Not all children are made the same. Learning disabilities like dyslexia, dysgraphia or dyscalculia are either not understood or ignored in schools. As a result, the schoolchildren suffer for no fault of theirs and they lag behind in their course of learning. They may find it difficult to achieve the basic skills of learning such as reading,…

Previous "selective" meta-analyses of the literature relating to the IQ-achievement discrepancy model of specific learning disability identification have concluded that "underachieving" and "low-achieving" poor readers do not differ in any educationally meaningful way. Underachievers are those poor readers who qualify as learning disabled using an…

Response to intervention (RTI) is an approach to instruction, assessment, and intervention that enables early identification of students who are experiencing academic or behavioral difficulties. The jurisdictions served by the Regional Educational Laboratory Northeast and Islands expressed interest in a study of whether and how state education…

Findings from "Learning to Achieve: A Review of the Research Literature on Serving Adults With Learning Disabilities" will inform a new professional development program to be offered to practitioners and others working with adults with learning disabilities (LD). The six topics covered in the review--assessment, English language learners,…

Preparing students from low-income, minority families to graduate is a challenge that begins as early as elementary school but becomes a particular concern at the secondary level. Low-income students are twice as likely as higher-income students to be poorly prepared for grade-level work and 1.3 times more likely to have learning disabilities,…

Mothers of children with learning disabilities (LD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) were notified of the possibility that their online community was going to be closed. They immediately responded with messages about the significance of the community to their lives and distress that the site would not continue to be available.…

Children with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) face many demands when completing their rehabilitation and returning to school. Although the prognosis can be favorable for many children, the course of recovery poses unique challenges for children and staff alike. To this end, a functional assessment of TBI children within a Response-to-Intervention…

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and No Child Left Behind emphasize the use of scientifically based research to improve outcomes for students. From this emphasis, response-to-intervention has evolved. We present one perspective on the defining features of response-to-intervention and application of those features to school-wide…

The modern history of the legal protections for students with learning disabilities in K-12 education focuses on the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which is funding legislation with detailed accompanying regulations that, respectively, are periodically revised as part of the reauthorization process. In contrast, Section 504 of…

The purpose of this study was to examine the use of a classwide positive peer reporting intervention known as "tootling" in conjunction with a group contingency procedure to reduce the number of disruptive behaviors in a third-grade inclusive classroom. Nineteen elementary students including four students with disabilities (i.e., specific learning…

The psychometric integrity of the "Foreign Language Attitudes and Perceptions Survey" for college students was investigated. Two hundred and seventy-eight college students were administered a modified version of the survey (FLAPS-C). Internal consistency reliabilities, as determined by Cronbach's alpha, were 0.74, attitudes; 0.80,…

It is difficult to deny that many U.S. middle and high school students are in need of special literacy supports. Several indicators of declining literacy achievement have shifted national attention toward struggling and striving adolescent readers. More than ever, secondary schools are under enormous pressure to find ways of improving performance…

Our research examined understandings of individual student target setting processes through semi-structured interviews with staff and students from two schools in England: a special school for students with severe learning difficulties and a linked mainstream secondary school. This article details some of the tensions and issues arising from…

This article discusses a documentary film created by students with learning disabilities to share their wisdom. "Speak Out for Understanding" is a new film on learning disabilities created by a group of students at a Vermont high school. Made on a shoestring, the award-winning 32-minute documentary overturns a number of popular…

Errors in written multi-digit computation were investigated in children with math difficulties. Third- and fourth-grade children (n = 291) with coexisting math and reading difficulties, math difficulties, reading difficulties, or no learning difficulties were compared. A second analysis compared those with severe math learning difficulties, low…