This study employed a meta-analytic approach to examine the effectiveness of graphic organizers (GOs) in improving academic and behavioral outcomes for K-12 students with disabilities, drawing from the single-case special education literature. Moderators at participant and study level were analyzed in addition to the main effects. A comprehensive…

This chapter addresses assessment (testing) with an emphasis on the 100-year period since the American Education Research Association was formed. The authors start with definitions and explanations of contemporary tests. They then look backward into the 19th century to significant work by Horace Mann and Herbert Spencer, who engendered two…

Many education reporters are drawn to the beat because of its complexity and rich variety. Few topics provide such a wealth of political, business, human interest, breaking news, feature, and investigative stories. A reporter's day can start in a classroom with 4-year-olds struggling to learn to read, and end at a school board meeting with…

Six papers on special education technology and individual differences are introduced. The papers illustrate the growing influence of constructivist perspectives on the use of technology to accommodate individual differences among people. The papers recognize the importance of using technology to scaffold the client's construction of different…

For 12 years, the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST) has researched use of technology to expand opportunities for diverse learners. Universal design principles drawn from architecture and product development are useful for developing effective educational tools that can accommodate students' varied recognition, strategic, and affective…

Preservice and inservice teachers are expected to address individual differences in students. However, the nature of differences and the needs of individuals can slow or, at times, completely stop learning for the rest of the classroom. Teachers are also encouraged to teach higher level thinking skills, although standardized tests are often…

This article proposes three guidelines for mobile technology design that address the needs and goals of teachers who are considered mainstream with regard to technology use. Devices should be easy to learn and use, focused on the curriculum, and instruction-friendly. Only if the three guidelines are followed by hardware and software developers…

New instructional delivery systems are needed to individualize instruction, relieve the teacher's burden as sole information provider, and meet the challenge of student diversity. Microcomputers, optical memory devices, videodiscs, and hypermedia programs are being combined to create integrated learning systems, multimedia work stations, and other…

A model is proposed for the influence of individual differences on performance when computer-based technology is introduced. The primary cognitive factor driving differences in performance is spatial visualization ability. Four techniques for mitigating the negative impact of low spatial visualization are discussed: spatial metaphors, graphical…

This guide to universal design in the classroom is divided into two sections. The first addresses the concept of universal design for learning (UDL); the second addresses the practical application of UDL in the classroom. Each chapter opens with a summary of key ideas and a graphic organizer that illustrates how the concepts fit together. The…

The bridging theme of the AMTEC'93 conference provided the stimulation to look beyond traditional boundaries: across international borders; across levels of disciplines and school systems; across social differences and across individual differences. These bridges can help make learning more effective, as can attention to related contemporary…

This paper examines a research paradigm that is particularly suited to experimentation-related computer-based instruction and integrated learning systems. The main assumption of the model is that one of the most powerful capabilities of computer-based instruction, and specifically of integrated learning systems, is the capacity to adapt…

The Southwest Regional Laboratory for Educational Research and Development (SWRL) is dedicated to the belief that individual differences among students do not stand in the way of universal quality instructional achievement in the nation's schools. Important steps towards the condition of universal instructionalized achievement are: (1) the…

The programs and publications of the Wisconsin Center for Education Research from 1980 to 1984 are listed and described in this document. The center's efforts focus on the study of the nature and effects of diversity among students. The research program adds to knowledge about how children learn, how they are taught, and what characterizes…

This annotated bibliography is a compilation of the research on programed instruction conducted in the United States since 1954. The introduction describes the field; looks back over the research and reviews some of its conclusions; answers the question whether students learn from programmed instruction; explains the characteristic variables; and…