Focuses on fairness in assessing oral language prerequisites for literacy and providing equity of access to appropriate interventions. Discusses assets and limitations of norm- and criterion-referenced testing, behavioral ratings, portfolio assessments, and self-evaluation. Emphasizes multidimensional, multi-perspective assessments, and selected…

This article addresses two sets of organizing principles to guide prevention and intervention in beginning reading: (1) the complexity in our alphabetic writing system, and (2) the complexity in our schools. The first set is related to instructional design, while the second set is related to a schoolwide model. (Contains references.) (Author/CR)

Twelve elementary students with learning disabilities and 42 students at risk for special education referral served as tutors for younger children. Half the tutors were trained to make statements attributing success to ability and effort, as well as strategy suggestions for errors. These tutors became more positive in their self-perceptions than…

This article addresses transition needs of individuals with learning disabilities in such areas as maintaining a home, becoming appropriately involved in the community (including recreation and leisure activities), and experiencing satisfactory personal and social relationships. It reviews research on adult adjustment, highlights existing…

This article reviews the literature on life skills curricula and instruction for students with learning disabilities, focusing on intervention and follow-up/follow-along studies. Suggestions for designing research programs that address these issues are offered. A list of life skills books is appended, along with charts listing papers on theory,…

Measures of perceived competence and perceived achievement were administered to 222 Israeli students with either learning disabilities or low achievement in grades 3, 5, and 7. Subjects were either in special schools, in special classes in regular schools, or in regular classes. Perceived competence was highest among younger children and the…

Considerate instruction, defined as combining effective teaching practices with effective teaching tools such as textbooks and media, is seen as successfully enabling students with sensory and mild cognitive disabilities to achieve. The concept is applied to the teaching of mathematics, science, reasoning, and history. (DB)

Drawing on transition literature of a general nature and specific to language disorders and learning disabilities, this article challenges the efficacy of the existing special education paradigm and contends that changes in institutional policies and practices are needed. The article also discusses roles played by participants in the transition…

Most teachers do not have enough training to teach reading, and many students, especially special needs students, cannot adapt to traditional instruction. The paper stresses the importance of a rich language environment at school to benefit students who lack it at home. Students can also benefit from a multisensory approach. (SM)

Compared levels of career maturity between college students (n=76) with and without learning disabilities and investigated factors associated with career maturity. Few differences in career maturity were found. However, different predictors of career maturity for the two groups emerged. Students with learning disabilities who received more…

Describes an ethnographic study that traced the narrative thinking strategies successfully used by adolescents in two self-contained special education classrooms as they made sense of their textbooks and composed original stories based on subject matter studied. Notes role-playing and composing original texts inspired by structured play also…

This article presents practical and specific strategies for helping students with writing difficulties become successful in each of the following stages of the writing process: prewriting, writing, revising, and publishing. Recommendations include using visual images, modeling prewriting procedures, providing word banks, providing a…

This article proposes that gifted children with Asperger's syndrome may not be identified because their unusual behaviors may be wrongly attributed to either their giftedness or to a learning disability. Ways in which the syndrome might be missed and guidelines for differentiating characteristics of giftedness from Asperger's characteristics are…

This commentary on C. Addison Stone's paper on scaffolding for the learning disabilities field suggests that many current applications prevent rather than encourage transfer of responsibility to students for learning and task accomplishment and that current practices in many schools may result in "reverse-scaffolding". (DB)

A study investigated letter orientation confusions (reversals) in the reading and writing of 10 children with reading disabilities and 10 typical readers (age 10). Individuals with reading disability made more orientation confusions. Orientation errors were more frequent for reversible than for nonreversible items in tasks involving long-term…