This paper will attempt to present what factual material is available comparing language development in the deaf with normal language development. It will discuss problems which have become apparent in the search for this data and some solutions to the problems. Preschool language development will be taken up first, followed by a consideration of school age written and oral language, and concluding with a discussion of associations as they affect the verbal behavior of the deaf child.

This study attempts to assess short term behavioral changes, as measured by the Hewett Behavioral Checklist in emotionally handicapped children enrolled in three of the special education classrooms.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the effects that Montessori and public school environments have on the moral cognition of children and to assess the differences using modified moral dilemma stories. Through the analysis of these children's responses on moral dilemma stories this thesis reveals that there are stark and statistically significant differences in the children's responses on two of the three stories. The Montessori children scored higher on the morality level and the answers reflected altruism over authority on story one and story three. Through these results the researcher surmised that school environment can have an impact on moral cognition of children and that further research needs to be done in this field.

Having a measurable way to analyze how staff members describe teaching interactions is important for staff training and building a community of effective and caring practice. The purpose of this project, part of a larger program, is to develop a measurement system that captures descriptions of connected events (narratives) during teaching interactions. This project involved development of a reliable measurement system that discriminates between experienced and novice narratives of teaching interactions (contingency arrangements) across multiple cases of instruction. The participants were employees of a non-profit agency serving children with autism and their families. They volunteered to participate in the study. The development of the code included the systematic selection of high quality autism intervention video clips and asking participants to view the clips and describe events, and then coding responses. The participant narratives were then categorized by themes and analyzed. The results are described in the context of usefulness and limitations of the measurement systems. A mutielement design comparing responses across stimulus conditions was used to evaluate the sensitivity of the measurement system in discriminating between novice and experienced interventionists.

No description available.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the areas of disagreement among experts on important issues in the education of the gifted in the United States, and to answer the following questions: (1) Which key issues are perceived by the panel of experts as being the most important? (2) Which of the issues deserves top priority? (3) On issues deemed most important, what action should be taken at the national, state, and local levels? (4) What are the experts' definitions of the term "gifted"? Two pilot studies were conducted in which 12 issues important to gifted education emerged. Data for the main study were collected by means of a modified Policy Delphi method in which a selected panel of people knowledgeable about the issues was surveyed. The study, consisting of three rounds of questions, was conducted by mail over several months with a panel of 29 acknowledged experts in the field. The six critical issues in gifted education, in order of panelists' priorities, were: (a) curriculum for the gifted; (b) procedures for identifying children for gifted programs; (c) selection and training of teachers for the gifted; (d) special populations of gifted (handicapped, females, minorities, underachievers, pre-school, and the highly gifted); (e) goals of gifted programs; and (f) definition of the term "gifted." Panelists agreed on 53 actions that should be taken at the federal, state and local levels. At the federal level, actions should be in the form of catalytic support, research on the issues, and dissemination of research results. At the state level, guidelines, standards, and procedures regarding the various issues were suggested. At the local level, the majority of panelists' suggestions concerned policies and procedures regarding curriculum for the gifted and teacher training. The definition of the term "gifted" was divided into three components: giftedness, the gifted child, and the gifted adult. The definition statements agreed upon by panelists for the gifted child emphasized potential; for the gifted adult, performance; and for giftedness, both potential and performance. / Ed. D.