The National Center for Leadership in Intensive Intervention (NCLII), a consortium funded by the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), prepares special education leaders to become experts in research on intensive intervention for students with disabilities who have persistent and severe academic (e.g., reading and math) and behavioral…

In recent decades, research and practice have shown that investing in a positive school-wide social culture is a key component of effective education. Evidence demonstrates that educators and students succeed when students are present, engaged, socially secure, and academically successful. Developed by 2M Research in conjunction with an expert…

The DEC Recommended Practices provide guidance to families and professionals about the most effective ways to improve learning outcomes and promote development of young children, birth through age 5, who have, or are at-risk for, developmental delays or disabilities. "Instruction: Effective Strategies to Support Engagement, Learning, and…

Whole-school or whole-class programs designed to promote positive behavior can enhance the likelihood that effective teaching and learning occur for all students. This practice guide is intended to help elementary education educators, as well as school and district administrators and parents, implement and support effective prevention-focused…

The authors examined the effectiveness of strategy instruction taught by general educators in mixed-ability classrooms. Specifically, the authors compared the mathematical word problem-solving performance and computational skills of students who received schema-based instruction (SBI) with students who received general strategy instruction (GSI).…

A review of nine studies on the efficacy of metacognitive interpersonal problem-solving training with students who have learning and behavior problems found demonstrated cognitive gains but less success in demonstrating that such gains were subsequently applied to actual behavior or generalized to other social behavior. (DB)

This article on using mnemonics with students having learning and behavior problems first offers a case study of a 7th grade student and then describes the letter strategy, the keyword mnemonic method, and the pegword method. Seven steps for implementing mnemonic strategies are offered. An inset reviews the research literature on using mnemonic…

This article presents a graduated word problem sequence in mathematics, beginning with simple words; progressing to phrases, sentences, and paragraphs; advancing to paragraph word problems with extraneous information; and finally having students create their own word problems. Results from 67 elementary students with learning disabilities support…

This study investigated the effectiveness of a schema strategy on the mathematical word-problem-solving performance of four sixth- and seventh-grade students with learning disabilities. The schema strategy led to substantially improved word-problem-solving performance for all four students and these results were maintained at two- and four-week…

Discusses the problem-based learning (PBL) model, including underlying principles and the three phases of the cyclical process: (1) problem development; (2) initiation of PBL events, inquiry, and investigation; and (3) problem solution. A case study illustrates use of PBL in an educational psychology class. A table lists sample problems for…

This study compared the effectiveness of 3 procedures for teaching 62 elementary students with learning disabilities to identify the correct algorithm in solving addition and subtraction word problems. The group receiving strategy teaching and sequencing practice problems and the group receiving strategy teaching only scored higher than…

The article details a process to develop and test an instructional program designed to teach learning disabled students the procedural, process, and task specific knowledge necessary to solve four kinds of arithmetic story problems. Single subject and group research designs were used to evaluate the problem solving unit. (Author/DB)

Field testing of a series of group-learning units in pharmacology based on a patient-oriented problem-solving approach found that the units were well crafted and that students had higher scores on tests of their knowledge of pharmacology after they had used the units. (Author/DB)

Methods for teaching problem-solving strategies for word problems to students with learning disabilities are described in the context of the 1989 National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Curriculum and Evaluation Standards. Examples are given for using the specific strategies of diagrams, ratio equations, tables, and inverse operation…

Review of experimental evidence concerning the effectiveness of problem-based learning suggests that the approach may not improve content-free problem solving; may initially reduce learning levels but fosters long-term retention; may enhance transfer of concepts and integration of concepts into clinical problems; enhances intrinsic interest of…