This article was written as a response to Ayres, Lowrey, Douglas, and Sievers (2011) who commented on the degree to which promoting the teaching of functional skills had a higher probability of leading to a more independent life for students with severe disabilities. In doing so, the authors take issue with the use of a standards-based curriculum…

The effects of two systematic methods of phonics instruction for children with significant cognitive disability were compared. Fifty-two participants, aged 5-12 years were randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups: (i) a synthetic phonics instruction, (ii) an analogy phonics instruction group, and (iii) a control group. Participants in…

The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness and efficiency of teacher-directed and computer-assisted constant time delay strategies for teaching three students with moderate intellectual disability to read functional sight words. Target words were those found in recipes and were taught via teacher-delivered constant time delay or…

This study assessed the effectiveness of a three-step cognitive strategy (TIP) for calculating tip and total bill for young adults with intellectual disability. In the context of pre- and post-test nonequivalent-groups design, 10 students from a postsecondary education program for individuals with disabilities participated in the study. A teacher…

Students with moderate intellectual disability experience a lack of comparable access to literature as compared to their nondisabled peers (Browder et al., 2009; Kliewer, 1998). Problems in access for many of these students may be attributed to low expectations and inadequate support on behalf of students as well as a lack of sufficient literacy…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of grade-aligned math instruction on math skill acquisition of four middle schools with moderate intellectual disability. Teachers were trained to follow a task analysis to teach grade-aligned math to middle school students using adapted math problem stories and graphic organizers. The teacher…

Effective practices in student data collection and implementation of data-based instructional decisions are needed for all educators, but are especially important when students have severe intellectual and developmental disabilities. Although research in the area of data-based instructional decisions for students with severe disabilities shows…

A modified pre/posttest control group design was used to measure the effectiveness of video modeling on the maintenance of vocational tasks for six students with autism spectrum disorder and/or developmental disabilities. Each student was assigned two vocational tasks at their employment settings and their independence with each task was measured…

The purpose of this investigation was to add functional content during core content instruction of language arts, science, and math. The investigation involved three middle school students with moderate disabilities who participated in the state's alternate assessment. During instruction using a constant time delay procedure to teach required…

Active student responding (ASR) has been shown to be an effective way to improve the mathematical skills of students. One specific method of ASR is the use of response cards. In this study, a system of least prompts combined with response cards was used to increase mathematical knowledge, and number identification, of three elementary students…

We evaluated the addition of stimuli after the praise statement of a trial (instructive feedback) in which the stimuli were not attached sequentially to the target stimuli. All students reached criterion level responding of target behaviors despite the extra information presented, and three of four high school students with disabilities acquired…

Self-operated video prompting and video modeling was compared when used by three secondary students with mild intellectual disabilities as they completed novel recipes during cooking activities. Alternating between video systems, students completed twelve recipes within their classroom kitchen. An alternating treatment design with a follow-up and…

Errorless learning is an instructional approach designed to eliminate and/or reduce the number of errors students produce in traditional trial-and-error approaches (Mueller, Palkovic, & Maynard, 2007). Various response prompting strategies are employed to produce errorless learning. Simultaneous prompting is an errorless learning strategy that…

Children with autism are at-risk for poor literacy outcomes and have the right to learn literacy skills. Despite this, students with autism often may be perceived as not ready for literacy instruction. This study focused on teaching alphabet skills to young children with autism. Two instructional conditions were compared, traditional teacher-led…

A structured intervention package including direct, scaffolded, instructional lessons was implemented using an error correction learning system and a picture book-based phonological and phonemic awareness activity for four participants with complex communication needs, ranging from 12 to 15 years, in a junior high school setting. Although…