This article presents the techniques of a special education teacher who practiced effective scaffolded instruction. A case study illustrates use of scaffolded instruction to break the failure cycle and such techniques as establishing a shared goal, actively diagnosing the learner's understandings and needs, providing tailored assistance, giving…

Promoting the idea that teachers can make sophisticated diagnostic judgments and can identify appropriate instructional techniques, this book delineates the process of diagnostic teaching so that teachers can make such judgments and identify such techniques. The book is designed to supplement course work in the diagnosis and remediation of reading…

This paper describes the early childhood special educator's use of the Five P's (Parent/Professional Preschool Performance Profile), a new assessment tool by Judith Bloch, developed by the Variety Preschooler's Workshop (Syosset, New York) for use with children with emotional and developmental disorders functioning on a preschool level. The Five…

Traditional reading placement tests, determining the level at which students can read without teacher mediation, frequently lead to student underplacement. Diagnostic teaching practices, however, can be used to determine students' emergent reading level, the reading level that can be achieved through instruction. After preteaching part of a…

The second in a series of manuals on adults with learning disabilities, the booklet covers assessment techniques. The nature of assessment as an ongoing process is stressed, and the role of observation (both systematic and nonsystematic) and interview data are discussed. A seven-step evaluation sequence is proposed, with the major goal of…

Intended for use by New York City special education teachers with little or no experience serving students with dual sensory impairments as well as cognitive disabilities, the manual identifies teaching strategies that are easy to implement yet based on direct experience and the current research. Chapter titles and sample topics include the…

Two major topic areas related to the affective half of prescriptions in mathematics are explored. The first area focuses on stationary or general information about motivation which provides an important backdrop as a prelude to formulating useful individual affective prescriptions. Several observations about stationary motivational variables…

The importance of diagnostic testing for appropriate student placement at open door colleges is discussed, along with approaches to upgrade teacher skills. It is suggested that colleges typically select students who are skilled and motivated enough to acquire knowledge by the approaches currently offered, and that colleges thus act as screeners…

The guide was intended for use by teachers of learning disabled students involved in assessment procedures. A philosophical framework, in which assessment is viewed in the ongoing team process, is followed by review of Wisconsin's rules on the identification of learning disabilities. A report format is presented as an outline for consolidating…

Research on the analysis of time-series data has shown that decisions reached through visual analysis of the data may be influenced by the statistical parameters of those data. The current study investigated the statistical properties of curriculum-based time-series data for 68 elementary resource room students in four Minnesota school districts.…

Myths often associated with behavioral disorders are examined, and for each myth, strategies that can be implemented by teachers and systems to dispell the myths are identified. It is suggested that the myth that parents caused the child to be behaviorally disordered (BD) can interfere with the child's programing and growth and effective…

A prereferral intervention program was instituted: to ensure that children within a Head Start program who had special needs were identified and referred in a timely manner; to prevent the mistaken referral or labeling of children with mild delays who did not require intervention; and to increase the effectiveness of the existing referral system.…

The manual is designed to help teachers develop effective and efficient individual educational plans for severely handicapped children. Initial sections explain the four major parts of educational programing (short- and long-term objectives, an instructional plan, and a means of monitoring progress) and the importance of a problem-oriented system.…

This article describes an approach to modifying science students' alternative conceptions of physical phenomena by means of diagnostic and remedial microcomputer programs designed in accord with a model of conceptual change. Current applications of microcomputers are discussed, including numerical work, drill and testing, tutorials, simulation,…

This paper raises a series of questions about the nature of classroom instruction, in general, and about mathematics and reading instruction in the lower elementary school grades, in particular. It focuses on such aspects of the social organization of instruction as (1) the diversity of student populations, (2) the motivating force behind…