The Thematic Unit approach to content-area learning integrates reading, writing, and speaking exercises for learning-disabled students while fostering active and strategic study of the content. Features include use of natural materials, teaching of learning strategies, and emphasis on student decision making and involvement. Guidelines are…

Factor analysis performed on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) for 252 subjects (ages 6-16), who were mentally handicapped, slow learners, or learning disabled, identified 3 factors: verbal-conceptual, perceptual-spatial, and distractibility-short-term memory. Findings suggest that the factor example can be used to…

This study found that 27 Chinese teachers' perceptions of 196 elementary students nominated as learning disabled or educable mentally retarded (based on identifying characteristics used in the United States) were significantly less favorable than ratings of students nominated as average or gifted. Discriminant analysis yielded 72.19 percent…

This study, involving 4 high school seniors with learning disabilities, found that an initial vocational social skills simulation intervention delivered at school led to generalization in 8 of 12 target behaviors (3 behaviors per student). Subsequently, in situ training at the work site produced generalization in four of six behaviors. (Author/JDD)

Secondary students (88 with learning disabilities and 103 without) completed a substance abuse screening inventory. Of the 30 students who were classified as chemically dependent, 70% were students with learning disabilities. The presence or absence of a learning disability was a better predictor of chemical dependency than gender, ethnicity, age,…

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…

A survey of 48 secondary-level learning disability content teachers and 45 basic skills teachers examined their relationship with the mainstream, curricular structure, instructional methodology, and students' behavioral characteristics. The two groups differed little in how they taught but more in how they perceived their interactions and their…

Over a 10-month period, normal children showed an increased reliance on memory retrieval and a decreased reliance on counting when they solved addition problems. There was an increase in speed of counting and of retrieving addition facts from long-term memory. Children with a mathematical learning disability showed no change in problem-solving…

This current response to a reprinted 1968 article by Ray Barsch (EC 602 662) focuses on legal aspects of learning disabilities, especially problems in implementing IDEA (the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) and continuing controversies concerning definition, evaluation, instructional intervention, and placement or service delivery…

Presents study results adapting a social studies textbook to hypermedia format. Discusses study guides intended to increase the amount of instructional time for students, create a system offering curriculum enhancement and access, and decrease demands on teacher time. Concludes that hypermedia is as effective as lecture, especially for remedial…

Four predictive models offering an ecocultural perspective on the educational and personal-social development of children at risk for learning disabilities and other learning problems are proposed: main effect, additive, multiplicative, and compensatory. Preliminary results favor the compensatory and additive models. Both risk and protective…

An ethnographic study is reported using participant and nonparticipant observations, interviews, and analysis of school files on 77 Hmong students to probe factors affecting tendencies to incorrectly label Hmong students as learning disabled. Case studies are discussed in the context of Hmong history, refugees' experiences, and language factors.…

Examines ramifications of special class placement on the self-concept of learning-disabled children. Results reveal a strong link between learning disabilities and low self-concept. Three kinds of effects of special class placement on self-concept and certain sex differences are indicated. (Author/BB)

The Alternative Learners Project of College Misericordia (Pennsylvania) assisted nine high schools in preparing students with learning disabilities for college. The project involved school staff training; school site visits; and a four-year program of student activities in self-awareness, career awareness, assessment, planning, programming, parent…

Reports on 2 studies of 48 eighth-grade students in which mnemonic devices and strategies were employed. Finds that both regular and learning-disabled students preferred mnemonic instruction to traditional teaching methods. Concludes that mnemonic methods can help improve student learning of historical information. (CFR)