Cleborne D. Maddux

Self-Concept and Social Distance in Gifted Children

There is widespread agreement that self-concept is an important variable in an individual’s development (Yauman, 1980). Baily (1971) has suggested that the self-concept affects all areas of the personality and either restricts or enhances the person’s capacity to fulfill his or her native potential. Saurenman and Michael (1980) assert that: &dquo;An unfavorable self-concept may frequently be a major difficulty that is reflected in perception of the world and in lack of motivation and goal orientation&dquo; (p. 81). Purkey (1970) has stated: &dquo;For generations, wise teachers have sensed the

School Entry Age in a Group of Gifted Children

Despite the extensive body of literature dealing with the importance of readiness for learning, chronological age still remains the chief criterion for school entrance in most states. Lerner (1976) has pointed out the irony of this practice, since educators attempt to be scientific about most educational practices, yet base school entry on birth date, or what amounts to the &dquo;science&dquo; of astrology. In discussing entry age across the nation Ilg and Ames (1965) report that the mean age for first grade entry in the 50 states is 5 years and 9 months. Ames (1977)

Early school entry for the gifted: New evidence and concerns

The author suggests that research indicates that there is a disadvantage to early entry, and/or an advantage to later school entry. Implications for parents and administrators are discussed.

Readability, Interest, and Coverage of 24 Introductory Special Education Textbooks

Twenty-four survey textbooks in special education published from 1974 through 1982 were analyzed with the Flesch formulae to determine levels of readability and human interest. These figures were compared with those found in a similar study dealing with books published from 1970 to 1975. Subject coverage and organization were also analyzed. The researchers conclude that while survey texts are dull and difficult, they are complete in subject coverage. Topics such as severe/profound handicaps, multiple handicaps, early childhood handicaps, and culturally different handicapped children, however, received scant coverage in most books. Some evidence was found that difficulty levels may be somewhat lower today than in 1976. Some books lack adequate author and subject indices and glossaries.

Minority Students and Special Education: Is Overrepresentation Possible?

Is there a disproportion of minorities in special education pro grams ? Are poor English skills and poor academic skills possible reasons for overrepresentation? The authors report their study here in hopes of answering these questions.

Readability, Interest, and Coverage of 28 Textbooks on Education of Children with Behavioral Disorders.

Analyzed with the Flesch formula for reading ease and interest were 28 textbooks on the education of children with behavioral disorders and/or emotional disturbance. Reading levels were surprisingly low with one book in the “standard, grade 8 to 9” category, 8 in the “fairly difficult, grade 10 to 12” category, and the other 19 in the “difficult, college level” category; 11 of the books were classifed as “dull”, 15 as “mildly interesting”, one as “interesting”, and one as “highly interesting”. Textbook coverage on 25 topics was also analyzed and charted. Great disparity was found in the topics treated by the various authors. Near-unanimous coverage of the topic of behavioral theory was found, while coverage was sparse on the topics of normal development, counter theory, and motivation. Some of the textbooks were found to have inadequate subject and author indices and only 7 of the books contain a glossary.

Readability, Interest, and Coverage of 13 College Textbooks on Gifted and Talented Education

Thirteen college textbooks devoted to education of the gifted and talented were analyzed with the Flesch formulae for readability and human interest. A wide range of difficulty and interest levels was found among the 13 texts. Subject matter coverage was also analyzed and charted. A wide variety of topics was found, with little agreement among authors concerning appropriate subject matter. Some important topics, such as career educational planning, received surprisingly little coverage. Some books were found to be lacking important sections, such as author or subject indices.

Relationship of Scores on PPVT—R and WISC—R with Special Education Children and Youth

Comparisons of the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test—Revised and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children—Revised were made with 104 children diagnosed as learning disabled and mentally retarded. Significant but modest correlations were found between all but one of the WISC—R scaled scores (i.e., Coding) and PPVT—R standard scores, and between WISC—R IQs and PPVT—R standard scores. Significant differences were found among mean Verbal, Performance, and Full Scale IQs and mean PPVT—R standard scores. The PPVT—R standard scores underestimated WISC—R Verbal IQs by 7 points, WISC—R Performance IQs by 17 points, and WISC—R Full Scale IQs by 11 points.

A Field Test of a Procedure for Identifying Learning Disability

An identification procedure based on a developmental model of learning disability was tested against public school placement of children in services for the learning disabled. Discriminant analyses indicated that the subtests chosen for hypothesized age-related deficits (from ages 7 through 16 classified from 77% to 89% of the cases as compared with the school districts selection. Our battery for ages 4 to 7 did not discriminate well. An application of the procedure is given in the article. The authors do not suggest that the tests used in this procedure are the best ones necessarily, but the procedure could be tested with other instruments.