Developmental psychologists believe that every teacher should be skilled at teaching children with a wide variety of needs. Does teacher training at your college or university reflect this goal? Should some teachers be specialized? Give reasons for your opinions.

Internet sources vary in quality on any topic, but this is particularly true of Web sites for parents of children with special needs. Pick one disability or disease and find several Web sources devoted to that condition. How might parents evaluate the information provided?

Visit a local elementary school and look for the hidden curriculum. For example, do the children line up? Why or why not, when, and how? Does gender, age, ability, or talent affect the grouping of children or the selection of staff? What is on the walls? Are parents involved? If so, how? For everything you observe, speculate about the underlying assumptions.

Interview a 7- to 11-year-old to learn what he or she knows and understands about math. Relate both correct and incorrect responses to the logic of concrete operational thought.