This study used a large statewide database to examine the oral reading fluency development of second- and third-grade students with emotional disturbance or learning disabilities and their general education peers. Oral reading fluency measures were administered to 185,367 students without disabilities (general education), 2,146 students identified…

Two professional development (PD) models for teachers were compared on teacher and student outcomes. Special education teachers participated in Literacy Learning Cohorts (LLC), a PD innovation designed to improve content and pedagogical knowledge for providing reading instruction to upper elementary students with learning disabilities. The LLC,…

The purpose of this study was to determine the efficacy of specific, individualized training for students with different levels of mathematical difficulties. Fifty-four students, with either severe or mild math difficulties, were assigned to individualized training or to a control condition. Ten students with severe math difficulties…

This study investigated the role of strategy instruction on solution accuracy in children with and without serious math difficulties (MD) in problem solving. Children's posttest solution accuracy was compared on standardized and experimental measures as a function of strategy conditions. Strategy conditions included curriculum materials that…

This experimental study reports findings on the effects from a year-long reading intervention providing daily 50-min sessions to middle school students with identified learning disabilities (n = 65) compared with similar students who did not receive the reading intervention (n = 55). All students continued to receive their special education…

Promoting self-determination has become a best practice in special education. There remains, however, a paucity of causal evidence for interventions to promote self-determination. This article presents the results of a group-randomized, modified equivalent control group design study of the efficacy of the Self-Determined Learning Model of…

Students learned a strategy for planning, writing, and evaluating compare-contrast essays. Instruction followed the principles of self-regulated strategy development, which aims to improve knowledge about writing, strategic writing processes, self-regulation, and motivation. Six adolescent students, 3 with learning disabilities in writing and 3…

Findings from a comparison of two samples of school age children, one sample (N=40) identified as learning disabled (LD), the other comprised of low achievers (N=51), indicated few psychometric differences. Many LD students did not meet federal definition guidelines, and many low achievers did meet the guidelines. (MC)

Discrepancies between ability and achievement were examined in second grade scores, and again in fifth grade test scores, for two groups of low achievers: learning disabled (n=20) and non-learning disabled (n=20). The two groups differed significantly in relative discrepancy scores in fifth grade, but not in second. (Author/JW)

The study compared pretest and posttest achievement test data for 67 elementary grade children with learning disabilities in 4 conditions: 1 or 2 daily periods of resource room instruction, or consultative services presented indirectly or with direct in-class instruction. Students receiving a combination of consultation and direct services showed…

This study compared interstate variability of prevalence rates for special education categories from 1984 to 1985 through 2001 to 2002, using the coefficient of variation (CV), which is designed to compare variances when the means of the groups compared are radically different. The category of learning disabilities, presumed by many to be the most…

A family history of learning problems as provided on a specially designed questionnaire by maternal report was examined in families of 101 children with and 171 children without learning disabilities. Learning disabilities were found to be strongly familial. Among developmental factors, only male gender was significantly associated with LD.…

This study of the story composition abilities of 46 students (aged 11-14) with learning disabilities found that subjects had a rudimentary knowledge of story form, but this knowledge was less developed than that of their nondisabled peers. Subjects also had greater coherence problems in their writing and were less fluent writers. (Author/JDD)

A comparison of 44 semi-rural learning-disabled postsecondary-age youth with 64 urban nonlearning-disabled same-age peers found significantly higher dropout rates and significantly lower basic skills competency levels among the learning-disabled youth. No differences were found between learning-disabled graduates and dropouts in terms of…

Thirty special educators were randomly assigned to treatment groups, including a control condition and different levels of curriculum-based management analysis, one of which included graphed performance indicators with skills analysis; one, graphed performance indicators only, and another, graphed performance indicators with ordered lists of…