In this paper, we describe an in situ study that examined the diverse design features and effects of three pre-algebra games for middle school children who have either challenges with learning or different language backgrounds. Data were collected through in-field observation, artifact analysis, school performance report and knowledge test during…

The IDEA reauthorization of 2004 highlights the application of responsiveness to intervention (RTI) to both early intervention (EI) service delivery and learning disabilities (LD) identification practices, creating the potential for wide-scale execution. Implementation of any educational reform necessitates more than simply changing practices: It…

Two studies examined response to varying amounts of time in reading intervention for two cohorts of first-grade students demonstrating low levels of reading after previous intervention. Students were assigned to one of three groups that received (a) a single dose of intervention, (b) a double dose of intervention, or (c) no intervention.…

Reports that both learning-disabled (LD) and non-learning-disabled (NORM) children recalled disproportionately more adjacent words than semantically related or spaced words in a free recall task. Spaced words were less likely to be recalled by the younger children and by the LDs. NORMs' recalls were governed by purposive semantic processing to a…

Adding mediation (guidance in problem solving) to an educational task enabled learning disabled sixth graders to produce superior performances compared with unmediated tasks. The author contends that focus on problem-solving skills is needed as much as emphasis on reading and perceptual skill development for learning disabled students. (CL)

A wide range of tools is now available to enable teaching practitioners to create web-based educational materials from PowerPoint presentations, adding a variety of different digital media, such as audio and animation. The pilot study described in this paper compared three different systems for producing multimedia presentations from existing…

Thirty-five learning-disabled readers (mean age 10) and 43 controls were compared on a sentence span task and on recall of everyday features, consequential events, and misleading information. Results indicated that subjects were deficient on working memory and naturalistic measures, but their naturalistic memory deficits did not appear to relate…

Sixteen language learning-disabled adolescents were able to provide fewer correct metaphor interpretations than 16 normally achieving adolescents. For both groups, metaphors were easier to interpret by paraphrase selection than by verbal explanation, and perceptual metaphors were easier to interpret than psychological metaphors. (Author/JDD)

Twenty language-disordered and 20 nonimpaired children, aged 9-11, performed story generation and story retelling tasks. For both groups, retold narratives were longer and contained more story grammar components and complete episode structures. Clause length differentiated story generation from story retelling for the language-disordered children…

The study examined whether a difference existed between 10 learning disabled (LD) and 10 normally achieving (NA) high school students in terms of comprehension and production or use of pragmatic skills. The skills examined were pragmatic function (i.e., an utterance spoken in context with specific intent), and code-switching (i.e., modification of…

This study sought to empirically identify subtype and severity patterns prevalent among learning-disabled adults and apply this information to strategies that rehabilitation counselors could use to improve the probability of job success of their clients. Subjects (n=219) were administered standardized measures of intelligence, achievement, and…

The author describes ways in which an organic curriculum--in which students actively plan goals based on their needs--helped an impulsive sixth grader and a language handicapped 20-year-old acquire reading skills, vocabulary, and master phobic reactions. (CL)

The author reviews his experiences in remediating reading problems of learning disabled students through hypnotic and nonhypnotic suggestion. Research on the use of hypnosis is briefly summarized and recommendations on the use of nonhypnotic suggestion in the classroom are given. (CL)

This study asked whether a mediated transfer procedure could facilitate acquisition of labeling tasks in learning-disabled students. In two experiments three young boys learned multiplication facts and number labeling within days following introduction of a color mediation procedure. (Author/PB)

Differential reinforcement of low rates of responding was used to reduce the disruptive behaviors of a blind 12-year-old boy with a learning disability. The subject earned reinforcers by not exceeding the established criterion of disruptive behaviors. An overall 88 percent reduction in target behaviors was observed across a 26-day period.…