Nettie R. Bartel

Language Comprehension in the Moderately Retarded Child

The Carrow Auditory Test of Language Comprehension was administered to retarded trainable pupils attending public school special education classes (a) to evaluate the appropriateness of the Carrow test for use with trainable retarded children and (b) to compare the development of linguistic comprehension of children with normal IQs with that of trainable retarded children. The results suggest that the Carrow test can provide useful information concerning the language comprehension development of trainable retarded children. Results further demonstrate systematic language growth in children with IQs as low as 20 and 30. These children acquired mastery of vocabulary items and aspects of morphology and syntax. When matched on mental age, the retarded childrens use of lexical items did not differ from nonretarded childrens to a great extent; however, retarded childrens use of grammatical categories was inferior to that of nonretarded children.

Language characteristics of black children: Implications for assessment

Abstract After delineating a number of phonological and syntactic characteristics of black English a review of recent comparative studies is presented. The authors conclude that, while evidence is mixed concerning the question of whether whether a language deficit exists among the lower-class balck children along with a dialect difference, there is clear evidence of the existence of a dialect. The problem facing educators is that no standardized tests have been developed for use with speakers of the dialect. The authors conclude that the use of available tests with dialect speaking children may result in gross errors in educational placement of these children.

Construct Validity of Selected Subtests of the ITPA

Six subtests of the Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities (ITPA) were matched with parallel tasks which were equivalent to the subtests except in one dimension of the tests theoretical model. A total of 16 subtests and tasks were administered to 126 third grade children who met the same criteria used to select the original ITPA standardization sample. The data were factor analyzed using a principal components solution. Seven factors emerged and accounted for 66 percent of the variance. Each of the ITPA subtests loaded highly on only one factor. In addition, the subtests loaded with the other related tasks on factors which are clearly identifiable in terms of the model regarding level, process, and channel.

The Syntactic-Paradigmatic Shift in Learning Disabled and Normal Children

Forty-eight children in a private school for the learning disabled (LD), and 48 children in public school classes were administered a word association test of 50 stimulus words. All children performed best when the stimulus word was a noun and performed most poorly on prepositions. Older children performed better than younger, overall. No significant differences were found between normal and LD children. Among LD children, a significant interaction between IQ and age was found, with young children of low IQ performing most poorly. Young, low-IQ children also showed perseveration to a much greater extent than did any other group, resulting in a significant age X IQ interaction on perseveration. Discussion centers around memory and attention as possible explanations for the findings.

Nonstandard English Usage and Reading Ability in Black Junior High Students

terests factor). They enjoyed courses in the sciences, music, or art and were active in dramatic and musical groups (scientific-artistic interests factor). They liked their teachers and generally felt that their high school education was adequate (academic attitude factor). Unlike their less creative peers, they did not often go out on dates (popularity with the opposite sex factor) but did daydream, feel downcast, and brood over the meaning of life to a greater extent (maladjustment factor). A multiple correlation coefficient of .65 (p < .01) was obtained between scores on all 13 biographical factors for boys and the creative personality inventory. Again five factors yielding a multiple correlation coefficient of .62 (p < .01) accounted for the majority of the variance in the creative personality test scores. Contrary to the results for girls, the more creative adolescent boys disliked school and their teachers, did fewer hours of homework, and had teachers who were not very successful in arousing their academic interests (academic attitude factor). They disliked physical education courses and seldom engaged in team sports and physical activities (athletic interest factor). They did enjoy discussion courses, often questioned teachers about subject matter, were regarded as radical or unconventional, and often wanted to be alone to pursue their own thoughts and their own interests (independence/dominance factor). Their parents were less strict, critical, or punitive and allowed greater freedom (parental control factor) than did the parents of the less creative adolescents, and the parents also were of high educational, income, and occupational levels (socioeconomic status factor). Again, results for the boys were contrary to results for the girls since the socioeconomic status factor made the smallest contribution of any of the biographical factors to the multiple correlation for the girls. These contrary results indicate that different background factors are likely to be influential in the development of the creative personality for boys and girls. Thus, the process of taking a large number of biographical items and reducing them to more meaningful factors and correlating these factors with a measure of the creative personality has yielded large and significant coefficients for both boys and girls. Important information concerning the relationship between past experiences and the creative personality within a highly gifted group of adolescents has been provided.

Revitalizing the Faculty

c \<J hortly before the turn of the decade a group of senior faculty at Temple University got together to talk about the problems and possibilities facing higher education. The group has met regularly ever since and calls itself the Faculty Seminar. It draws its members from several colleges of the university and includes a mix of disciplines. It has been from the start an ad hoc, self-selected body. Faculty membership in the seminar is open and participation voluntary. Several university administrators have been invited to join the group. The seminar structure is flexible and both it and the cast of characters have changed over time, though a core group sitting as a steering committee has been fairly constant.

The Disadvantaged as a Social and Professional Phenomenon.

Abstract Being culturally disadvantaged is a social condition which is created, managed, and maintained by both social and professional institutions. When institutions attempt to sustain societal norms by selecting certain attributes and calling them desirable, these institutions are relegating large segments of the population to a deviant status if it does not share these attributes. The “culturally disadvantaged” are such a group. This phenomenon not only results in differential perceptions and expectations, but also influences their self-evaluation, academic success, and career opportunities. The transformation of deviance into incompetency has also led to formally sanctioned methods of managing deviancy. Methods, such as compensatory education, ability grouping, and special class placement can be viewed as maintaining the position that the culturally disadvantaged are indeed deviant and incompetent.

Disabled or Disadvantaged: Why the Question?

to behavior, performance, and etiology. He points out that behavioral descriptions of the two groups often reveal a surprising amount of overlap, with hyperactivity, short attention span, emotional lability, apparent lack of motivation, and difficulties with Standard English in its written and spoken forms representing the most salient difficulty areas for both. Herrick’s observations would probably receive widespread support from teachers of mildly disabled and disadvantaged children. However, a case can probably be made that children with