Discusses the effects of mastery learning and criterion-referenced grading schemes on student memory and motivation to succeed. Indicates that such programs are effective in college level developmental education programs. Provides suggestions for establishing criterion-referenced grading schemes, including several variants of mastery grading…

Teachers of 41 students with reading difficulties and learning disability/emotional disturbance tracked student progress toward reading goals using curriculum-based measurement techniques. Students did not increase their academic self-concept or awareness of the teacher's involvement or interactions with them but were more knowledgeable about…

Seven fables were read to 14 average learners and 14 children with learning disabilities (ages 10-13), and 4 possible moral choices were presented (1 correct, 1 related, and 2 incorrect). Children with learning disabilities less often selected the correct moral; and when they did, they were less capable of explaining their choice. (Author/JDD)

Twenty-one children (ages 6-15) with Tourette's syndrome completed an educational battery. Seventy-five percent had problems with spelling and writing, 50% had difficulty with calculations, and 25% had difficulty with word identification and reading comprehension. Visual-motor defects were common. (Author/DB)

These thoughts, by the author of a paper (EC 611 426) on having students self-record their success in meeting teachers' expectancies, examine the role of theory in guiding research and practice and the replicability of research on self-management behaviors in various special-needs populations. (DB)

Sixty-one adolescents with learning disabilities received clear or unclear instructions from an adult before completing the Rorschach Arrangement Task and a test of abstract thinking. Adolescents receiving clear communication performed significantly better and used more efficient cognitive strategies than did adolescents in the unclear…

Special education is under fire from within and without. Full inclusionists and detracking advocates want to abolish all "separatist" special education settings and "unjust" disability categories, tests, and placements; politicians and school administrators deplore special education's high costs. However, mainstreaming efficacy…

This review of 38 studies on spelling interventions designed for students with learning disabilities who are poor spellers found that nearly all "systematic" techniques can be effectively employed. Study interventions consisted of four types: instructional procedures (such as imitation modeling and analogy training), computer-assisted instruction,…

In a simulation, the lesioning of a connectionist model that maps orthographic inputs onto semantic features produces several counterintuitive behaviors that are also shown by acquired-dyslexic patients. The similarity strengthens the suggestion that the connectionist approach captures a key aspect of human cognitive processing. (SLD)

This study examined whether Texas students who are gifted and learning disabled are being identified for gifted programs. Survey results from gifted program coordinators (n=386) showed that few school districts (n=75) selected gifted children with learning disabilities for gifted programs. Fewer districts reported identification of these students…

Discusses the application of the Montessori method to the education of children with disabilities, focusing on various disabilities and techniques that can be used with all special-needs children and Maria Montessori's work with children with disabilities. (MDM)

This study examined the effectiveness of matching 82 secondary students (learning disabled, remedial, and nondisabled) to differential levels of study guides. The study evaluated two treatment conditions (multilevel study guides containing different levels of referential cues, and single-level study guides without referential cues), used in…

Computer application of Curriculum-Based Measurement is presented as a methodology capable of linking student performance and instructional decision making. A case study with a fifth grade learning-disabled student and mathematics illustrates how CBM with computerized feedback systems can be used to systematically implement effective teaching…

This article presents strategies, including communicative reading strategies, to facilitate holistic language learning in young children with language and learning disorders. Strategies include pairing oral and written language and using preparatory sets, semantic maps, flowcharts, and theme building. An example of narrative discourse demonstrates…

Two groups of children (n=107, ages 6-14) who had recovered from meningitis were compared. Children who had sustained neurologic complications during their illness had a lower mean Performance Intelligence Quotient and performed less well on perceptually demanding neuropsychological tasks than did "uncomplicated" children. (Author/JDD)