Edmund W. Gordon, noted for his research on diverse human characteristics and pedagogy related to the education of low-status populations, responds to questions on learning styles and their modification, cultural background, hemispheric dominance, instructional design, teaching methods, matching teacher and student characteristics, and the use of…

Major barriers to equal access of minority and disadvantaged students to higher education are considered in eight papers and five responses from the 1982 Wingspread Conference on Postsecondary Programs for the Disadvantaged. Included is a policy statement from the conference that covers: quality education for all, the interrelatedness of education…

This book presents essays from educational reformers who examine efforts aimed at students at risk for failure in U.S. schools. It is divided into four parts. Part 1 considers the factors that place children at risk for educational failure. Part 2 describes the dangers for students of a system that fails to recognize and appreciate their…

The question of the appropriateness of a set of national standards for educational achievement in the United States is extremely complex. One source of the complexities is the diversity of human characteristics, and the distortions that come from racism, sexism, and other forms of chauvinism. The current practice in testing seems to treat validity…

Due mainly to the cultural reverence for the baccalaureate degree, there is a growing pressure from low income and minority groups to expand programs in continuing education. Various approaches to the problem have been tried (talent searches by colleges, open admissions) but have not proved successful. Although success and financing are problems,…

The most pressing problems of research on minority groups have not received adequate attention. One such problem is that of identification and understanding of the mechanisms of learning facility and learning dysfunction and the implications of both for the optimum development of heterogeneous populations. Secondly, in contrast to the body of…

Asserts that we must look beyond color to other causes of social division, particularly income disparities, in order to rectify present inequities in education and society. Suggests a program of affirmative development in addition to affirmative action. (EV)

The present social and political climate is marked by an increasing appreciation of human diversity and of society's need to accommodate such diversity. The social context for testing is thus fundamentally different from that in which standardized testing developed. Testing should now be more concerned with facilitating equal opportunity.…