Learning Disabilities Teachers Research Articles

Perspective from the other Side: A Message of Hope for Learning Disability Teachers and Students

I am a learning disabled adult deeply concerned about the education of atypical children in general and the learning handicapped in particular. Now in my early thirties, I entered the school system before enactment of state and federal legislation mandating equal access to public education for the handicapped. Although great strides have been made since special education and learning disabilities were neophyte disciplines, glaring inequities remain. My purpose in writing this essay is to use my experience within and outside the educational system to reflect upon the distance we have traveled and the difficult path we still must traverse. Additionally, I will offer hope and encouragement to both teachers of the learning disabled and their students in the form of valid avenues of improvement.

Does Theory Guide Teaching Practice?

In the last several years, variations of the information processing model (i.e., cognitive strategies) have been a major theoretical force in the field of learning disabilities. The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which such a model guides instructional practice. Results showed that (a) strategy and metacognitive instruction is infrequent in teacher-child interactions, (b) a behavioral paradigm captures most teacher-child interactions, (c) what teachers say and do is discrepant, and (d) learning disability teachers have more frequent verbal questions and directives toward children than do regular classroom teachers, but the content of teacher-child verbal behavior varies minimally between the two types of classroom settings. The results were discussed in terms of the validity of laboratory findings and “everyday” classroom instruction.

Specialists' Use of Tests and Clinical Judgment in the Diagnosis of Learning Disabilities

The purposes of this study were to determine (a) which tests are most frequently used in the identification of learning disabilities, (b) how knowledgeable specialists are about the technical properties of the tests, (c) how knowledgeable professionals are about interpreting discrepancy scores, and (d) what practices are used to safeguard valid diagnoses when psychometrically inadequate tests are used clinically. A representative sample of learning disabilities teachers (n = 542), school psychologists (n = 130), and speech/language teachers (n = 179) in Colorado was selected and surveyed by questionnaire. Although subjects generally preferred tests with higher reliability and validity, poor tests were still used frequently even when superior substitutes were available. All groups of specialists tended to overrate the tests they used, and generally indicated a lack of familiarity with the psychometric properties of commonly used tests. Although a majority of specialists valued clinical judgment over test scores for diagnosis, substantial numbers appeared to lack knowledge of procedures to ensure the validity of such judgments. One-third to one-half of each specialist group could not correctly interpret ability-achievement score discrepancies.

Relationships between self-esteem, anxiety, and achievement in young learning disabled students.

This study investigates the relationships between both the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory and the Sarason General Anxiety Scale for Children and the Peabody Individual Achievement Test (subtests of Mathematics, Reading Recognition, and General Information). Eighty-eight kindergarten through sixth-grade learning disabled children placed in the regular classroom with resource help were tested individually by a certified learning disabilities teacher. Pearson product-moment coefficients of correlation between all variables were determined for the total sample and for each sex. Significant relationships were found between (a) self-esteem and Mathematics, Reading Recognition, and General Information achievement scores for the total group and females, (b) self-esteem and Reading Recognition and General Information achievement scores for males, (c) general anxiety and General Information achievement scores for the total group and for males (negative direction), and (d) general anxiety and self-esteem for the total group and males (negative direction).

Similarities among diagnostic and prescriptive decisions made by reading specialists and LD, Title 1, and fourth-grade teachers.

This study was designed to compare the diagnostic and prescriptive decisions made by reading specialists, learning disabilities teachers, Title 1 teachers, and classroom teachers about a child experiencing difficulty in reading. The subjects' responses were recorded on a questionnaire and then analyzed for similarity to determine whether or not they identified similar reading skill weaknesses and instructional needs of the child, and whether or not they prescribed similar reading programs for the remediation of the skill weaknesses. Results were that the subjects made very similar diagnostic and prescriptive decisions with the exception of establishing the child's instructional reading level. In this case, the reading specialists and LD and Title 1 teachers tended to recommend easier instructional materials for the child than the classroom teachers recommended.

Certification Requirements for Secondary Learning Disabilities Teachers a National Survey

Certification Requirements for Secondary Learning Disabilities Teachers a National Survey

Causes of Burnout in SLD Teachers

The study investigated self-reported causes of stress of specific learning disabilities (SLD) teachers. Six job-related factors of stress were identified by a majority of the 173 subjects survey. It was concluded that many SLD teachers experience stress related to occupational activities. A further question explored the relationship of stress to the characteristics of age, sex, years of teaching experience, highest degree, and level of teaching. Results shewed a significant association only between educational background and one stress factor.

LD Teachers' Perceptions of Severely Learning Disabled Students

Questionnaires completed by 223 elementary and secondary learning disability teachers were analyzed for information about teachers' perceptions of the incidence and characteristics of severely learning disabled (SLD) and mild-to-moderately learning disabled (MLD) students. Incidence figures for other handicapping conditions represented in learning disability classrooms were also determined. Findings showed that the SLD and MLD groups differed significantly on 40 of the original 44 questionnaire items. Items were clustered into 12 factors. Results of a discriminant analysis showed that three of the twelve factors correctly classified 82.7% of the SLD and 84.1% of the MLD elementary-aged students. At the secondary level, the final stepwise function contained only one factor. This factor correctly classified 89.2% of the SLD and 86.5% of the MLD students. Overall, the most significant factor for both elementary- and secondary-aged SLD students dealt with the need for one-to-one instruction and alternative curricula in addition to the existence of extreme discrepancies between students' apparent intelligence and achievement. Diagnostic and instructional implications as well as suggestions for further study are discussed.

An in-service program for secondary learning disabilities teachers.

An in-service program for secondary learning disabilities teachers.

Criteria for Mainstreaming the Learning Disabled Child into the Regular Classroom

There has been little research dealing with the criteria to be used in determining a learning disabled child's readiness for mainstreaming. School psychologists, learning disabilities teachers, regular class teachers, and learning disabilities supervisors were asked to rate the importance of a set of 41 criteria developed for use in this study. The findings indicated that professionals in the field can agree on the relative importance of a set of criteria for mainstreaming.

SOS: follow-up support to beginning learning disabilities teachers.

W hen I graduated, I felt ready to handle an LD resource room. But I got a selfcontained class It's a very interesting situation and very different from what I expected; but we're getting along better all the time. Thanks for letting me know I could still come for help. You just can't learn everything before you graduate. -a first-year teacher

Teaching Secondary Learning Disabled Students to the Mainstream

Without effective cooperative planning between the learning disabilities teacher and the regular classroom teacher, the probability of successfully mainstreaming an LD adolescent into the regular classroom is greatly reduced. Cooperative planning is an educational programming and monitoring arrangement between special and regular educators on behalf of LD students. This article presents the thesis that a major part of the learning disabilities teacher's role is to assist the mainstream teacher in developing and implementing instructional alternatives. The authors delineate prerequisites for bringing about educational change in the mainstream and specify a sequence of steps for systematically creating change in the regular class on behalf of LD adolescents.

Implications of the Helping Relationship between Learning Disabled Students and their Teachers

Asking for and providing help is a critical issue in the relationship between the learning disabled student and the learning disabilities teacher. The usual concerns of demonstrating academic growth often overshadow some of the subtle, yet very real, effects of the relationship between the LD student and the LD teacher. Dyer discusses some highly significant factors that the LD teacher should be aware of when help is provided to the LD student. It is suggested that LD teachers have a responsibility to monitor their involvement with the LD student so as to develop a relationship that facilitates, rather than impedes, the student's overall growth and development.

Cooperative Communication Programming: A Partnership between the Learning Disabilities Teacher and the Speech-Language Pathologist

This paper summarizes specific ways in which speech-language pathologists and learning disabilities specialists can cooperate to provide necessary language services to children. Suggestions are outlined for implementing successful programs that capitalize on the competencies of both professionals.

Programs, Materials and Techniques

MASTER is a series of workbooks designed to help teach learning disability children basic arithmetic skills but it assumes at least a beginning second grade knowledge of math. Following this is a set of manuals on remedial activities from the Educational Services Center, Glens Falls, N. Y. In a field allied to the MASTER program (there is evidence that spatial ability underlies mathematical skills) is the book of Tangrams which contains 330 spatial problems. They are both valuable for training children as well as for motivating them. The Reading Readiness Program and Animal Stories are filmstrips (and in the latter instance, cassettes) which hold a lot of potential for future development. The readiness program can serve as a very good visual discrimination training series. Carrascolendas is a TV series designed with the special difficulties of Spanishspeaking children in mind. Please continue to send me novel programs and matcrials you'd like to share with other learning disability teachers. Mail them to Dr. Alex Bannatyne, Bannatyne Children's Learning Center, 6950 N. Kendall Drive, Miami, Fla. 33156.

Programs, Materials and Techniques

Secrets is a very unusual program. It supplies children with a kind of do-it-yourself kit of cassettes and diary (or log book) for personal development. It comes in two versions, individual or class. My own daughter Kate, aged nine years going on ten, thinks it's great. Primer for Perception is an excellent idea book by Beatrice Goldizer which can provide learning disability teachers with many detailed lesson plans. The exercises combine sound educational sense with good motivation. Structured Dramatics is a book I am keeping close at hand in our own school. We have always been enthusiastic about plays, film-making and dramatics but this account from the Kaliski school has inspired in us new attempts for the coming school year. Following in natural sequence is Shirley Linn's Teaching Phonics with Finger Puppets. With one puppet representing each phoneme, the children rapidly learn to identify and discriminate them in a relatively painless way. Much useful teaching advice is also contained in this little book. Victoria Sperry has neatly summarized a wealth of teaching material in her book, A Language Approach to Learning Disabilities. Moreover, I am most impressed with her organization of the material within such a logical psycholinguistic format. A natural complement to the above books is the Phonic Word Builder, a list of 3000 categorized words. This booklet will be most useful for creating lessons in a true developmental sequence. I have also commented on several books of teaching ideas from the Love Publishing Company. Note that all the above books are very modestly priced. Psychologists and some teachers will be interested in the Test of Concept Utilization and its manual, The Development of Concepts. I have reviewed the research which the authors carried out with learning disability children. The results are intriguing and may spur other researchers to extend the work in this field.

Programs, Materials and Techniques

The variety of programs papers, books and methods reviewed this month is as broad as ever. The set of readers complete with teacher's guides from Let's Save The Children. Inc. bring a novel breeziness to children's language and reading training. Though the books are inexpensive and terse, most children will revel in this interesting program. Eli Bower's book on identifying emotionally handicapped children is not new though this is a recently revised edition. However it is such an important book for “saving children” (this seems to be our theme this month) and for the mental health of society in general that every teacher, psychologist and administrator needs to read it carefully. Following an account of the Desk Tape Letter Lines is an excellent practical book on reading by Nina Traub, with Frances Bloom. It is highly recommended to all learning disability teachers. Rehabilitation of the Physically Handicapped is a fascinating and informative book which recounts in detail the nature of various physical disorders which plague the human race and which can make the childhood of many a time of misery, fear and pain. Finally I have written a short section for teachers on the learning problems of many highly gifted children. Watch for them and insure that they get the assistance they need to live happy productive lives.

Learning Disabilities or Instructional Problems?

The roles and functions of learning disability teachers will not be clearly defined until a more basic issue is resolved: namely, should teacher training conform to the traditional clinical or disease model, or should it be based on a natural science approach? Some of the implications for teacher training for each approach are discussed.

Communication Between Classroom Teachers and Learning-Disability Teachers

Communication Between Classroom Teachers and Learning-Disability Teachers