To evaluate teachers' knowledge about attention deficit disorders (ADHD), a questionnaire was distributed to 180 elementary teachers in a New Jersey district. Of 154 respondents, 128 (83%) indicated they had received negligible formal training in ADHD as undergraduates; only 3.9% had extensive training. A majority had recently taught at least six…

Measured performance changes on the Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement: Brief Form over a three-year retest interval. Learning-disabled students (n=52) were retested following 3 years of special education services. Results showed an average decrease of 3.33 points in Battery Composite, Math, Reading, and Spelling. Presents other results and…

Uses a question-and-answer format to assist professionals grappling with the meaning of inclusive school programs and their requirements. Provides information about the effectiveness of separate placements, full inclusion (normalization) goals, treatment of students with severe behavior problems, the role of pullouts and special education…

Reports on a survey investigating the use of dynamic assessment and other nontraditional techniques among school psychologists (N=226). Results indicated that 39% of respondents reported using dynamic assessment techniques once a year or more. The most frequently endorsed reasons for not using dynamic assessment were lack of knowledge and time…

Compared performance of 9-year-olds with arithmetic difficulties to that of age-matched and ability-matched controls on 10 tasks used to assess different aspects of working memory, including subtypes of executive function. Found deficits in executive and spatial aspects of working memory that seem likely to be important factors in poor…

This study investigated the differential effects of two problem-solving instructional approaches--schema-based instruction (SBI) and general strategy instruction (GSI)--on the mathematical word problem-solving performance of 22 middle school students who had learning disabilities or were at risk for mathematics failure. Results indicated that the…

Hanging onto kids who might otherwise leave school is the mission of the Options Complex at Margaret A. Ireland School in Cleveland. Options Complex is a program for students in grades 6-12 who are behind in school by two or more years. Much of the concern about dropout rates has focused on improving high schools. Experts say that struggling…

Helen May recently completed her doctoral studies at the University of Leeds. Her EdD thesis, written with the benefit of extensive experience of practice, focused on the engagement of children with learning difficulties in interactions in primary classrooms. In this article, Helen May draws on her familiarity with the literature to explore the…

A key element of producing easy information is working together with the target audience. This should mean that the information produced is easier for them to understand and more likely to make a difference to their lives. If possible it is good to work together with both "expert" or experienced information users and those who are new to the area.…

The perceptions of the student and lecturer regarding students' learning difficulties in physical chemistry are described. The learning difficulties of students from Turkey are compared to the difficulties of students from other countries.

In this study, children with strabismus, as a group, had significantly more academic and nonacademic difficulties than did children without strabismus. However, since not all the children with strabismus had academic difficulties, other factors that are associated with strabismus, such as headache, eyestrain, perceptual difficulties, and…

In this article, we provide an understanding of the term "numeracy" as it is used in Australia and a description of numeracy education in this country. In particular, we discuss the role of outcomes-based curriculum frameworks and outline the dominant teaching approaches. The focus is on students with learning difficulties and how they…

Investigates student understanding of energy and momentum concepts in introductory physics by designing and administering a 25-item, multiple-choice test and conducting individual interviews. Indicates that most students have difficulty in qualitatively interpreting basic principles related to energy and momentum and in applying them in physical…

Investigates physics students' understanding of vector addition, magnitude, and direction for problems presented in graphical form. Indicates that many students retained significant conceptual difficulties regarding vector methods that are heavily employed throughout the physics curriculum. (Author/KHR)

Maintaining therapeutic programmes for people with learning disabilities over long periods of time presents a major challenge to care systems as the limited and slow pace of client behavioural change is often insufficient to sustain staff behaviour. In this study, a 17-year-old young man with profound learning difficulties was successfully…