Laws, practices, and research about reading difficulties have been gradually and rapidly changing since the passage of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act in 1974. It is difficult for schools to keep up, especially when it takes approximately 16 years for research to reach widespread public knowledge. In this article, I frame the…

We center the voice of Dwyan Moore, a Black 12-year-old boy, during his transition of being diagnosed with a learning dis/Ability. We do so to grapple with the problem of disproportionate representation in special education along race and dis/Ability, with particular attention to educational leadership. Disproportionate representation is a…

Recently, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) reported that although countries around the world must ensure that students with disabilities receive free, inclusive, and appropriate education, students with disabilities are less likely to complete primary or secondary school in many countries. Though this…

We review the evolution of the conceptualisation of dyslexia and along with it the current, 21st century definition of dyslexia. Our starting point is the seminal report by Pringle Morgan in 1896, followed by early 20th century reports by Hinshelwood, and continuing with concepts of brain injury and minimal brain dysfunctions then to the emergence…

This case focuses on a novice principal who advocates for a student who was assigned to the first grade for 3 consecutive years. As the instructional leader of the school, the novice principal is troubled by ethics and social justice issues involved to make the decision to assign the student to his age-appropriate grade. The student was placed in…

This paper provides an introduction to the concept of audio-supported reading (ASR) for students with specific learning disabilities. In a previous paper written for the National Center on Accessible Instructional Materials (AIM Center), Jackson (2012) defined ASR as a technology-based technique for reading in which individuals read digital text…

The purpose of this pilot study was to explore the impact of mathematics and reading learning difficulties on the mathematics-vocabulary understanding of fifth-grade students. Students (n = 114) completed three measures: mathematics computation, general vocabulary, and mathematics vocabulary. Based on performance on the mathematics computation and…

Noting that 60 percent of both fourth and eighth graders currently struggle with reading, this report urges the U.S. Congress to focus on students' literacy development from early childhood through grade twelve as it works to rewrite of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), currently known as the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). In…

The purpose of this mixed methods research is to examine teachers' perspectives on the response to intervention (RTI) framework and its implementation in Michigan and Texas schools. Both states have been leaders in literacy, increasing preservice and in-service teacher certification standards and developing similar batteries for assessing literacy…

This study compared word recognition for words written in a traditional flat font to the same words written in a three-dimensional appearing font determined to create a right hemispheric stimulation. The participants were emergent readers enrolled in Montessori schools in the United States learning to read basic CVC (consonant, vowel, consonant)…

After decades of what seemed to be an inexorable upward path, the number of students classified as learning-disabled declined from year to year over much of the past decade--a change in direction that is spurring debates among experts about the reasons why. The percentage of 3- to 21-year-old students nationwide classified as having a…

Reading affects a plethora of areas in life. Students with learning disabilities often fall into this category due to a lack of practice with reading and less time to focus on building skills. This paper examines the background, the relationship between reading and learning disabilities, the characteristics of students with learning disabilities…

Since the reauthorization of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (2004), the use of Response to Intervention (RTI) in the identification of students suspected of having learning disabilities has been legitimized. Several professional organizations, including the International Reading Association (IRA), have recognized the importance of…

A systematic analysis of the references to "scientifically based research" (SBR) and closely related terms, such as "peer-reviewed research" (PRR), in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) legislation, regulations, commentary, and case law reveal that SBR and its primary variants apply largely to state support…

Although numerous studies have investigated autism methodology case law, few studies have investigated case law regarding reading methodology, particularly the Orton-Gillingham approach, for students with reading disabilities. We provide the results of a systematic case analysis of all published Orton-Gillingham decisions from the original passage…