This article presents the interactive, collaborative teaching and learning model developed to teach content area reading to students with learning disabilities or other learning problems. It identifies interactive and collaborative aspects of the model and explains its theoretical underpinnings, instructional decisions, the role of the teacher,…

Students with Learning Disabilities (LD) often experience significant difficulty with academic content at the secondary level due to weaknesses in reading comprehension, written expression, math skills, and vocabulary learning skills. This article will highlight the usefulness of learning strategies for ensuring success of students with LD in the…

The National Joint Committee on Learning Disabilities (NJCLD) is a national committee representing 11 organizations concerned about individuals with learning disabilities. Approximately 350,000 individuals constitute the membership of the organizations represented by NJCLD. The NJCLD considers and discusses contemporary issues in learning…

Given that affective and cognitive processes interact in writing, it is important that interventions for developing writing ability focus both on strategies for developing motivation and cognitive processes. This article provides evidence for the efficacy of an instructional program that combines training in composition processes with strategies…

Looking at printed pages is no longer the only way to enjoy a story or learn facts. Today there's a wealth of titles being produced as sound recordings, and teachers can use these audiobooks to improve listening skills, to arrange an audio author visit, and to provide an extra set of vocal chords in the classroom. Recorded books can help educators…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of a peer-mediated instructional approach on the teaching of phonological skills and reading comprehension for middle school (sixth- to eighth-grade) students with reading disabilities. All students (n = 38) were identified as having learning disabilities and reading at the third-grade level or…

In two original articles from the inaugural issue of "Topics in Language Disorders", Berlin, Blank, and Rose proposed a model of dialogue complexity on the basis of a continuum of abstractness defined as perceptual-language distance; Carlson, Gruenewald, and Nyberg proposed a triadic model of academic concepts, student language, and…

Although academic and behavioral problems place many students with learning disabilities (LD) at risk for not completing high school, we know very little about the differences between children with LD who complete school and those who fail to do so. In this study of 76 male youth (45 school completers and 31 noncompleters), standardized measures…

In 1990, public school speech-language pathologists (SLPs) all over the United States were surveyed regarding service delivery to English language learner (ELL) students. In 2001, the survey was replicated with a larger national sample (N = 1736). Results from surveys in both decades showed that one of the most frequently encountered service…

Dynamic assessment uses a test-teach-retest approach that can assist clinicians in differentiating between children with learning disabilities and children with learning differences. This article describes a model of dynamic assessment of narratives and its use with children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Case studies…

This study sought to determine effective teaching strategies for use with high-ability students who have spatial strengths and sequential weaknesses. Gifted students with spatial strengths and weak verbal skills often struggle in the traditional classroom. Their learning style enables them to grasp complex systems and excel at higher levels of…

Walter Cronkite High School is a comprehensive high school of nearly 4,000 students, located in New York City. The population of students with disabilities includes many students with severe and low-incidence disabilities, including 70 students with visual or hearing impairments and 20 students with orthopedic impairments. Cronkite High School's…

This study investigated the effect of the disability labels learning disabilities (LD) and emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) on public school general education and special education teachers' willingness to refer students to gifted programs. Results indicated that teachers were significantly influenced by the LD and EBD labels when making…

In this opinion piece, the author views several major problems facing those who care about students labeled has having learning disabilities (LD). He believes that while there are technical problems that educators should be able to fix (definition of LD, best instructional practices for students so identified, powerful secondary programs that…

This study examined the psychometric properties of the Sutter-Eyberg Student Behavior Inventory (SESBI) in a rural sample of children and adolescents. Thirty-eight 5th- through 12th-grade teachers completed the SESBI on 726 children in their classrooms. High Cronbach's alphas supported the reliability of the SESBI scales in this population. Higher…