The purpose of this study was threefold: to examine unique and shared risk factors of comorbidity for reading comprehension and word-problem solving difficulties, to explore whether language minority (LM) learners are at increased risk of what we refer to as "higher order comorbidity" (reading comprehension and word-problem solving…

Teacher preparation for problem-solving instruction is essential to meeting the math needs of English learners (ELs) with math learning disabilities (MLD) in U.S. public schools. In investigating this instruction with Hispanic ELs with MLD, this study focused on how professional development supported one special educator's implementation of…

Despite historical emphasis on "specific" learning disabilities (SLDs), academic skills are strongly correlated across the curriculum. Thus, one can ask how specific SLDs truly are. To answer this question, we used bifactor models to identify variance shared across academic domains (academic "g"), as well as variance unique to…

Competent reading requires various skills beyond those for basic word reading (i.e., core language skills, rapid naming, phonological processing). Contributing "higher-level" or domain-general processes include information processing speed and executive functions (working memory, strategic problem solving, attentional switching).…

This study investigated the role of strategy instruction and working memory capacity (WMC) on word problem solving accuracy in children with (n = 100) and without (n = 92) math difficulties (MD). Within classrooms, children in Grades 2 and 3 were randomly assigned to one of four treatment conditions: verbal-only strategies (e.g., underlining…

All three problem-solving approaches (cognitive monitoring, creative problem solving, and a combination) aided the oral comprehension of 100 reading disabled third graders. The combination approach produced consistently higher mean scores on the group administered Boehm Test of Basic Competencies than either program separately. (CL)

The study examined whether teaching 24 elementary disabled readers a structured inferencing strategy using materials sequentially arranged from easy to more difficult would improve their ability to answer inferential questions. Results suggested that disabled readers' apparent problems in answering inferential qustions may exist because of a lack…

"QuickSmart" is a basic academic skills intervention designed for persistently low-achieving students in the middle years of schooling that aims to improve the automaticity of basic skills to improve higher-order processes, such as problem solving and comprehension, as measured on standardized tests. The "QuickSmart" instructional program consists…

The study investigated effects of training 12 adolescents with learning disabilities in a 7-step word identification strategy (using a general problem-solving strategy with specific substrategies) and found significant gains in word identification but inconsistent gains in comprehension. (DB) (DB)