We are entering a new phase in learning about childhood disabilities. While we have found out much of what we need to know about their causes and aetiology, solutions to many of the challenges we will face in the future will come from the evidence base held by practitioners. Practitioners are ideally placed to carry out "real world" research but…

This study investigated the role of the family in career development and postschool employment outcomes for young adults with learning disabilities. Using a multiple-case study design, the authors examined a set of family structural and process variables. Fifty-nine in-depth interviews were conducted with young adults, parents, and school staff…

Presenting highlights from the past decade of East Central Writing Centers Association conferences, this book addresses the questions of how writing conferences foster the development of writing ability and how teachers can give students control of their own writing and of the writing conference and thus promote higher-order thinking. By providing…

This book briefs teachers on how to analyze individual students' spelling errors and coach them on strategies to overcome them. Although the book deals with spelling weaknesses of both learning disabled and basic writers, its message to practitioners can also provide help for any student who has spelling weaknesses. The book is organized in two…

The study was designed to provide policymakers, administrators, and practitioners with reliable prevalence estimates of mental retardation, learning disabilities, and other handicapping conditions exhibited by juvenile offenders in order to guide fiscal and programmatic decision making. The research included five steps: (1) a literature search…

This paper provides a rationale for basic research and metatheory development in the field of learning disabilities, outlines the steps and cognitive parameters involved in validating such a metatheory, and discusses integrating the findings of basic research with instructional manipulations and reasons for the poor integration of theory and…

This paper affirms H. Lee Swanson's views in "Toward a Metatheroy of Learning Disabilities" and elaborates upon the role of basic research in learning disabilities. An alternative perspective on the nature of applied research is described that views applied research as theoretically driven research aimed at practical matters. (JDD)

In response to H. Lee Swanson's paper, "Toward a Metatheory of Learning Disabilities," this article argues that the field of learning disabilities does not need to be legitimized and that basic research in learning disabilities is not necessarily the prerequisite vehicle by which theoretical progress can be made. (JDD)

The article addresses what is regarded as unjustifiably pessimistic characterizations of memory strategy instructional research, and argues that solid laboratory research on strategy use is needed though much memory instructional research with direct classroom applications to learning-disabled students has been completed. (Author/DB)

This article introduces a series of papers on cognitive process-based instruction for students with learning disabilities. Cognitive process-based instruction is defined and differentiated from the process training advocated by S. Kirk in the 1970s. The method's basis of sound theory and academic tasks is stressed. (DB)

The review describes the advance organizer technique and reviews the empirical evidence on the effectiveness of advance organizers with both normal students and students classified as handicapped. Examples of advance organizers include the expository advance organizer, the comparative advance organizer, the graphic advance organizer, and…

In response to H. Lee Swanson's paper, "Toward a Metatheory of Learning Disabilities," this counterpoint addresses the role of basic versus applied research, limitations of the procedure proposed by Swanson for establishing external validity and proving the metatheory, and limitations of metatheoretical research with regard to developing…

In rebuttal to H. Lee Swanson's paper, "Toward a Metatheory of Learning Disabilities," this article emphasizes that a bias toward applied research in learning disabilities is appropriate, that explanatory theories may not provide control over the phenomena explained, and that the field's orientation toward social consensus rather than…

This response to H. Lee Swanson's paper, "Toward a Metatheory of Learning Disabilities," argues that the field's development from social consensus has positive consequences and that the field is a "prenormal' science. A megatheory is suggested, incorporating metatheoretical aspects of the learning-disabled's information processing…

This article presents six guidelines and tips on their implementation when designing practice activities on basic information for learning-disabled students, overall goals being reduction of acquisition time, increased accuracy after practice and increased automaticity. Guidelines are explained in terms of the published research from which they…