To assess and then compare stages of language acquisition in disabled readers with those identified by Chomsky in a study of normal readers, a study examined (1) whether the order of emergence of certain syntactic structures is the same for six to ten-year old disabled readers as it was for Chomsky's normal readers, (2) whether there are…

This investigation describes a field test of the materials entitled "Reading: An Educational Approach to Disability" (READ), which were developed to aid disabled readers in the beginning stages of learning to decode English print. The subjects were 15 Title I reading teachers working in small groups with 183 second-grade children. The…

Fifteen high school students served as volunteer tutors in an individualized reading program for 14 fourth and fifth grade pupils unable to succeed at grade level in reading skills. Assignments were based on the Ginn 100 reading series and Ss were evaluated on word recognition (taught with flashcards) and comprehension. Each student improved in…

This digest, based on a book of the same title, summarizes relevant research and promising practices in the strategic processing of text, both narrative and expository, by students with learning disabilities. For narrative text, it cites studies on improving students' ability to use narrative structure and the effectiveness of teaching students to…

This report presents results of a comprehensive review of the research on the improvement of reading comprehension for students with disabilities and is organized into two major sections, the first on learning disabilities and the second on low incidence disabilities. Section 1 is organized into seven chapters which cover: (1) an explanation of…

Argues that J. R. Kendall and J. Hood have not clearly demonstrated that contextual strategies play a significant role in the ability of some disabled readers to understand passages, as well as or better than other students, although they read with less word recognition accuracy. (HOD)

While several of M. W. Sadow's arguments in the previous article convince the authors that poor contextual processing ability cannot account for the subjects' poor reading ability, they reject her argument that good contextual processing ability provides evidence of satisfactory passage understanding. (HOD)

Fifteen middle school students with mild disabilities and poor reading comprehension were taught to independently create cognitive maps from reading passages. Comparison with a matched control group indicated that students who were taught the cognitive mapping strategy demonstrated substantial gains in both literal and inferential comprehension…

Examines research about learning disabled (LD) students and presents an LD learning-style profile. Describes a learning activity, TELSQA, that social studies teachers can use to encourage reading comprehension. TELSQA asks students to identify title (T), examine material (E), look for important words (L), self-question (SQ), and answer…

The effectiveness of the "Laubach Way to Reading" program was examined with four adolescents with learning disabilities who were reading below the fifth-grade level. Students made significant gains on basic reading skills and comprehension. Students' success depended on being provided with supplemental lists of more challenging words…

Review of 48 studies concerning interventions designed to impact the reading comprehension of students with learning disabilities suggests that strong effect sizes are more likely when researchers compare experimental treatment to nontreatment, deliver treatment themselves rather than have classroom teachers deliver it, and assess treatment…

Fifty-six children with speech-language impairments were identified in kindergarten and followed in first and second grades. Subjects' performance on standardized measures of language ability in kindergarten was closely related to reading outcome, especially reading comprehension. Measures of phonological awareness and rapid automatized naming…

The relationship of print exposure, measured by the Title Recognition Test (TRT), to word reading and reading comprehension was studied for 36 reading-disabled and 49 nondisabled students in grades 5 through 9. The power of the TRT to predict word reading and reading comprehension is discussed. (SLD)

Review features of nonverbal learning disabilities in terms of personal, social, and academic manifestations, including deficits in reading comprehension, graphomotor coordination, mathematics, and science. Examines the neuropsychological and learning components associated with developmental right-hemisphere brain syndrome and outlines effective…

Four approaches to the investigation of connections between language by hand and language by eye are described and illustrated with studies from a decade-long research program. The four approaches support a model in which language by hand and language by eye are separate systems that interact in predictable ways. (Contains references.) (CR)