The author explains that readiness measures should collect data about pupil's entering behavior for instructional objectives or programs, that the criterion of relevance in entering behavior must be met, and that problems arise when there is no consensus on prerequisite entering behavior. (Author/CL)

This article describes an instrument for diagnosing shorthand learning problems, with an outline of diagnostic activities and a student score sheet, and describes prescriptive activities to aid in solving or overcoming shorthand learning problems. Includes suggestions for improving reading rate, transcription, and dictation. (CT)

The author describes unorthodox techniques that she uses when conventional spelling rules fail to help her students to spell certain words correctly: exaggerated pronunciation, unconventional syllabication, and emphasis on root words. (SJL)

Discusses student learning difficulties linked to visual disorders such as dyslexia and amblyopia, problems associated with current school vision-screening procedures, and recommendations to improve preschool and in-school vision-screening practices with an emphasis on early, regular, and comprehensive eye examinations. (PKP)

Children with mild learning difficulties (MLD) who had not developed conservation of number, length, weight, and volume worked on conservation problems. MLD children who worked on the problems with another child who challenged their nonconserving responses made more progress on the problems than did MLD children who worked on the problems in…

Underpinning the technical gaze that dominates learning disabilities theory and practice is the assumption that learning disabilities are a pathology that resides in the heads of individual students, with the corollary that remedial efforts also focus on what goes on in the heads of students classified as learning disabled. This article begins…

This study examined achievement, neuropsychological, and intervention outcomes at a mean age of 11 years in children with very low birthweight (VLBW, < 1,500 g) compared with a term-born control group. To assess the prevalence and correlates of specific learning disabilities (LD), the sample was limited to children without neurosensory disorders…

Melanie Smart is a research associate at Sunfield School, Worcestershire, and a trainee clinical psychologist. In this article, she reports the results of a small-scale survey which looked at the views of 17 parents whose children with severe and/or complex learning difficulties had made the transition from a residential special school to an adult…

The double-deficit model has been examined primarily in relation to reading. We investigated whether children classified according to the double-deficit model would exhibit differences in other neuropsychological domains. Children referred for learning problems (N = 188), ages 7 to 11, were classified by double-deficit subtype. Only three of the…

Response to intervention (RTI) is a decision-making process for (1) identifying gaps between current and desired results; (2) designing, implementing, and revising interventions; (3) matching the degree of educational needs to the intensity of interventions; and (4) implementing interventions at multiple tiers. The process can be applied to…

This guide for teachers is a companion piece to the meta-analysis from the Center on Instruction, "Mathematics Instruction for Students with Learning Disabilities or Difficulty Learning Mathematics: A Synthesis of the Intervention Research". Based on the findings of this report, seven effective instructional practices were identified for teaching…

The purpose of this study was to examine uncertainty orientation and its relations with school and psychological adjustment in Chinese children. A sample of elementary school children in P.R. China, aged 10 to 12 years, participated in the study. Data concerning uncertainty orientation, academic performance and socio-emotional adjustment were…

This longitudinal study investigated the academic and cognitive characteristics of persistent mathematics difficulty (MD-p) from first to fourth grade. Ninety-nine children were retrospectively categorized into one of three groups: MD-p, transient mathematics difficulty (MD-t), or typically developing. MD-p was defined as persistently low…

The rejection of pupils with behaviour problems is a serious problem for inclusive education schools. Sometimes parents prefer special schools because they do not want their children to become outsiders in integration classes. Are they right? The study presented here surveys children with behaviour problems in integrated primary school classes and…

Models are often used when teaching science. In this paper historical models and students' ideas about genetics are compared. The historical development of the scientific idea of the gene and its function is described and categorized into five historical models of gene function. Differences and similarities between these historical models are made…