Diagnostic abilities required during the on-going process of teaching include perception, interpretation and decision-making skills. They are regarded as important prerequisites for adaptive teaching. To teach these skills, several teacher education programs have been developed. However, a theoretical foundation is still missing. Here, we…

Determining the writing skill level of students commencing tertiary education is a key element in predicting their likely study success and in providing appropriate writing development opportunities. Writing tests constructed around written instructions often assume high levels of reading and comprehension skills, which in some instances impose…

Mathematics interventions for struggling students supplement regular instruction and are frequently implemented through computer programs and activity sheet practice (Swanson et al. 2012). However, students with foundational misunderstandings do not benefit from additional drill and practice alone. Instead, interventions that balance concepts with…

Response to Intervention (RtI) is a systematic approach that provides a framework for addressing student learning, allows for accountable decision-making based upon the individual skill level of each student, and gives schools a methodical way for special education determinations. RtI began as a framework for students suspected of having a…

Students who have difficulty with academics often benefit from learning mnemonic strategies which provide a step-by-step process to accomplish a task. Three fourth-grade students who struggled with writing learned the Ask, Reflect, Text (ART) strategy to help them produce more elaborate narrative story text. After initially asking the questions…

Students enter the middle grades with varying amounts of background knowledge. Teachers must assess student background knowledge for gaps or misconceptions and then provide instruction to build on that base. This article discusses effective strategies for assessing and developing students' background knowledge so they can become independent…

While implementation efforts using a Response to Intervention (RtI) model to increase reading instruction are becoming widely used, more administrators and teachers are looking to learn effective RtI practices to support learning in mathematics. This article explores some of the key elements of RtI practices in mathematics, including screening for…

Although teaching games for understanding has been increasingly incorporated into physical education curricula around the world, many physical education teachers find it challenging to provide students with learning opportunities that foster critical thinking. Specifically, teachers have difficulty identifying problems in and potential solutions…

Ms. Carlisi teaches middle school mathematics for students who were retained at least 1 year and who were identified as at risk of failure in mathematics. About half of her class of 14 students has identified learning disabilities and/or emotional and behavioral difficulties. Ms. Carlisi worries constantly that she is not going to be able to help…

Dyslexia is a term that has been applied since the early part of the 20th Century to many students with reading difficulties. The term comes from medicine, but its broadest application is within education. Many educators, however, remain confused about the term in spite of the fact that major advances in the understanding of dyslexia have been…

The article discusses current research and theory regarding neurological correlates of reading and various subtypes of reading disability, contrasts remedial efforts versus compensatory instruction, describes a diagnostic and instructional procedure, and provides a description of some instructional strategies for each subtype of reading…

The paper compares characteristics of underachievers with characteristics of learning-disabled gifted children; describes results of clinical assessments of learning-disabled gifted children; offers guidelines for identifying such students; and discusses teaching strategies that can be used at school and home. (JDD)

Dynamic assessment is described as a framework for the educational diagnosis of writing disabilities that is consistent with process models of writing instruction. Procedures use interview and response-to-instruction paradigms to study children's abilities and their knowledge of procedures for writing. Diagnostic protocols are outlined and…

This article presents information to help the teacher recognize and teach children with special learning needs. Suggestions for diagnosis, classroom strategies, and ideas for home use are offered. Resources for teacher use follow the article. (DF)

Comprehensive diagnosis of the learning abilities of gifted students with attention deficit disorder can be accomplished using the Structure of Intellect (SOI) tests, which distinguish giftedness and disability. SOI uses a wholistic approach to analyze student performance, and offers strategies for developing remedial educational programing. Two…