Response to intervention (RTI) has been promoted for nearly 20 years as a valid supplement to or alternative method of learning disability (LD) identification. Nevertheless, important unresolved questions remain about its role in disability identification. We had two purposes when conducting this study of 229 economically and racially diverse poor…

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) require students to use language in different ways. Expressive and receptive language skills are necessary to participate in the standards-based scientific practices of asking questions, constructing explanations, and engaging in arguments from evidence during scientific discussions. Participating in…

This study considered the efficacy of a differentiated approach to vocabulary instruction for learners with word-finding difficulties (WFD) in the speech and language pathologist's room. Using a pretest-posttest design to study treatment outcomes, 10 second graders with WFD received first semantic-based vocabulary instruction (S) and then…

The study found that, compared to normally achieving students, 24 students (age 10 and 12) with learning disabilities were less able in vocabulary production tasks and comparable in ability to use pictorial responses to demonstrate vocabulary knowledge. When equated in reading achievement, learning-disabled 10 year olds were poorer in composite…

The study demonstrated that 36 male children (ages 7-10) with learning problems were characterized not by a restricted vocabulary as such (i.e., the variance common to both receptive and productive vocabulary measures) but by a hampered production of words (i.e., the variance common to both speed-of-naming and productive vocabulary measures.…

This study compared the science vocabulary performance of 76 students with learning disabilities (LD) and 78 normally achieving (NA) students at elementary and intermediate grade levels. Findings indicated significant differences in receptive language performance between LD and NA students and differences in expressive language between older and…