This article discusses a 2-year study involving 27 special educators of elementary and middle schools and 47 students with learning disabilities that explored the effects of using curriculum-based measurement and transenvironmental programming, each alone and in combination, for readying students to move from resource rooms to regular classrooms…

A national survey of 502 general education teachers found that teachers perceived communication problems among teachers and parents as a serious impediment to the effective use of homework with mainstreamed students with learning disabilities. Problems included frequency and quality of communication with parents, role of the special education…

The career of psychologist Samuel Kirk, the "father" of learning disabilities (LD), is reviewed. Noted are his professional career, his dedication to scholarship and inquiry, his continued involvement with people with LD, his ability to integrate knowledge from different disciplines, his creative use of research, his preparation of other…

This tribute to Samuel Kirk, an early leader in the field of learning disabilities, is written by a former student. It focuses on his experiences and contributions while at Milwaukee State Teachers College (Wisconsin). Kirk's supervision of practice teaching, his role as an editor and co-author, and his ideas about teaching reading are recounted.…

Children with learning disabilities in four types of special education settings were compared in terms of social acceptance, number of friends, quality of relationship with best friends, self-concept, loneliness, depression, social skills, and problem behaviors. Two of the placements (In-Class Support and Resource Room) were for children with mild…

This tribute to Samuel Kirk, an early leader in the field of learning disabilities, focuses on his conceptualization of the diagnostic-prescriptive approach and his work on cognitive processing and intra-individual differences. His work is seen as leading to the recognition of the importance of early intervention, the role of process training, and…

This tribute to Samuel Kirk, an early leader in the field of learning disabilities, focuses on two of his powerful ideas and their effect on the author's work and later research. The first idea is that effective teaching requires knowing the students well, and the second idea is that explicit instruction in skills and strategies based on known…

This 3-year Model Demonstration Project involved the development and field testing of an individualized course-specific strategy instruction model with college students with learning disabilities and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The 46 participants received individualized semester-long strategy instruction by graduate students…

This tribute to Samuel Kirk, an early leader in the field of learning disabilities, describes his prominent achievements in reading instruction, including research in remedial reading and identification of reading instruction principles such as stages of reading development, importance of prereading abilities, and the need for explicit, systematic…

Presents the experiences of three preservice special educators who applied the research on reciprocal teaching with elementary school children with learning and behavioral disabilities. The problems encountered, the adaptations, and perceptions of student progress are summarized in three separate accounts. Suggestions are provided for successful…

Through a review of the literature, recent research, and implementation results, this article explores teaching methods for use with gifted students with learning disabilities. Methods for application in regular and special classrooms are discussed, including establishment of relationships between home and school life, individualized intervention…

A study examined the academic progress of students with (n=25) and without (n=89) learning disabilities placed full-time in general-education classes in grades 3-6. Most students with learning disabilities made considerable gains over the school year, others showed no improvement. Students who were poor readers made no progress. (Author/CR)

Structured interviews with 150 elementary students with learning disabilities found that they accurately perceived that special education is intended to provide extra help for children with academic problems. Students reported they liked special education classes, though some missed instruction or recreational activities in their mainstream class…

A study of special educators (n=21), bilingual credentialed teachers (n=21), and school psychologists (n=21) examined their judgments regarding how portfolio data compared to traditional standardized assessment data. Results indicate that portfolio data led to more numerous, specific, and detailed recommendations and judgments, and is more…

Twenty-five general and 37 special education teachers were compared in their planning and adaptation for students with learning disabilities. Results indicated that special education teachers who used curriculum-based measurement (CBM) adapted students' programs more frequently and relied on more objective databases than did non-CBM special…