The purpose of this study was to examine the role of the special educator within a response-to-intervention (RTI) framework and to examine what instructional behaviors special educators evidence most frequently in the advanced RTI tiers (i.e., tiers beyond tier 1). Specifically, these two issues were investigated with regard to: (a) proportion of…

The purpose of this experimental study is to investigate the effects of using content acquisition podcasts (CAPs), an example of instructional technology, to provide vocabulary instruction to adolescents with and without learning disabilities (LD). A total of 279 urban high school students, including 30 with LD in an area related to reading, were…

The Common Core State Standards for literacy in history and social studies present opportunities and challenges for teachers of and adolescents with learning disabilities (LD). In addition to reading challenges, students must engage in higher order thinking and reasoning. To provide opportunities for students to successfully respond to such…

Many schools are beginning to use Response to Intervention (RTI) in the classroom, and educators have found that it has made a difference for many students. The purpose of RTI is to identify those children who are struggling in school and to ensure that each of those children receive just the right instruction or intervention to be successful.…

Using a learning strategies approach, the article outlines specific procedures to promote acquisition and generalization of learning strategies in LD adolescents. First, students are taught a specific strategy in isolation before being asked to apply it to controlled materials and later, to transfer the strategy to regular class content. (Author)

This article argues that teachers need instructional techniques that do not simply water down content learning for students with disabilities, but are effective. It describes one research-based teaching technique, Content Enhancement and the Unit Organizer Routine, and illustrates instructional procedures, offers practical tips, and cites…

The changing job market requires a sophisticated array of literacy skills that adolescents with learning disabilities reading below grade level have not yet acquired. This summary of the research on reading comprehension highlights emerging findings and related instructional conditions necessary to achieve optimal student outcomes with limited…

This study determined the effects of the Explicit Inquiry Routine (EIR), a teaching routine, on the math performance of 14 middle-school students with math learning disabilities. The routine integrates validated mathematical teaching practices from general education (inquiry, dialogue) and special education (intensive, explicit instruction) to…

The University of Kansas Institute for Research in Learning Disabilities has designed and validated a set of task-specific learning strategies to teach mildly disabled students "how to learn" so they can more effectively cope with increased curriculum expectations. (Author/CL)

The author's findings about the effects of learning disabilities on adolescents are detailed according to four major areas (sample subtopics in parentheses): academic achievement and ability (low achievement and underachievement); cognitive processing (relationship between motivation and strategy use); setting demands (independent functioning);…

For the past 16 years, the University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning has worked with teachers to help students with disabilities succeed in mainstream secondary classrooms. A two-pronged approach involving strategic learning and content enhancements is the result. Teachers organize content into a user-friendly format, consider which…

While most efforts in programing for learning disabled adolescents have been directed to the content of instructional offering, the authors identify procedures to promote acquisition and generalization of skills. Exemplified within a learning strategies model, the procedures outlined here stress acquisition of specific strategies through learning…

Historically, most of the professional literature in the field as well as federal funding initiatives in research and program development have been directed at younger students with learning disabilities (LD). The prevailing assumption (or hope) has been that if intervention took place at a young age, many of the manifestations of the learning…

This study examined the effectiveness of a Question Exploration Routine and associated graphic organizer for enhancing the performance of students of diverse abilities when assessed on knowledge and comprehension of content and quality of written responses. Participants were 36 students with and without learning disabilities (LD) in Grades 9…

The strategies instructional approach developed at the University of Kansas Institute for Research in Learning Disabilities is described. The approach teaches students strategies in the academic, social, motivational, and executive functioning areas that will enable students to meet content learning demands and modifies instructional environments…