This report comprises a critical analysis of research in the area of the disadvantaged student, mostly on population characteristics and on educational programs offered them. Much of the research on such factors as genetic and environmental influences, verbal ability, motivation, school achievement, attrition rate, demographic characteristics,…

Controversy exists regarding the nature of the creative process and strategies which hold maximum promise for accelerating creative production. This paper provides a structural overview of the major problems and issues found in the scientific study of creativity, primarily in regard to dimensionality and criterion choice. (KS)

Decisions based on the Fluharty Preschool Screening Tests and the Northwestern Syntax Screening Test (and their subtests) were compared to a validity criterion of passing or failing the Sequenced Inventory of Communication Development for 182 children aged 36-47 months. Validity differences were found that depended on test and subtest content.…

The performance of black students on standardized tests is still significantly below that of their white counterparts. Data on black performance on standardized tests and trends on the factors that affect that performance are examined. The OERI study on Poverty, Achievement and the Distribution of Compensatory Education Services is discussed. (MLW)

Sixteen individuals with autism and sixteen with Down's Syndrome, aged 10-29, were matched for verbal mental age. The groups' scores did not differ on the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales. However, the adaptive skills of Down's Syndrome individuals kept pace with mental age, while the skills of autistic subjects did not change. (Author/JDD)

Results question the validity of Cummins's threshold hypothesis and suggest that degree of bilingualism is related to variability in cognitive measures only before a certain threshold of proficiency in the second language is attained. A cause-effect model in which degree of bilingualism appears as the causal factor affecting children's cognitive…

Sex differences in performance on the Australian Scholastic Aptitude Test (ASAT) were investigated. No significant direct effect of sex on performance was found. Sex differences were found to be the result of females having a higher verbal ability, males studying more mathematics, and males having greater confidence in ASAT success. (LMO)

Reports an experimental investigation of the influence of linguistic factors on linguistic performance. The factors studied were interpretive complexity and surface length. Results show an interaction between types of linguistic complexity and type of linguistic performance. (Author/SED)

The hypothesis was investigated that conflicting evidence on Japanese intelligence has arisen because the Japanese have a distinctive profile of abilities. It was found that Japanese children do not differ from American children on general intelligence, score higher on the group perceptual factor, and lower on the group verbal factor. (Author/LMO)

This digest provides an overview of nonverbal learning disabilities (NLD) along with principles for designing and implementing instructional interventions to address its effects. It begins by explaining characteristics of students with NLD, including their tendency to focus on details rather than on the larger picture, the difficulties they may…

This study explored possible configurations of the new SAT® critical reading section without analogy items. The item pool contained items from SAT verbal (SAT-V) sections of 14 previously administered SAT tests, calibrated using the three-parameter logistic IRT model. Multiple versions of several prototypes that do not contain analogy items were…

Effect of science instruction on young children's (N=64) concept of Piagetian physical causality was investigated. Results indicate, that pre/concrete-operational children can learn and apply a definition of living when that definition is taught through observable characteristics. Additional results and implications for elementary science…

A comparative factor analysis on intelligence data from four sex-by-generation groups was performed using the LISREL model. Spatial and verbal factors were isolated. Results were consistent with the hypothesis that males and females have similar intellectual structure. There were sex and generational differences in spatial and verbal factor means.…

Experimental results indicated that verbal intelligence was the best predictor of childrens' overall performance on a paired-associate learning task. Teachers' ratings provided a surprising degree of predictive efficiency for abstract recall which was redundant with verbal intelligence. (Author/JAC)

Suggests that the verbal score on the Scholastic Aptitude Test is not an adequate criterion for assigning students to remedial communication instruction. Concludes that the communication skills deficit model demonstrates the capacity for consistent measurement of communication skills if evaluators are trained to use the same decision-making…