The papers in the special series describe the role of data-based decision-making (DBDM) in improving the outcomes of students with learning disabilities based on research across Germany, the Netherlands, and the United States. The articles address multiple aspects of a model of DBDM that includes the role of teacher knowledge, skills, beliefs, and…

When looking at teaching and learning processes in mathematics education students with mathematical learning difficulties or disabilities are of great interest. To approach the question of how research can support practice to assist these students one has to clarify the group or groups of students that we are talking about. The following…

Implementation of Response to Intervention (RTI) has been developed with the goal of increasing the efficiency and efficacy of the identification process for students at risk of/with learning disabilities. While this goal is well-intentioned, the implementation of RTI has faced challenges at the district level. Understanding the current…

Federal legislation allows local education agencies to use a student's response to scientific research-based interventions as a method of identifying specific learning disabilities. As a result, educational leadership is challenged to implement response to intervention (RTI). Despite increased literature addressing RTI, no consensus on…

In this article, the author discusses her investigations into the connection between the values of Swedish society and Swedish classroom practices by way of the early childhood special education system. She describes Swedish educational policies and the challenges surrounding moving from policy to practice, and also uncovers themes regarding…

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…

This article considers how good teaching in general education classes can be good intervention for students with learning disabilities. It urges combining Big-S Science (the educational research literature) with little-s science (a teacher's study of what works in his/her classroom). It stresses the teacher's beliefs about students with…

This report summarizes results of three focus groups which examined teachers' ideas and attitudes about the utility of research on the practice of teaching reading to students with learning disabilities and about forms of communication that would make research information more useful. The focus groups were part of a larger project designed to…

Twenty general education teachers participated in a project that combined curriculum-based measurement (CBM) and peer tutoring (PT) for students with learning disabilities in the regular classroom. In interviews, the teachers specified a large number of academic, social, and instructional benefits of the methods, and they also identified several…

Discusses recent research on learning style, revealing some of the problems with the research as well as how work on learning modality can help students with trouble in school. Also discusses tests that identify learning style, and advises teachers to keep an open mind about learning style research. (SKC)

This paper describes the inadequate leadership in service and educational delivery systems that affects adults with learning disabilities. The lack of leadership creates a situation in which there is no linkage among the professional communities dealing with learning disabilities, and no communication network to transmit knowledge. The problem is…

A teacher of a graduate course in severe learning disabilities developed a guided self-study project designed to move her students from a vocabulary-laden understanding of disability to an understanding of their students' unique and complex ways of learning. Self-study activities included learning about one's own learning style and how that…