Students with learning disabilities in word-level reading typically require explicit, systematic, and intensive phonics intervention. Teachers' capacity to provide effective intervention depends largely on their depth of understanding of language and their proficiency with evidence-based instructional methods. This article outlines the key…

Data-based instruction (DBI) is a process of collecting and using student progress data to guide decision-making related to intervention intensity and individualization for students with learning disabilities (LD). However, effective DBI requires that teachers have a range of knowledge and skills across multiple domains. Past research has shown…

Children who speak with nonmainstream American English (NMAE) dialects represent a growing population in the U.S. public school system. This article provides recommendations for how teacher educators can support novice teachers in addressing the needs of NMAE speakers with or at risk for learning disabilities. This article focuses on four core…

Intensive, individualized interventions are certainly the hallmark promise of special education. In a multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS), tier 3 interventions are the most intensive and require individualized delivery to address the learning and behavioral needs of students who are most often identified for special education services. MTSS,…

EFL Learning is considered an enriching and rewarding experience for most 'normal' learners. However, for learners with neurological differences/learning disabled, it can be a stressful and unpleasant experience. Students with learning disabilities (SLD) are often mistaken for slow, behind, incapable, and failures as there is a lack of awareness…

In an era of teacher quality reforms, one overlooked area for assessing readiness for teaching is education majors' self-efficacy for teaching reading. This gap is unfortunate, as teaching reading is a common responsibility among general and special education teachers. In the current push for RTI--one in which more general education teachers are…

Response to Intervention (RTI) is defined by the National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE) as the practice of providing high-quality instruction and intervention matched to student needs and using learning rate over time and level of performance to make important educational decisions (2007). Both IDEA 2004 and the…

This article discusses the lingering problem of poor and inappropriate preparation of professional teachers of reading and learning disabilities--why it exists and what we can do about it. Because most students classified as having learning disabilities experience primary difficulties with language-based learning, teachers must know how to teach…

The combined repeated reading and question generation procedure is a reading intervention designed to target both fluency and comprehension for students with disabilities. Previous research has demonstrated the effectiveness of the intervention for school age children with learning disabilities. This study extended the research by utilizing the…

This study employs the theory of identity development and figured worlds to investigate how historical and current education context, preservice and inservice teacher preparation, and school and classroom context influence the development of the literacy teaching identity of teachers of adolescents with significant cognitive disabilities. A…

The second edition of this essential handbook provides a comprehensive, updated overview of the science that informs best practices for the implementation of response to intervention (RTI) processes within Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) to facilitate the academic success of all students. The volume includes insights from leading scholars…

Despite the fact that the early reading proficiency for all children has become a national mandate captured in both the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the poor performance of America's fourth graders on national examinations of reading proficiency indicates that the nation is far from…

Special education is now an established part of public education in the United States--by law and by custom. However, it is still widely misunderstood and continues to be dogged by controversies related to such things as categorization, grouping, assessment, placement, funding, instruction, and a variety of legal issues. The purpose of this…