Many students with learning disabilities (LD) do not master basic reading skills, which affects later reading fluency and reading comprehension development. Single-case experimental design (SCED) research yields unique opportunities to better understand which aspects of a basic reading intervention are effective with a particular student,…

The purpose of this special series is to augment effective instruction for students with learning disabilities who are also considered culturally, racially/ethnically, linguistically, or otherwise diverse. In this paper, we acknowledge the central focus on technical rigor for the purpose of strengthening causal linkages between instruction and…

Students in the United States who receive special education services are entitled to receive an Individualized Education Program (IEP) that provides an appropriate level of benefit. Although IEP content is informed by policy mandates and practice recommendations, research has yet to investigate the degree to which school practice is in alignment.…

Single-case research design is a useful methodology for evaluating the presence of a functional relation between an intervention and the mathematical performance of students with a learning disability. However, a functional relation cannot be established with threats to internal validity of the design. External validity is impacted if researchers…

This systematic review article summarizes the effects of explicit text structure instruction on expository text comprehension for adolescents with learning disabilities or at risk for reading failure. A thorough literature search with four databases and backward citation search identified nine studies published in the past 22 years for inclusion…

Four studies into characteristics and instructional needs of students with learning disabilities are summarized in this article. These studies are also reviewed in the wider context of mathematics intervention research in special education. These studies generally rely on qualitative methodology, and they are best understood in light of a…

Research findings illustrate the strong connection between self-determined learning and reading performance for students with or at risk for disabilities. Students with or at risk for learning disabilities (LDs), who are at increased risk for academic failure, may benefit from instruction to promote self-determination skills. Causal Agency Theory…

Writing in science can be challenging for all learners, and it is especially so for students with cognitive or language-based learning difficulties. Yet, we know very little about how to support students with learning disabilities (LD) or who are English learners (EL) when asked to write for authentic purposes during science instruction.…

The Council for Learning Disabilities' Research Committee hosted a "Must Read" session at the 35th Annual International Conference in which they discussed influential articles published between August 1, 2012, and July 31, 2013. Articles were selected in six areas relevant to learning disabilities research and practice: response to…

This special series represents collective courage because what is willing to be risked may be profound. At center is a willingness to reach out and cultivate new conversations on disability. Indeed, the artists who contribute to Ware's article are key co-authors; their art ushers us into a new disability literacy that extends and challenges…

This article provides a quantitative synthesis of the published literature on word problem solving intervention studies for children with math disabilities (MD). Seven group and eight single-subject design studies met inclusion criteria. Mean effect sizes ("ES"s) for solution accuracy for group design studies were 0.95 (SE = 0.19) for…

This article examined the ecological and population validity of research on reading interventions for adolescents in Grades 6 through 12. The 26 studies meeting selection criteria were analyzed to determine the characteristics of the students, interventionists, classroom structures, and school environments used, as well as whether there were…

This article provides a review of research in cognitive strategy instruction for improving mathematical problem solving for students with learning disabilities (LD). The particular focus is on one of the salient components of this instructional approach--self-regulation. Seven studies utilizing this approach for teaching problem solving to…

The National Joint Committee on Learning Disabilities (NJCLD) strongly supports comprehensive assessment and evaluation of students with learning disabilities by a multidisciplinary team for the identification and diagnosis of students with learning disabilities. Comprehensive assessment of individual students requires the use of multiple data…

The dominant approach to research in learning disabilities utilizes experimental and quasi-experimental designs to identify the most effective instructional strategies for students with learning disabilities. Research is always undertaken from a point of view, yet the discourse on "what works?" is generally silent on how theoretical frameworks…