This paper stresses the importance of developing phonological awareness to foster reading skills in hearing and deaf learners. It reviews the research on stages in acquisition of phonological awareness and phonological awareness and deafness. Suggestions for phonological assessment of deaf students include use of formal and informal phonological…

Madison (Wisconsin) Area Technical College uses an individualized, multisensory, sequential approach to helping dyslexic people learn to read. Based on the Orton-Gillingham method, the approach emphasizes tactile/kinesthetic learning, helping students feel how sounds are made before reading and spelling them. (SK)

The article describes a data-based method by which teachers can differentiate motivational problems from learning problems and increase the academic performance of learners with mildly handicapping conditions. The method involves graphing work attempted and percentage correct, reinforcing work attempted, and analyzing performance data for…

The advantages of using interviews to diagnose children's needs are discussed. General interview strategies and specific questions for gaining insight into a student's understanding of the four operations are presented. (MNS)

This article describes the implementation in Brooklyn, New York, of the Diagnostic Testing and Prescriptive Instruction mathematics instruction model, which establishes the level of knowledge of each student and then offers instruction at the student's pace. Implementation involves teacher training, student selection, curriculum development, and…

Intervention with students having attention disorders must focus on specific identified needs. Sample behavioral and cognitive descriptors are listed to help teachers operationalize principles of diagnostic/prescriptive teaching and plan appropriate interventions. A variety of behavioral and academic interventions are briefly explained. (DB)

This article addresses the use of curriculum-based measurement (CBM) techniques within regular education settings. Specific CBM decision-making strategies in the areas of mathematics operations are described. Successful application of these strategies in 40 elementary classes, each with at least 1 student with a learning disability, is also…

The paper suggests that the current aptitude-treatment interaction approach to accommodating individual differences in special education has not been proved instructionally useful. Formative evaluation is offered as a promising alternative that addresses individual uniqueness rather than dimensionalized individual differences. (Author/DB)

Matrix organization can be used to construct math word problems for children with mild disabilities. Matrix organization specifies the characteristics of problems, such as problem theme or setting, operations, level of computation complexity, reading vocabulary level, and need for classification. A sample scope and sequence and 16 sample word…

The purpose of this article is to explore some research into teaching and learning algebra, and to consider related classroom issues. This leads to the development of diagnostic instruments that may be used by senior secondary teachers as students leave the middle years and embark on rigorous mathematical study. It also outlines an effective…

VEAP is an intensly personalized program that eases the handicapped students into what for them is a new environment, making them aware of their learning potential, and watching over them every step of the way through academic and vocational instruction into employment. (Author)

A computer program is given which will generate a list of descriptions of the items to which a student has responded incorrectly on the Keymath Diagnostic Arithmetic Test. It is designed for the TRS-80, Model III, with two disk drives. The documentation lists all required materials, describes the six options and how to use them, indicates the…

Before a course to improve basic reasoning skills can be intelligently designed, it will be necessary to determine the exact nature of those skills. Research indicates that: (1) reasoning skills are highly specific, not generalized; (2) a large number of different reasoning skills exist; (3) many reasoning skills are language dependent and widely…

This syllabus of a course taught at Indiana University Southeast treats the theory, correlates, instruments, and techniques of diagnosing reading difficulties in the classroom. The goals are to (1) identify principles of diagnosis; (2) review current reading tests, reading materials, and computer programs; (3) review current diagnostic test…

A model is described that was developed to train future learning disabilities specialists to select and execute diagnostic prescriptive strategies. A series of flowcharts depict the diagnostic-prescriptive model from point of referral, specifying steps for the process in language and readings. The sequence of tasks illustrate critical decisions…