This study provides insight into the cognition of expert content area teachers with specialized knowledge in teaching literacy to students with learning disabilities (LD), with the purpose of developing an understanding of expertise in teaching literacy in the content areas to secondary students with LD. This study used hermeneutic phenomenology to explore teachers' perceptions of teaching secondary students with LD literacy within their content areas, answering the question: How do expert secondary content area teachers conceptualize teaching literacy in their content area with students with learning disabilities? Using three different interviews: an initial interview, a think-aloud interview, and an elicitation interview, the researcher obtained experiential descriptions from the participants. Following a modified model of van Manen's (1984) method of phenomenology, the researcher engaged in an analysis from which descriptions of the teacher's lived experiences were derived, reflecting how they conceptualized their instruction, their framework for teaching. The teachers' frameworks included their conceptualizations of: (a) developing literacy skills with an eye toward the future; (b) understanding students' learning disabilities; and (c) designing instruction to further students learning. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]