Presenting major advances in understanding learning disabilities (LDs) and describing effective educational practices, this authoritative volume has been significantly revised and expanded with more than 70% new material. Foremost LD experts identify effective principles of assessment and instruction within the framework of multi-tiered systems of…

The study compared two methods of teaching an initial place value skill: a concrete, semiconcrete, abstract teaching sequence and an abstract-only presentation. Learning-disabled elementary and middle school students (N=24) using the concrete to abstract teaching sequence performed significantly better on three posttests than students taught the…

The ability of 54 learning-disabled high-school students to monitor their comprehension was compared under three prereading conditions: self-questions only, structured overviews and self-questions, and a control condition. Subjects receiving both the overviews and self-questions were best able to detect errors during reading. (Author/DB)

The study compared the effectiveness of providing elementary students with learning disabilities with either (1) instruction in both story structure and self-questioning techniques or (2) just training in story structure identification. The combined self-questioning and story structure group demonstrated the greatest gains in reading…

This study evaluated the effectiveness of the constant time delay procedure, while comparing the efficiency of using teacher-selected and student-selected material prompts, in teaching multiplication facts to 4 male students with learning disabilities (ages 9 to 13). Results indicated that the time delay procedure was most efficient when students…

A meta-analysis of 53 studies on social skills training of children with learning disabilities found a mean effect size of only 0.211, with few differences among teachers, peers, or children themselves who judged the effectiveness of the training. Discussion focuses on possible links between learning disabilities and social skills that might…

This article describes the concept and varieties of mnemonic instruction and how mnemonics interacts with the specific learning characteristics of learning-disabled students. The effectiveness of the techniques, as reported in research studies, is described. Implications for classroom instruction and further research are provided. (DB)

This study with 56 learning-disabled adolescents found that intensive generalization training specific to the development of complex mnemonic strategies was demonstrably more effective in recall at 1-day and 2-week intervals than a rehearsal condition. No added advantage was gained by adding attribution training to the mnemonic generalization…

This article reports on a reading comprehension instructional technique which uses reciprocal-like teaching formats in groups and semantic mapping to make text structures apparent. The procedure significantly affected recall of expository ideas and knowledge of comprehension strategies with 28 intermediate grade students with learning…

A survey of intervention articles published in major learning disabilities journals over the past 5 years found only 18.5 percent of these studies measured the integrity with which treatments were implemented, thus casting doubt on treatment effectiveness. This article discusses treatment integrity logic, threats to experimental validity without…

The effects of instructional strategies on the academic performance of four children with learning disabilities were examined using brief multielement designs. Instructional strategies included follow along/sound out, verbal rehearsal, verbal outline, and rhyming words/sample spelling. Manipulation of the instructional strategies was useful in…

Learning-disabled and average readers (n=120) from grades four through six completed comprehension questions under one of four treatment conditions. Results indicated that computer-mediated text was no better than off-line conditions in improving learning-disabled readers' comprehension. Attribution and metacognitive sophistication were…

This article presents a graduated word problem sequence in mathematics, beginning with simple words; progressing to phrases, sentences, and paragraphs; advancing to paragraph word problems with extraneous information; and finally having students create their own word problems. Results from 67 elementary students with learning disabilities support…

This study demonstrated the effectiveness and efficiency of a constant time delay procedure (four seconds) to teach five elementary students with learning disabilities multiplication facts. Learning generalized to a paper-and-pencil task, to a different presentation orientation, and to reverse facts. (DB)

This study investigated the effects of advance organizers on the English reading comprehension of six bilingual fifth and sixth grade learning disabled students whose primary language was Spanish. An alternating treatment design was implemented. Following each treatment, the students read an expository text written in English and answered eight…