Offers some observations about child art and some research findings in this area. Attempts to establish the basis for accepting child art as art. (Author/RK)

Describes a study that investigated the relationship of task difficulty to trainable mentally retarded students' interest in four art activities and art products resulting from these activities. A Spearman Rank Correlation procedure revealed a negative correlation between task difficulty and subject's interest in art activities and products. (AM)

Reviews past studies of children's drawings and their relationship to academic ability. Discusses the use of Clark's Drawing Abilities Test with gifted and talented secondary students. Finds that the test can be used successfully to identify various ability levels among students. (CFR)

Reports on a study of verbal interaction during art production experiences. Finds that teachers trained in structured questioning techniques were able to elicit significantly greater proportions of verbal interaction, inquiry-oriented questions, and student verbalizations than teachers not trained in the techniques. (CFR)

Describes two studies of art instruction offered to secondary school students which integrated art production with critical and historical learning and provided some comparisons with non-integrated approaches. Provides observations of high school art programs that included art history and criticism as part of the integrated art curriculum. (AEM)

Raises a number of interesting questions about the relationship between controversial contemporary art and school art. Briefly summarizes the reactions of several groups of teachers and students after attending a controversial exhibit. Concludes with some recommendations for bridging the gap between the two art worlds. (MJP)

Examines the complex interactive set of conditions that influence artistic production and frame the way interpretations are constructed. Uses a software system to index qualitative material (interview transcripts, field notes, reviews, and commentary) and analyzes this material in terms of emerging themes. Includes comments from the artists. (MJP)