Language planning for the 21st century: revisiting bilingual language policy for deaf children

For over 25 years in some countries and more recently in others, bilingual education involving sign language and the written/spoken vernacular has been considered an essential educational intervention for deaf children. With the recent growth in universal newborn hearing screening and technological advances such as digital hearing aids and cochlear implants, however, more deaf children than ever before have the potential for acquiring spoken language. As a result, the question arises as to the role of sign language and bilingual education for deaf children, particularly those who are very young. On the basis of recent research and fully recognizing the historical sensitivity of this issue, we suggest that language planning and language policy should be revisited in an effort to ensure that they are appropriate for the increasingly diverse population of deaf children.     

Cultural Approaches to Parenting

This article first introduces some main ideas behind culture and parenting and next addresses philosophical rationales and methodological considerations central to cultural approaches to parenting, including a brief account of a cross-cultural study of parenting. It then focuses on universals, specifics, and distinctions between form (behavior) and function (meaning) in parenting as embedded in culture. The article concludes by pointing to social policy implications as well as future directions prompted by a cultural approach to parenting.     

The Boehm Test of Basic Concepts as a predictor of academic achievement in grades 2 and 3

Ninety-four second- and third-graders from a suburban New Jersey school who had taken the Boehm Test of Basic Concepts as kindergarteners were given the Stanford Achievement Test, Form W. The obtained grade scores in each subject area as tested by the Stanford were then correlated with the Boehm Test scores. The resulting coefficients indicated a strong association between deficiencies in early concept mastery as measured by the Boehm Test of Basic Concepts and academic achievement in the second and third grades. These results therefore support the use of the Boehm Test of Basic Concepts as an early predictor of school achievement.     

Performance Technology,Performance Support,and the Future of Training: A Commentary

How close is the relationship between performance technology, performance support, and training? Very close, actually. Both performance technology and electronic performance support (EPS) have their roots in education and training, but in many ways they have transcended their be ginnings and have evolved beyond where training leaves off. This commentary offers a performance technologist's view of EPS and suggests not only that a performance technology perspective is a requirement for the development of EPS, but that involvement in building and implementing an EPS can help people shift their paradigm from training to performance. Implications for the education and training field now and in the future are also proposed.