Twelve seventh- and eighth-grade students with emotional disturbance participated in a multiple probe, multiple baseline design two-phase intervention study to improve persuasive writing skills. The first phase after baseline taught students to plan and write persuasive essays including counterarguments. In the second phase, students were taught…

This study investigated the effects of alternative narration, highlighted text, picture/word-based captions, and interactive video searching features for improving comprehension of nonfiction academic video clips by students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (ID/DD). Combined multiple baselines across participants and alternating…

This investigation compared quantitative outcomes associated with class-wide peer tutoring using differentiated hands-on activities vs. teacher-directed instruction for students with mild disabilities in inclusive 8th-grade science classes. Thirteen classes of 213 students (109 males; 104 females), of whom 44 were classified with disabilities,…

This article discusses the challenges faced by a first-year special education teacher at a public high school. Challenges included issues such as behavior management, deciding what to teach, scheduling and time, working with a paraprofessional, collaboration and mainstreaming versus inclusion, paperwork and meetings, and training and support.…

This study compared the effects of comprehension fostering strategies on science and social studies texts with 54 eighth-grade students with learning disabilities. Strategies included text-structure-based strategy, paragraph-restatement strategy, and traditional instruction. Text-structure-based reading strategies had a significant effect on…

Evaluation of a sequenced inquiry learning task with 20 normally achieving junior high students, 18 students with learning disabilities (LD), and 16 with mild mental retardation (MR) found 75 percent of the normal, 50 percent of the LD, but none of the MR students made the correct induction. LD and MR students were less likely to answer…

Gifted and nongifted students (n=96) in grades five-six were assigned to a free-study or one of three mnemonic conditions for learning mineral hardness levels. Both ability groups learned more in mnemonic conditions, and gifted students demonstrated an ability superior to nongifted students in employing mnemonic strategies independently in…

The synthesis of 18 single subject research studies on early intervention for socially withdrawn children indicated that reinforcement and measurement of targeted socially interactive behaviors showed the largest effects, with some treatment (such as unreinforced modeling of behavior) showing little effect. There was little evidence for skill…

Two experiments comparing the effectiveness of direct versus mnemonic instruction in teaching learning-disabled high school students (N=56) and educable mentally retarded junior high school students (N=8) about the hardness of minerals indicated that students taught with the mnemonic pictorial method substantially outperformed direct instruction…

This response to five case studies of inclusive practices for elementary students with learning disabilities evaluates the studies by standards that require prioritized objectives, adapted methods and materials, effective teacher presentation, and systematic monitoring. It finds that the case studies show shortcomings in all areas, which appeared…

The paper presents a research-based case for mnemonic instruction with mildly disabled students, and recommends learning tasks, designs, and implementation formats. Evolution of the research, from theory-driven laboratory research to long-term classroom applications, is described. Recommendations are offered for further research. (Author/JDD)

Findings of experimental and qualitative research on construction of science knowledge by students with mild disabilities are reported. Both lines of research indicate these students are able to construct scientific knowledge using scientific methods, positive outcomes are associated with implementation of teacher effectiveness variables, and…

The paper reviews the use of pictorial mnemonic strategies as an instructional tool for nonhandicapped and handicapped learners. Recent research has indicated that mildly handicapped learners can successfully employ fairly complex mnemonic strategies, and mnemonic strategies can be adapted to many different content areas. (Author/CL)