No abstract

To date, there is a paucity of empirical research documenting the essential environmental conditions that must exist before teachers of the gifted will integrate technology into their instruction. To establish baseline data documenting the frequency with which teachers of the gifted use technology for instructional purposes and to build theory describing the critical environmental conditions that support technology integration, researchers administered the Perceptions of Computers and Technology (PCT) survey to 255 teachers of the gifted. This survey measured teachers' self-reported use of technology and other factors that contributed to computer integration. Results suggested five conditions (general school support, infrastructure, professional development, teacher attitude, and teacher personal use) are necessary for teachers of the gifted to create a classroom digital ecosystem. In this model, personal use accounted for the greatest amount of unique variability. Conclusions are drawn, new lines of inquiry are posed, and implications are discussed.

This study attempted qualitatively and quantitatively to assess sex-related differences on fine motor tasks performed by 132 first-grade students, 56.8% boys and 43.2% girls. The results of two criterion-referenced probes, involving accuracy and rate, were analyzed with the SPSS programs oneway and anova. Both sexes performed equally well on a task involving dotting a circle but boys performed significantly worse on a task involving symbol copying. It was hypothesized that the difference might reflect a difference in information processing of symbols.

No abstract

No abstract

This article presents a procedure found effective for including students with special needs in daily instructional activities within a general classroom. Practices, based on authentic assessment and subsequent individual intervention decisions, resulted in full participation of students with special needs in daily classroom instruction. Individualized instruction by incorporating student choice of materials, feedback from teacher-designed rubrics, and application of student-constructed reading logs offers students with disabilities the opportunity to maintain growth and appropriate development in general education classrooms.

View related articlesA model for developing a professional teacher education core, with an accompanying automated student performance monitoring system, is reported. State process and performance standards, observational performance assessments, and national test content determined program content and outcomes. The position presented is that a baccalaureate training program may provide a sufficient training base, if a program with high content validity is provided and monitored systematically throughout the course of study.

No abstract