Purpose: Difficulties with written expression are an important consideration in the assessment and treatment of school-age children. This study evaluated how intermediate-grade children with and without written language difficulties fared on a writing task housed within the Hayes and Berninger (2014) writing process framework. Method: Sixty-four…

This study was conducted to ascertain if repeated reading or question generation was more effective at improving reading fluency and comprehension of fourth- through sixth-grade students with learning disabilities or reading problems. Adult tutors trained by the investigator conducted the interventions. Instructional components and training within…

Twenty language-disordered and 20 nonimpaired children, aged 9-11, performed story generation and story retelling tasks. For both groups, retold narratives were longer and contained more story grammar components and complete episode structures. Clause length differentiated story generation from story retelling for the language-disordered children…

Spelling performance by learning-disabled sixth-grade students (n=21) was compared with that of age-matched normally achieving students and younger, normally achieving students. Learning-disabled students scored significantly lower on all tasks. Results indicated differences in mastery of the past tense spelling rule "-ed," and in some subskills…

When temperament, self-concept, and locus of control were compared among learning-disabled (N=38) third- through sixth- graders and matched peers, a multivariate difference was demonstrated with specific univariate effects in task orientation and social flexibility, partially supporting the characterization of learning-disabled students as…

Examines the effectiveness of two intervention paradigms that treat phonological awareness and grapheme-phoneme conversion in severely learning disabled third- to fifth-grade students. Finds that an implicit learning paradigm as practiced in the Stabilized Learning System is more effective than an explicit methodological approach as practiced in…

Comparison of the written stories of 96 learning-disabled and 96 non-learning-disabled students found significant differences at grades 3, 4, and 5 in students' inclusion of a complete story grammar. No differences were found at grade 6. (Author/DB)

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)

Studies of the reliability, normative data, construct validity, and concurrent validity of the Social Perception Behavior Rating Scale used with mildly learning-disabled, behavior-disordered, and nondisabled children indicated adequate reliability, marked differences in scores of handicapped and nonhandicapped children, and a logical pattern of…

This study compared the written products of four groups of 26 male students in grades 4-6, including 8 students identified as gifted, 6 learning-disabled/gifted, 6 learning-disabled, and 6 normal. The Test of Written Language-2 was administered and seven subtest scores were compared among the four groups. In general, the speculation that…

Sustained and selective attention among 30 fourth- through sixth-graders with learning disabilities (LD) and 20 controls was compared. Results indicated that LD students are less able to narrow their attention and also have slower information-processing skills, despite similar ability between groups for sustaining attention and inhibiting…

Relationships among the two new and the existing writing tests in the Woodcock-Johnson Psycho-Educational Battery (WJ) and other commonly-used writing tests were investigated with a sample of 44 fifth-graders. Results supported concurrent and construct validity of the WJ tests. The multiple samples writing approach is recommended as an alternative…

A study determined if there would be any significant difference in comprehension test scores when learning disabled students were instructed with and without graphic organizers while reading novels. Subjects were five male fifth-grade learning disabled students reading on the fourth-grade level, who came from the same middle-class suburban school…

Communication breakdowns occurring in the speech of seven language learning-disabled children (aged 9-11) were examined in conversation and narration and compared to normal peers. Length of communication unit and rate of communication breakdowns per communication unit were greater in narration than conversation compared to controls. No differences…

Thirty learning-disabled students in grades five-eight read several passages and attempted to identify and remember main ideas. Students were assigned to one to three conditions: control, monitoring and self-questioning, or mnemonic. The monitoring strategy was most effective for main-idea finding, whereas the mnemonic strategy was most effective…