This article provides a brief overview of the various areas of research that have served to clarify the condition of dyslexia. Using topics and content appearing in A. L. Benton and D. Pearl's (1978) text, Dyslexia: An Appraisal of Current Knowledge, as the point of departure, evolution of the definitions of dyslexia is traced to the current and…

The issue of properly identifying and assessing the instructional needs of new- or second-language learners of English suspected of having a learning disability continues to plague educational practitioners. This article discusses the merging of curriculum-based measurement and dynamic assessment as a process to support appropriate prereferral…

This article describes a statewide project in which weekly progress monitoring of mathematics was implemented with 120 special education students. Curriculum-based measurement probes for computation and concepts/applications skills were administered weekly over seven months. Students were assessed at levels identified as instructional by their…

In this article, the ways in which special education for students with learning disabilities was perceived as "special" historically and what we know about effective special education instructional practices for students with learning disabilities currently are summarized. The influence of monitoring progress, providing explicit and systematic…

Five years ago, the author examined the extent and quality of education to students with disabilities in Texas's public charter schools. Many schools were designated "at-risk" because of the percentage of enrolled students who met the state's at-risk criteria. Students with learning disabilities and behavioral disorders made up the…

The purpose of the present study was to compare the everyday classroom practices of students with and without learning disabilities (LD) and attempt to predict those perceptions from classroom's motivational discourse and feelings of hopelessness. Two hundred thirty students with and without learning disabilities recorded their everyday classroom…

Response to intervention (RTI) models for identifying learning disabilities rely on the accurate identification of children who, without Tier 2 tutoring, would develop reading disability (RD). This study examined 2 questions concerning the use of 1st-grade data to predict future RD: (1) Does adding initial word identification fluency (WIF) and 5…

Educational outcomes were evaluated for 2,046 preschool children identified with developmental delay. Results indicated that at third grade, 26% were in regular education and the remaining 74% were receiving special education services. The most common disability classifications at outcome were specific learning disabilities and educable mentally…

The process of a successful undergraduate student-faculty research collaboration involving a student with documented learning disabilities is detailed. As the student developed research skills, she also learned how to develop her own learning strategies. At the same time, the faculty member learned strategies adaptable to all student-faculty…

This article examined differences between young women and men who were incarcerated juvenile offenders with disabilities in Oregon in terms of the barriers they faced in their transition from the correctional system back into the community. Data were gathered on 72 females and 276 males, all of whom presented disabilities and who were…

In this study, predictive classification accuracy was used to select those tasks from a kindergarten screening battery that best identified children who, three years later, were classified as educable mentally handicapped or as having a specific learning disability. A subset of measures enabled correct classification of 91% of the children in…

The purpose of this study was to train a paraprofessional to implement the Direct Instruction (DI) "Spelling Mastery" (Dixon, Engelmann, & Bauer, 1990a, 1990b) program and to investigate the effectiveness of the instruction delivered by the paraprofessional for students with learning disabilities. We investigated (a) the extent to…

Background: It has long been hypothesized that children with learning disabilities, including dyslexia, may be highly vulnerable to emotional consequences such as anxiety. However, research has centred on school-aged children. Aims: The present study aimed to clarify these findings with dyslexic students in higher education. Samples: Sixteen…

The vast majority of American-born adults are exposed to written language from a very early age. Most Americans live in a print-based society where letters and words are everywhere! Drive, walk, or bike down any American street and you will see numerous eye-catching billboards, signs, and storefronts. Our towns, cities, neighborhoods, and homes…

The following Action Research Project Report is to improve the oral reading fluency of the 4th and 5th grade students with learning disabilities. The targeted population participating in this study consisted of a total of ten participants of which five were 4th grade students and five were 5th grade students located in a middle class community…