Research on child language acquisition should distinguish between different possible causes of variation and not just attribute variation to individual variation. An alternative analysis using a different methodology can show that children's patterns of acquisition are actually relatively similar. (Author/CB)

Instructions between 12 third-grade teachers and their students were coded by observers who also rated the quality of teacher instruction. Questionnaires measured teachers' perception and attitudes. Teachers showing more concern for lower achieving students also received lower ratings on their teaching quality. (Author/BS)

Five expert teachers in gifted education and ten teachers without specialized training were compared on perceptions of and provision for gifted students. Responses differed markedly in allocation of responsibility for learning, depth of suggested activities, general organizational schema, programming of academic subjects, perception of the…

Examines questions related to whether children with severe learning disabilities go through the same developmental stages as children without such problems, or whether they develop along different lines. Explores the "delay" versus "deviance" issue in relation to linguistic development in children with Down's syndrome. Looks…

This study was conducted to test three hypotheses: that moderate levels of external pacing of a microcomputer instructional program would result in more effective learning; that moderate levels of external pacing would improve learning time efficiency; and that lower achievers may have to be forced into further instruction. (MBR)

Examines the relationship between developmental placement as a result of preschool and kindergarten developmental testing and children's later cognitive achievement and social-emotional growth. A total of 223 children in Grades two through six were coded as traditional, overplaced, or "Buy a Year" depending on Gesell Screening Test…

Describes a naturalistic study of preschool children's interactions with software, peers, and teachers as they explored computers. Results are presented as suggestions for teachers, program planners, and researchers, and address the issue of accommodating individual differences, planning for the role of teachers and aides, and keeping an open…

The phonemic-based view of teaching second language pronunciation is contrasted with a discourse-based view comprising segmental, voice-setting, and prosodic features. Research is surveyed on first language influence, the acquisition processes operative in second language phonology, psychosocial and individual factors, and the role of instruction.…

Examines the strange-situation procedure among Japanese mother-infant pairs and analyzes their behavior by comparing them with the data reported in the book by M.S. Ainsworth and others. (HOD)

Continues the argument against tracking and ability grouping in schools. Traces circumstances and beliefs leading to this system of handling student diversity and shows how these factors obstruct schools' efforts to achieve two highly valued goals: academic excellence and equal opportunity. Suggests alternative approaches. (MLH)

This study examines the relationship between adolescents' time perspective and attributions for achievement. Measures of time perspective (continuity, optimism, pessimism, and utilization) and attributions (ability, effort, context, and luck) independently assessed for success and failure were administered to 10th graders. Implications for…

This study of students (grades 1-12) concluded that the relationship between social-cognitive ability and the communication skill of comforting is contingent on age. (Comforting strategies are those messages having the intended function of alleviating, moderating, or salving the distressed emotional states of others.) (PD)

Support for learning, as perceived by 516 adolescents, was compared to data collected five years earlier on family characteristics, ability, achievement, and school attitude. Educational aspirations were related to parents' and teachers' support. Females' occupational aspirations were influenced by situational variables; males were also influenced…

Effects of alternative modules designed to compensate for precourse memory and motivation differences were investigated for differences in content and task requirement. Interaction analyses on lesson times-to-criterion and criterion test scores indicated compensating treatments were partially effective in improving performance of low-memory,…

Discusses the fact that teachers determine how instructional control is granted, to whom, and under what conditions, and describes three areas providing different perspectives on this subject: expressed preferences for instructional methods, learner selection of events within an instructional sequence, and relationship of specific individual…