Describes the use of photographs showing students engaging in appropriate behavior to prompt students to manage their own classroom behavior more effectively. The article gives examples of appropriate photographs and explains how to teach students to use the prompts. Inserts list photography resources and suggest classroom uses for digital…

Offers strategies and accommodations educators can use with students having attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), including examples of their application with a 10th-grade student. Suggestions address the ADHD-friendly environment, student organization, following directions, large group instruction, maintaining attention to seatwork,…

Explains two notetaking strategies used successfully by secondary school students with special needs in inclusive settings. One strategy, CALL UP, is for students to use while taking notes in class. The other, "A" NOTES, is for students to use for reviewing notes. In each case, each letter reminds students of a notetaking or note reviewing step.…

Stresses the importance of the development of phonemic awareness skills for students with reading difficulties. Research suggesting phonemic awareness may be a more powerful predictor for reading progress than IQ is noted. Insets offer specific phonological awareness assessment tasks and corresponding phonological awareness instructional tasks.…

Observations of open-ended activities in third- and fourth-grade classes identified six characteristics of such activities that can empower teachers and students. These include establishment of activity boundaries, importance of the teacher, risk-taking for teachers and students, negotiation of responsibilities, extended time frameworks, and…

Describes collaborative strategic reading (CSR), a technique for teaching students, such as those with learning disabilities, reading comprehension and vocabulary skills in a cooperative setting. Covers teaching the four strategies of CSR (preview, click and clunk, get the gist, and wrap up), as well as teaching students cooperative learning group…

Presents two self-correction spelling methods involving either letter-by-letter proofing or whole-word proofing. These methods are seen to be effective and offer benefits to students (faster learning), teachers (ease of implementation), and parents (who can implement the method at home). An insert summarizes methods in spelling instruction. (DB)

Encourages teachers to identify existing natural supports to assist students with disabilities in inclusive classrooms. Natural support categories and strategies include staff member roles, curriculum and instruction, time factors, space utilization, parents, and peers. The importance of the teacher's creativity in making inclusion work is…

Considers the management of student noncompliance with specific requests, commands, or directives. The importance of preventing escalation of simple noncompliance to intensely hostile confrontations is stressed. Guidelines for fostering compliance and reducing refusal responses include creating a responsive, cooperative classroom environment,…

This study uses a case study of a woman with profound mental retardation and severe cerebral palsy to illustrate uses of speech recognition systems to allow choice making and environmental manipulation that increase her sense of personal control and independence. Guidelines and recommendations for choosing a speech-recognition product and…

Uses a case study of a third-grade student with a severe learning disability and an attention deficit disorder to illustrate use of word prediction and speech synthesis software to help students with such tasks as communicating via dialog journals. Guidelines (such as using a relatively small word list) and evidence of the method's effectiveness…

Describes a set of three books on adapting instructional materials for use with special needs students. The books address: (1) an overview of curricular adaptations; (2) adaptation of reading and math materials for kindergarten through grade 5; and (3) adaptation of language arts, social studies, and science materials for grades 6 through 8. (DB)

This study investigated the relative influence on test anxiety of academic self-concept, cognitive interference (experience of task irrelevant thoughts), academic achievement, and study skills, with 82 adolescents with learning disabilities and behavior disorders. Results showed a positive relationship between test anxiety and cognitive…

Findings from the National Longitudinal Transition Study (NLTS) of Special Education Students indicate strong gains in the first five years after high school in the four outcome areas of employment, wages, postsecondary education, and residential independence. Outcomes differed widely by disability category, gender, ethnicity, and high school…

Performance on mathematics word problems was compared for 197 students (grades 3-8) with mild disabilities and 210 nondisabled students. Students with disabilities performed at significantly lower levels than typical students. Significant effects were also evident for grade and type of mathematical operation (addition, subtraction, multiplication,…