Describes strategies educators, schools, and communities can use to improve the learning capacity of neurologically impaired students exposed to chronic violence and neglect. Includes a description of the behavior of children who are affected by ongoing violence. (PKP)

An outcomes-based assessment instrument was devised to screen patients for learning problems that would impede patient education in cardiac rehabilitation. Criteria for seven barriers were established: hearing, language, cultural, religious, vision, cognitive, emotional). Points of data collection and a rationale for collection were identified.…

In addition to being a neighborhood school, Stonewall Jackson Elementary is the site of the Dallas, Texas, school system's program for the deaf. Proposes that students' high scores in standardized tests can be attributed to the techniques used for the deaf children that contribute to the success of the other students. (MLF)

Basic information about epilepsy is provided for special education teachers. Epilepsy is seen as primarily a symptom and is not, by itself, a reason for special education placement. Epilepsy may, however, also occur in cases where learning difficulties are the sequelae of generalized brain damage. (DB)

Teachers from 20 schools in Spring Independent School District in Houston, Texas, are attempting to solve students' learning difficulties by using a study-team process. Teams are changing instructional practices to motivate students to read, addressing individual student cases to improve language expression, and assessing different methods to help…

Found that, after extracting an arithmetic problem from a real situation and working out an answer, 6- to 12-year-olds with learning difficulties in math were unable to reapply the answer to the situation. Also found that the children, in a hypothetical situation, were unable to use token money, or to do calculations on paper or with an electronic…

Learning clinics provide opportunities for teachers to diagnose adult-learner needs one-on-one within a learning culture designed to develop independent learners. Critical elements include teacher role and behavior, use and purpose of language used, and method of decision making. (SK)

One of a series of letters to parents of children with developmental apraxia of speech, this letter discusses other problems associated with the disorder including language development problems, academic problems, motor skill problems, and chewing and swallowing difficulties. An annotated bibliography of two further readings for parents is…

This paper describes a schoolwide staff development model based on a proactive instructional approach to solving problem behavior. Discussion focuses on comparison with traditional models of staff development, reactive approaches to school discipline, and students with diverse learning and behavioral histories. (DB)

Investigates forms of logical thinking in 75 students from three fifth-grade classes. Uses as instruments categorical and propositional syllogisms with unknown, doubtful, and contradictory facts. Shows relevant differences among the three classes, with increasing difficulties at resolution between the categorical and propositional syllogisms.…

England's Teacher Training Agency interviewed 20 mainstream and special school teachers on 4 aspects of a standard for special education teachers. Responses suggest that national standards might be effective means of teacher and pupil development but also reflect a concern that creativity and flair in teaching might be affected. (DLH)

The metabolic versatility of bacteria is a source of learning difficulty for students in classical microbiology courses. To facilitate the learning process, the authors developed an advance organizer. It consists of a set of six diagrams of metabolic pathways describing the basic living requirements of several types of bacteria: energy, carbon…

This review surveys the empirical literature for assessments of learning problems in children from a neuropsychological perspective. An evaluation of children with learning problems must consider measures of working memory, attention, executive function, and comprehension (listening and written), particularly for children who do not respond to…

The provision of appropriate accessible or easy information has been recognized as a right for people with learning difficulties (Department of Health 2001a). However, there is a large and growing group of people with learning difficulties whose needs cannot be met by the use of techniques such as short sentences and appropriate pictures or…

An evaluation of two pilot projects of inclusion of students from special schools for moderate and severe learning difficulties in mainstream primary and secondary schools in south-west England stimulated the development of a methodology and tools to measure levels and quality of inclusive activity. The unresolved theoretical debate about what…