This narrative review provides an overview of the research literature on the effectiveness of mnemonics in mathematics instruction for students with learning disabilities in a K-12 classroom. Eleven studies were identified in refereed journal articles and doctoral dissertations from 1975 to December 2018 that met the inclusion criteria. Overall…

Unlike ability-achievement discrepancy and response-to-intervention approaches, the processing strengths and weaknesses (PSW) approach is the only empirically based approach that attempts to identify the pattern of deficit in the basic psychological processes that interferes with academic achievement for children with specific learning…

Reading Recovery, a meaning-based reading program designed for young children at risk of reading failure, is widely implemented across the United States. We discuss the recent Reading Recovery $45 million four-year i3-funded scaleup study that was designed to "cover the expansion of Reading Recovery around the U.S." (May, Sirinides,…

The purpose of the White Paper is to provide additional information for and guidance to the federal government, professional organizations, practitioners, and the public. The Learning Disabilities Association of America (LDA) is hopeful that this document will facilitate legal, regulatory, policy, and training decisions, and ultimately, service…

The 2004 Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA) and subsequent regulations published in 2006 have significantly changed the identification process for students suspected of having specific learning disabilities. Rather than using a discrepancy model contrasting intellectual and achievement test results, assessment…

Many schools across the United States and Canada are now implementing response-to-intervention (RTI) as a means to address the needs of students who struggle with reading, writing, or math by using dual discrepancy (i.e., low ability and little to no progress over time with targeted intervention programming) as a means to classify for learning…

In order to gain access to accommodations and services at colleges and universities, students with learning disabilities must provide documentation of their disabilities, and as students with learning disabilities access higher education at increasing rates, the need for documentation of their disabilities and its impact becomes even more…

This study compared oral personal and fictional narratives of diverse (African American and Caucasian) students with and without learning disabilities. Naturalistic conversation with embedded narrative prompts and supports provided the context for narrative elicitation. The participants were 82 fourth to seventh graders from urban and suburban…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a text-to-speech software program known as "Read Please" on the reading rate and reading comprehension accuracy of two high school students with specific learning disabilities (SLD) in reading. A single-subject A-B-A-B "withdrawal" research design (Alberto & Troutman,…

The goal of this study was to explore maternal stressors, needs, supports, perceptions, and self-identity as expressed by mothers of children with learning disabilities and/or attention deficit/ hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in electronic messages posted on an Internet discussion board. The sample consisted of 316 mothers of children with learning…

Research in the area of elementary mathematics has been limited in recent years. Direct instruction methods, including drill tasks, have been recommended for elementary students who have mathematics difficulties. This project involves two studies that examined the effectiveness of a specific direct instruction intervention, Folding-In, on the math…

This case investigation followed the progress of middle students with disabilities, their peers, and teachers in co-taught science classrooms where a hands-on, inquiry-based curriculum was used. Students with disabilities (n=21), including learning disabilities, mild intellectual impairment, and mild autism were placed in co-taught classes with…

A debate exists in the research community about replacing the traditional IQ/achievement discrepancy method for learning disability identification with a "response-to-intervention model". This new assessment paradigm uses a student's level of improvement with small-group or individual programming to determine a possible need for…

A reversal (ABAB) design was used to evaluate the effectiveness of a group contingency intervention on the verbally disrespectful behaviors of seven middle school students with specific learning disabilities and attention deficit disorders (ADHD) in a special education resource classroom setting for reading instruction. During the intervention…

The benefits of multisensory instruction for teaching mathematics to students in resource rooms were explored. Participants were third and fourth graders (n = 12) in 3 resource rooms for replacement mathematics in a middle-class school district in New Jersey. The students received weekly instruction for several months, using manipulatives and word…