low-birthweight preterm infants showed marked stability and developmental change in the organization of sleep/wake states from a very early age, and their states were related to demographic variables…

Examined correlates of parents' knowledge about their children's daily experiences. Found between- and within-family differences as a function of mothers' work involvement, sibling composition, and children's and adults' personal qualities. Fathers knew more when mothers worked longer hours. Parents knew more about younger than older offspring.…

Responds to the debate on how evaluation processes can reward individual differences, and at the same time ensure quality-control across the board. A review is provided of types of evaluation and suggestions are offered for the development of successful, institutionally appropriate evaluation plans. (Author/VWL)

Two studies examined individual differences in 7- to 10-year-olds' contextual facilitation. Findings indicated that poor readers showed more contextual facilitation than good readers but the relative context benefit was greater for good readers. Comprehension was a better predictor of contextual facilitation that decoding. Dyslexics showed greater…

Investigates whether the cognitive style of students with behavior problems are different from children with no reported problems. Considers how students of different styles manifest their problem behaviors. Indicates the cognitive styles differ while the types of behavior problems exhibited, such as verbal disruption and physical aggression,…

Discussion of user problems with navigating large spaces in virtual information environments focuses on a top-down application of semantic knowledge by the user from experiences within the sociocognitive context of information production and consumption. Considers individual differences in studies of interaction; spatial and semantic cues; and…

Teachers' emphases on six general educational goals were studied in samples of 144 and 157 Norwegian teachers over two years. Results suggest that teachers' goal emphases are, to a considerable degree, the result of professional socialization, and that several classroom characteristics are basically unrelated to individual differences in teachers'…

Review research on foreign language aptitude and its measurement prior to 1990. Describes research areas in the 1990s, including affective variables, language learning strategies, learning styles as contributors to aptitude and aptitude as a cognitive construct affected by language variables. Reviews research on individual differences and the…

Gives practical examples of multiple intelligences in the English classroom. Discusses Howard Gardner's "radicalism,""teaching" intelligence, teaching literature and multiple intelligences, and how a student developed strength in his own intelligences through poetry. (RS)