The study found that a curriculum which incorporated three empirically derived principles of curriculum design (e.g., use of a wide range of examples to illustrate each concept) was significantly more effective than a basal approach in teaching fractions concepts to 40 low-performing or learning-disabled high school students. (Author/DB)

Hierarchical analysis of a test battery of sentence span, preload, and concurrent memory demand tasks was used to identify subgroups of children with different patterns of memory function. For each subgroup, performance strengths and weaknesses were related to reading, mathematics, and spelling performance. (Author/DB)

Adolescents (n=25) with learning disabilities were randomly assigned to either mnemonic conditions or experimenter-directed rehearsal conditions and individually taught difficult vocabulary words, half abstract and half concrete. Results included higher scores on both recall and comprehension tests by mnemonically trained students for both…

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…

Examined relationship among Conners Teacher Rating Scale, Revised Conners Parent Rating Scale, Revised Behavior Problem Checklist, and Freedom-from-Distractibility (FD) factor score of Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised for 135 children and adolescents referred to learning disabilities clinic. Results appear to corroborate evidence…

Thirteen children (age 8-14) with an auditory-linguistic subtype of learning disability participated for 1 year in a Tomatis Program of auditory training and were assessed in a 2-year follow-up study. Results fail to support educational efficacy of the program but do support the efficacy of less exotic remedial procedures. (Author/JDD)

Strategies for establishing and maintaining an effective vocational assessment program for students with learning disabilities involve highlighting the school motivation and career planning connection, securing administrative support, conducting a needs assessment, communicating goals, maintaining open communication with school personnel,…

The study compared responses to the Wide Range Interest Opinion Test of 77 mentally retarded, 97 learning-disabled, and 30 low-achieving alternative education middle-school and high-school students. Findings suggested significant differences in vocational motivation between mentally retarded and non-retarded students. (DB)

The prevalence of communication disorders in a population of 242 children with learning disabilities between 8 and 12 years of age was determined. A speech, language, or hearing problem was exhibited by 96.2 percent of the children. Only six percent of the children were considered to be receiving appropriate services. (Author/DB)

A spelling program was devised for learning-disabled students, using elements from "Signs for Sounds," the Cloze method, and "Auditory Discrimination In-Depth." Day-by-day use of the program involves drawing word pictures, spelling the words with tiles and blocks, writing on the board, using the words in written sentences, spelling bees, etc. (JDD)

Twelve teaching strategies are suggested to help learning-disabled students learn to evaluate their writing skills. Checklists for scoring writing samples and for self-evaluation are included. (DB)

Four alternative strategies to enhance learning-disabled students' learning and improve their self-concept include creative writing, peer tutoring, creative teaching, and behavior modification. (DB)

Examined the level of depressive symptomatology in 100 learning-disabled and normal fourth through sixth grade students, using the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI) and behavior ratings by classroom teachers. Significant positive correlations were found between learning-disabled students and CDI scores and between CDI scores and teacher…

Analysis of responses of 107 college faculty members to a questionnaire assessing faculty willingness to make accommodations for learning-disabled students found that, in general, faculty were willing to provide such accommodations. Education faculty responded more positively than did faculty of the College of Business and College of Arts and…

The question of realistic expectations for achievement growth for learning disabled students is discussed. The controversy among previous authors is caused by the acceptance of unsupported claims about interval scales, and not by the explicit definition of realism and fairness, which can fix a growth expectation. (SLD)