This study examined the relationships between components of leadership giftedness and multiple intelligences among 510 Chinese gifted students in Hong Kong. These students perceived their strengths in intrapersonal, interpersonal and verbal-linguistic intelligences, and their weaknesses in bodily-kinesthetic and naturalist intelligences. They also rated themselves higher on leadership flexibility and goal orientation than on leadership self-efficacy. In predicting the three leadership components, intrapersonal and verbal-linguistic intelligences emerged as common and significant predictors, suggesting that self-reflection and self-management skills as well as a good command of language use were important in leadership. Other significant predictors such as logical-mathematical intelligence for leadership self-efficacy as well as goal orientation and interpersonal intelligence for leadership flexibility suggested that critical thinking might be important for the sense of confidence or efficacy and the vision of goals, whereas relational or people skills might be important for the openness to different options. Students who were classified high on both verbal-linguistic intelligence and personal intelligences, high on one and low on the other, and low on both were found to be generally high, medium and low on all three leadership components, respectively. Implications of the findings for inferring different levels of components of leadership giftedness from specific intelligences and for developing leadership training programs are discussed.
[Copyright of High Ability Studies is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13598130701709749]

The present paper examines the experiences of teachers in teaching children with special needs in mainstream schools and how they see and evaluate the feasibility of the new integration initiatives in Hong Kong. The data are based on individual and focus group interviews with general class teachers, resource class teachers and principals of mainstream schools admitting students with special needs. Teachers reported difficulties and problems in maintaining classroom discipline and ambivalence in meeting the competing demands between students with and without special needs. The structural constraints of implementing a rigidly defined curriculum and being accountable for good academic results regardless of student competence pose formidable obstacles in achieving the goals of integrated education. There is a conflict at the systemic level between the philosophy of academic excellence defined by grades on the one hand and the philosophy of equality and inclusion on the other. Improving parent participation, having an ample supply of binds, the provision of necessary equipment arid facilities, the availability of pre- and in-service training to teachers, and additional manpower in counselling are the most urgently needed resources in facilitating teachers to engage in teaching students with special needs alongside others.
[Copyright of International Journal of Inclusive Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1360311032000160599]

The author examined the English language learning difficulties encountered by secondary school students in Hong Kong. The study investigated how 200 students in two schools perceive learning difficulty, followed by how teachers respond to students' difficulties. Sociological factors were found conducive to English language learning difficulties; unfortunately, teachers were unable to effectively deal with the problems.

This paper describes the moves towards greater inclusion in the Hong Kong education system and the problems that have arisen from those moves. It then describes the introduction of an adapted version of the Index for Inclusion, called the Indicators for Inclusion in Hong Kong, in order to stimulate greater progress. As the adapted Hong Kong Indicators for Inclusion are developed in a unique education culture and based on a particular notion of inclusion, it may be of interest to international readers to see the impact of culture differences in shaping the Indicators. Further, the Hong Kong Indicators for Inclusion are connected with school self‐evaluation and performance standards. The interaction between inclusion and school evaluation will be explored. The paper questions the use of the indicator system to drive inclusion in Hong Kong and the assumptions regarding the capacity of schools for self‐review.
[Copyright of International Journal of Inclusive Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13603110500430674]

Background noise poses adverse effects on speech sounds and affects student learning, especially for children with developmental disabilities. Sound-field and public address amplification systems can help to solve this problem by amplifying speech sounds relative to background noise. This study surveyed school classrooms for children with special needs, and compared the performance of a sound-field and a portable public address system in classroom environments. Unoccupied room noise levels and reverberation times were measured in eight classrooms at four Hong Kong schools for children with special needs. Speech levels in each classroom were measured under three conditions: without amplification, with public address system amplification, and with sound-field amplification. Speech-to-noise ratios were calculated for each condition. Noise and unamplified speech-to-noise ratio values exceeded recommended acoustic standards in all classrooms. When sound-field and public address amplification systems were installed, speech-to-noise ratios improved considerably. When either amplification system was used, a uniform sound-field resulted. The applicability of both types of amplification system and their relative merits in special education classrooms are discussed.
[Copyright of International Journal of Disability, Development and Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10349120600847508]

Fifty Hong Kong Chinese teachers rated the importance of 25 characteristics and 14 competencies for teachers of gifted learners. While all 39 characteristics and competencies were endorsed as important, the characteristics classified as philosophical ideals were rated most important, followed by characteristics related to professional predispositions. Personal attributes were rated least important. Regarding competencies, specific skills related to identifying, teaching, and counseling gifted learners were rated more important than global strategies. While the selection of teachers of gifted learners might proceed with selecting teachers with the desirable characteristics to meet the needs of gifted learners, the present findings indicated that the development of philosophical, professional, and personal characteristics conducive to effective teaching should not be neglected in teacher preparation programs. Further, desirable skills and competencies that teachers require to teach the gifted well could be made the objectives, goals, and outcomes of teacher preparation programs for teachers of gifted learners. It is believed that the development of teacher preparation programs for teachers of gifted learners in Hong Kong and elsewhere might benefit from integrating Chinese thinking with Western empirically supported findings on the characteristics and competencies of teachers of gifted learners.
[Copyright of Roeper Review is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02783190109554098 ]

Purpose: Children with hearing loss who require special school placement may have a wide range of audiometric configurations. Since such children will vary in auditory status their amplification requirements may also be diverse. This study examined the audiological records of 231 children attending four schools for hearing impaired children in Hong Kong to gain an understanding of common audiometric patterns found in the school children and their auditory rehabilitation needs. Method: Data on the children's aetiology of hearing loss, hearing status, tympanometric findings and the electroacoustic characteristics of their hearing aids were obtained. For 424 children's ears considered having essentially sensorineural hearing loss, k-means cluster analysis methods were used to categorize audiometric configuration groups Results: Cluster analysis that indicated that five distinct audiometric configurations could be found among the school children. Different clusters contained children who had differing amplification needs. The study analysed a number of parameters to check fitting outcomes, including average prescribed gain, frequency-specific measured versus prescribed gain, prescribed frequency response, measured versus prescribed frequency response and the predicted aided thresholds for the children. Conclusion: The amplification needs associated with these five configurations, including recommended prescription gain, maximum power output and possible signal processing strategies, were considered. The clustering algorithm approach proved useful as a means of grouping distinctive audiometric profiles.
[Copyright of Disability and Rehabilitation is the property of Informa Healthcare . Full article may be available at the publisher's website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09638280210148602]