Status of Muon Collider Research and Development and Future Plans

The status of the research on muon colliders is discussed and plans are outlined for future theoretical and experimental studies. Besides continued work on the parameters of a 3-4 and 0.5 TeV center-of-mass (CoM) energy collider, many studies are now concentrating on a machine near 0.1 TeV (CoM) that could be a factory for the s-channel production of Higgs particles. We discuss the research on the various components in such muon colliders, starting from the proton accelerator needed to generate pions from a heavy-Z target and proceeding through the phase rotation and decay ($\pi \to \mu \nu_{\mu}$) channel, muon cooling, acceleration, storage in a collider ring and the collider detector. We also present theoretical and experimental R & D plans for the next several years that should lead to a better understanding of the design and feasibility issues for all of the components. This report is an update of the progress on the R & D since the Feasibility Study of Muon Colliders presented at the Snowmass'96 Workshop [R. B. Palmer, A. Sessler and A. Tollestrup, Proceedings of the 1996 DPF/DPB Summer Study on High-Energy Physics (Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, Menlo Park, CA, 1997)].Comment: 95 pages, 75 figures. Submitted to Physical Review Special Topics, Accelerators and Beam

Educators\u27 Perceptions of Barriers to the Identification of Gifted Children from Economically Disadvantaged and Limited English Proficient Backgrounds

A brief narrative description of the journal article, document, or resource. This report presents results from a 10-item survey of 750 educators from 14 school sites, designed to gain insights into the perceptions educators hold regarding the problems of identifying gifted children from economically disadvantaged and limited English proficient backgrounds. Results indicated that major barriers to identification were test bias and teachers\u27 inability to recognize indicators of potential in certain groups. Five other issues were identified as moderate barriers: students\u27 use of nonstandard English and/or limited proficiency in the English language; differences in language experiences; parents not providing a stimulating home environment; use of narrow screening/selection processes; and teachers\u27 prejudicial attitudes. Three issues were identified as minor barriers: beliefs that intellectual giftedness is not valued by certain groups; teachers\u27 fears about program quality diminishing when minority and economically disadvantaged students participated; and beliefs about the limited number of gifted children who come from economically disadvantaged and limited English proficient backgrounds. The implications of these results for designing staff development programs are discussed. Appendices include the evaluation instrument used to measure educators\u27 attitudes, descriptions of the pilot sites, and descriptions of the national field test study sites. (Contains 57 references.) (Author/CR

An Exploratory Study of the Effectiveness of the Staff Development Model and the Research-Based Assessment Plan in Improving the Identification of Gifted Economically Disadvantaged Students

A brief narrative description of the journal article, document, or resource. This monograph discusses a project involving 246 teachers that investigated a Staff Development Model (SDM) and a Research-Based Assessment Plan (RAP) for their potential to improve the identification and education of gifted students from economically disadvantaged families, some of whom have limited proficiency in the English language. The concept of giftedness as a psychological construct defined by a basic set of traits, aptitudes, and behaviors (TABs) formed the basis of the two models. Overall, the models were perceived as an effective way to: (1) improve teachers\u27 ability in observing giftedness in target population student groups; and (2) facilitate the collection and use of information derived from multiple sources when making decisions for program placement and services. The TABs associated with the giftedness construct appeared to provide a feasible way to train teachers to recognize exceptional ability in target population student groups. Secondly, the SDM and the RAP process appeared to affirm the importance of involving teachers and other staff in the entire process of identifying gifted target students. Finally, feedback on the RAP suggested that it could be a systematically viable way to consider the interrelationships of information from multiple sources when making gifted program placement decisions. (Contains 39 references.) (Author/CR

An Analysis of Teacher Nominations and Student Performance in Gifted Programs

This study evaluated the relationship of teacher nomination instruments to later performance of students in a gifted program. Teacher nominations were based on two instruments, an instrument designed specifically to assess gifted behaviors of students from culturally divergent and/or low income populations and an instrument designed to assess gifted behaviors in the general population. Separate canonical correlation analyses between these two instruments and a gifted teacher rating of student performance resulted in significant findings indicating relationships between the teacher nominations and later school performance. Structure correlations showed nominations based on thinking abilities, general gifted behaviors, and special learning skills were related to later performance on creativity, group skills, and language abilities