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)

Explains how meta-analysis can be used to estimate the effectiveness of various teaching strategies in special education and related services. Identifies specific interventions with combined effect sizes that indicate either effectiveness (such as mnemonic strategies, enhancing reading comprehension), promise of effectiveness (stimulant drugs,…

Discusses the use of bibliotherapy with students having disabilities. Provides an annotated bibliography of 27 books that address abuse and neglect, anger, differences, and families. (DB)

This annotated bibliography describes literature for children that addresses issues concerned with developmental disabilities. The 15 references are grouped into those for children in prekindergarten through grade three and those for children in grades four through eight. (DB)

Explores the role of computer technology in facilitating communication and problem solving among teachers within a school. Describes "Instruction CoPlanner," a software network package which takes a team of educators through a systematic process of planning, decision making, implementation, and evaluation. (DB)

A study of homework strategies with regular and special education elementary school teachers led to guidelines concerning development of innovative homework assignments, use of a homework planner, teaching of study skills, and ways of involving parents and encouraging peer support. (DB)

Offers guidelines for a homework assignment in which parents and children collaborate to construct a "personal timeline" of the child's life. Suggestions are offered regarding the introduction of timelines, timeline topics and strategies, timelines as advance organizers, and other ways to use timelines in the curriculum. Research on connecting…