Category: C

On an admission test, a score a student must reach or risk being rejected by a school—even though test professionals always stress that no one should accept, reject, or make any other key decision on the basis of any single test score alone. If parents feel a child was unfairly rejected on the basis of…

In family law, the right and duty to care for and control basic decisions regarding children who are minors or disabled adults; part of both parents’ rights and parents’ responsibilities, including provision of food, clothing, shelter, basic medical care, education, and discipline. Legal custody refers to the right to make basic decisions about a child,…

The parent who has been awarded sole legal custody of a child, as in a divorce case without shared custody. The term sometimes applies to a nonparent who has custody, such as a friend or other relative. Where parents have shared custody, the parent with whom the child is staying at the time is considered…

Handwriting in which letters are joined together, as opposed to the printing of letters that young children first learn.  

The average of a student’s grades from entry into a school or college to graduation (or to some interim point). In high schools this generally means an average of the letter or numerical grades handed out during the period; in college it often refers to a grade point average that takes into account the number…

A term describing a test that attempts not to be biased toward children of White, comfortably middle-class, English-speaking, two-parent family backgrounds. Many tests used with children, especially intelligence tests that purport to measure “pure” mental ability, have been criticized for discriminating unfairly against children of other backgrounds in the content, vocabulary, and assumptions of their…

Enhancement of speech by making lip movements clear and using finger signs for particular sounds that are otherwise easily confused, such as “p” and “b,” to ease speechreading. A method of communicating that uses both lip reading and manual gestures made near the mouth. It is used to help hearing-impaired people clarify the difference between…

The type of court that handles cases involving crimes, such as misdemeanors and (more serious) felonies, with results that can range from fines or probation to imprisonment or death. People being prosecuted in criminal court are judged innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt; they have the right to a jury trial, and strict…

Test that attempts to measure creative thinking, sometimes as a way of assessing thinking abilities of a child who comes from a disadvantaged or non-English-speaking background. Such a test might, for example, ask a child to think of new uses for a familiar object, such as a broom.  

Mental processes that are original, flexible, and imaginative, often producing unusual and novel approaches to problems. Often thought of as the province of the arts, where creativity is essential, creative thinking is also important and valued in many other areas of work, such as science and technology. Though creative thinking is hard to define, children…