Gains have been made over the last two decades in how to identify evidence-based practices for students with disabilities, but less progress has been made in ensuring that these interventions are used by classroom teachers. Although it is not the only area that needs to be addressed to bridge this research-to-practice gap, providing high-quality…

Despite a lack of conclusive evidence, many researchers in the field view computer-assisted instruction (CAI) as an opportunity for improved instruction for students with disabilities. This study examined the effects of a CAI program, Lexia Strategies for Older Students (SOS)™ on the word recognition skills of four, upper elementary students with…

The purpose of this case study was to determine teachers' rationales for assigning students with mild disabilities to alternate assessment based on alternate achievement standards (AA-AAS). In interviews, special educators stated that their primary considerations in making the assignments were low academic performance, student use of extended…

Eleven mildly handicapped elementary students were taught to spell new words by using spelling patterns from known words. Control Ss learned to read and spell sight word vocabulary. Experimental Ss were significantly superior in spelling high-frequency sight words and untrained transfer words. (Author/CL)

Six classes enrolling academically handicapped and normal-progress elementary students were randomly assigned to study mathematics cooperatively or under a traditional classroom structure. Results indicated that cooperative techniques improved social acceptance, academic achievement, and self-esteem. (Author/CL)

A survey of 141 elementary and 79 secondary teachers of students with mild handicaps found that the average student-teacher ratio was 4.7:1, with a range of 1:1 to 15:1. Minor differences were found as a function of the students' categorical designations and elementary versus secondary level. (Author/JDD)

The effectiveness of supplementary home tutoring with minimal professional guidance of 64 learning disabled, emotionally disturbed, or educable mentally retarded primary grade students was evaluated. Results indicated that after two weeks children whose parents had received the tutoring materials scored significantly higher on a word recognition…

Three hypotheses adduced from social comparison theory were tested by assessing the self-concepts of 138 normal children, 138 mildly handicapped children in three special education settings (from partial to total segregation), and 46 children with academic difficulties in regular classes. (Author/MC)

Interviews with 22 high-school special education teachers, 24 mildly handicapped adolescents, and 8 administrators found that almost half of the teachers were not using microcomputers. Teachers with at least one computer in their classroom were more likely to use computers and have positive attitudes toward computers. Predominant uses included…

The categorical stability of 523 students with mild handicaps was investigated in a retrospective study of special education records. Results indicated that many students had at least two different classifications during their school years. Analyzed were the stability of various categories, student age when changes took place, and predictors of…

The paper presents a research-based case for mnemonic instruction with mildly disabled students, and recommends learning tasks, designs, and implementation formats. Evolution of the research, from theory-driven laboratory research to long-term classroom applications, is described. Recommendations are offered for further research. (Author/JDD)

The study with five mildly handicapped students (ages 10-12) found that changing setting (regular or resource classroom) alone had no significant impact on student performance. The combined effect of changes in test materials and test administrator, however, indicated that curriculum differences did affect extent to which skills were transferred…

Correlational analysis revealed no significant relationship between performance on the Social Interpretation Task and behavior rating scores for 24 learning disabled, seriously emotionally disturbed, and educable mentally retarded students (seven-17 years old). Results do not support many of the clinical observations made by leading professionals…

A study found that 4 boys (age 11) with mild disabilities were able to acquire the behaviors for instructive feedback stimuli when the stimuli were presented after trials on any of a set of target behaviors and could acquire instructive feedback behaviors during acquisition of or mastery of target behaviors. (Contains references.) (Author/CR)

A two-dimensional framework consisting of knowledge forms and intellectual operations was used to analyze curriculum materials, teacher-mediated instruction, and student use of information on essay and traditional criterion-referenced measures in two sixth-grade general science classes. Results suggest low-achieving students may need more exposure…