Background: Labeling theory underscores the sequential process that unfolds within an individual, influenced by those in his or her immediate surroundings. Nevertheless, research into the developmental characteristics of labeling theory remains limited. Furthermore, prior studies investigating the impact of informal labeling have predominantly…

In this essay, the authors explore the dilemmas facing researchers, educators, and policymakers in how to refer to multilingual students who are deemed in need of language support in school. There is a growing concern with the label "English learner," the term currently used in U.S. federal legislation, as focusing exclusively on…

In this paper, the authors review life stories in learning disability research and practice since the 1960s. Although there is consistent evidence of their value in giving people a voice and an identity beyond the service label, they are not widely used in the provision of health and social care. This is despite long-standing policy commitments to…

The terms Language Disorder, Developmental Language Disorder (DLD), Language-based learning disabilities, Specific Learning Disorder, and Specific Learning Disability are commonly used to describe children struggling to learn at school. In this position paper, the definitions and distinctions between these terms are discussed, and key overlaps and…

The gap between predicted and actual outcomes--following a university's removal of their controversial Native American nickname--may be rather wide. This study investigates what alumni threaten or promise to do upon a potential school nickname change, and what actual actions result once change does occur. The University of North Dakota's (UND)…

The Equity Audit was designed to measure diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) within workplaces. The tool has three versions and is currently undergoing the standard setting process to gather validity evidence for its use within schools and organizations. This study reports on the recommendations from two panels of experts (one for the school…

For many years there has been ongoing, lively debate about the use of the term "gifted" when referring to able, talented, and creative students, or students who have the potential to achieve at a high level. Pro-giftedness supporters who use the term appear to lean on the fact that the term "gifted" has been successfully used…

This piece from the "FORUM" archive offers an early account of the Learning Without Limits project at Cambridge University Faculty of Education that is dedicated to developing approaches to teaching and learning that do not rely on determinist beliefs about fixed 'ability' and/or intelligence.

The term Latinx has received increasing levels of pushback from different entities outside and within higher education. Despite the term's wide popularity in academic spaces, higher education practitioners often utilize it without understanding whom it simultaneously includes and excludes, and whom the term refers to. Such practice perpetuates the…

Adults are increasingly self-identifying as autistic, and reporting problems being referred for an autism diagnostic assessment. This scoping review aims to ascertain: (1) what research has been conducted on the self-identification process of autism in adults, who do and do not have a formal diagnosis of autism, and (2) which aspects of the…

Book banning and censorship in the U.S. prompts necessary conversations on how critical literacy, dialogue, and inquiry are used in various school and library settings. We share guiding questions alongside three examples of textual analyses centering on gender fluidity with three young adult novels. We believe that English language arts teachers…

Background: In 2016-17 an important consensus was established regarding the use of the diagnostic label 'developmental language disorder' (DLD) to describe children with a persistent language problem having a functional impact on communication or learning and in the absence of any other biomedical condition. Despite this consensus, past research…

Early childhood schoolbooks designed to teach children to read, have been shown not only to shape gendered identities in a limiting, binary format, but to lend the written word the appearance of unquestionable, and restrictive truth about the way the world is. Texts written for adults, too, may similarly limit what can be known, reining in the…

China's grand strategies (i.e., the Belt and Road Initiative and the Guangdong--Hong Kong--Macao Greater Bay Area) have expedited the popularity of full-time degree-bearing study in mainland China. Associated with the exponential growth of inward student populations are proliferating concerns about the capacity of non-majority/non-local students…

This study attempted to create a valid and reliable instrument to measure how gifted children perceive the gifted label and others' perceptions of giftedness. We recruited a total of 300 gifted Turkish children (59.3% males; 40.7% females) aged 10-13 years (M = 11.4, SD = 0.99) to this validity and reliability study. For validity concerns, we…