Ideational code‐switching: Walking the talk about supporting student creativity in the classroom

This article considers how teachers can begin to reconcile their value for creativity with a pedagogy that supports it. First, teachers’ experiences of finding themselves caught in the middle between valuing creativity and helping students conform to the constraints of the classroom are considered. Next, the role that constraints play in creativity is discussed. Finally, a new way of thinking about creative expression, called ideational code‐switching, is proposed. Ideational code‐switching represents the ability to move between intrapersonal creative interpretations and interpersonal creative expression. The article closes with suggestions for how teachers can support students’ ideational code‐switching and thereby encourage creative expression in their classroom.     

Comparisons among Small Sample Equating Methods in a Common-Item Design

Score equating based on small samples of examinees is often inaccurate for the examinee populations. We conducted a series of resampling studies to investigate the accuracy of five methods of equating in a common-item design. The methods were chained equipercentile equating of smoothed distributions, chained linear equating, chained mean equating, the symmetric circle-arc method, and the simplified circle-arc method. Four operational test forms, each containing at least 110 items, were used for the equating, with new-form samples of 100, 50, 25, and 10 examinees and reference-form samples three times as large. Accuracy was described in terms of the root-mean-squared difference (over 1,000 replications) of the sample equatings from the criterion equating. Overall, chained mean equating produced the most accurate results for low scores, but the two circle-arc methods produced the most accurate results, particularly in the upper half of the score distribution. The difference in equating accuracy between the two circle-arc methods was negligible.     

The fragmented framework of legal protection for the gifted

A legal framework for resolving disputes in gifted education is slowly evolving. Legislation, court cases, due process hearings, administrative regulations, Letters of Findings issued by the Office for Civil Rights (OCR), negotiation, and mediation are the major components of this framework. The authors' thesis is that each state's legal framework should be constructed by sound legislation, and these statutes should then be used as the foundation to settle disputes in gifted education. A second premise is that the most economical and efficient method to settle disputes is to resolve them at the lowest level within the legal framework.     

A comparison of the adaptive behavior of normal and gifted five and six year old children

Using a systems approach is one of the more successful techniques to structure guidance programs for parents of gifted children.     

Accountability in Adult Education: The Result of Planning and Salesmanship

Adult educators are offering increasing and valuable services to the clients they serve. Yet the general population neither respects nor understands the role played by adult education. We hold that increased accountability can foster the desired respect and understanding and that this accountability can be accomplished through increased planning and greater salesmanship. An “Instructional Development Model for Adult Education” is presented and the key components of salesmanship are enumerated.     

NEW ROLES AND NORMS FOR OLDER ADULTS THROUGH HIGHER EDUCATION

A growing number of older adults develop new roles and identities in their retirement years. They may be trend‐setters in creating new norms for future generations of retirees. Research conducted by the North Carolina Center for Creative Retirement at the University of North Carolina at Asheville on middle‐class, well‐educated retirees with professional or managerial prior work roles indicates that these retirees want volunteer, leadership, and learning opportunities. A study of 101 alumni of the center's leadership for seniors program showed how institutions of higher education can play a prominent part in facilitating the development of roles and norms that often transcend the general public's ideas of what retirees can do and contribute.     

Virtually in the Middle: Alternative Avenues for Parental Involvement in Middle-Level Schools

The incidence of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is increasing in the United States. The rate of diagnosis, combined with the trend towards more inclusive classrooms, means that general education teachers will most likely be teaching some students with ASD. In their teacher preparation course in special education, pre-service teachers learned about characteristics of students with ASD by reading literature with positive portrayals of individuals with ASD. In conjunction, pre-service teachers received instruction on teaching strategies to use in the classroom for students with ASD. By combining good literature with instruction in inclusive teaching practices, teacher educators can model the use of disability literature in the classroom to the benefit of all students.