Nondisabled Students Research Articles

Comprehension by Learning-Disabled and Nondisabled Adolescents of Personal/Social Problems Presented in Text

Four groups of 14-year-olds, differing in reading level, learning disability status, and socioeconomic status, read and retold short problem narratives and answered questions. The pattern of reporting components of the problem schema (goal/obstacles/choices) differed for problems presented with or without a statement of the character's priority for action, suggesting that including priorities adds another level of information to the problem text and changes its macrostructure. Even the poorest readers showed this sensitivity to text structure. Three of the four measures of problem representation (idea units recalled, problem-schema components reported, and error rate) reflected overall reading ability. However, the degree to which extraneous information was incorporated into problem representations did not. Learning-disabled students made more importations, and more implausible importations, than did non-disabled students. Moreover, this pattern was associated with poor problem solving. Only proficient readers showed awareness of the source of the information (text or extratext) on which their predictions were based.

Casual interaction between college students with various disabilities and their nondisabled peers: The internal dialogue.

Thoughts and feelings about casual social interaction between nondisabled college students and peers with various physical disabilities were explored in a sample of 127 nondisabled, 17 visually impaired, 10 hearing impaired, and 19 wheelchair-us er college students. The results indicate that nondisabled students experienced more negative affect and thinking about interact- ing with students who have disabilities than with able-bodied peers; the nature of the disability made little difference. Thoughts and feelings of students with and without disabilities concerning interacting with able-bodied peers were generally similar. These findings suggest that difficulties between college students with and without disabilities during casual social interactions are due, primarily, to the nature of nondisabled individuals' cognitions and affect. Recommendations for future research and for the design of attitude change programming to facilitate interaction are made.

Facilitating Mainstreaming of Students with Behavioral Disorders Using Classwide Peer Tutoring

This study investigated the effects of classwide peer tutoring (CWPT) on the academic performance of students with behavioral disorders and the highest, middle, and lowest performing strata of nondisabled students in a regular education history class. Seven students with disabilities and 52 nondisabled high school students participated in the study. Results showed that CWPT was associated with increases in the individual test scores of the students with behavioral disorders and with statistically significant increases in the average test scores for the groups of highest, middle, and lowest achieving students. The students and the classroom teacher suggested continuing this program. Procedures were discussed for reducing the implementation costs of CWPT in high school settings.

Differences in Transitional Needs of High School Students With and Without Learning Disabilities

Studies investigating the post-high-school vocational status of individuals with disabilities have frequently found that these individuals are more likely to be unemployed, underemployed, or employed part-time, when compared to nondisabled peers. Transition programs are needed for adolescents with disabilities to facilitate their vocational success. The current study surveyed 80 high school students with learning disabilities (LD) and 80 nondisabled (NLD) peers to determine their transitional needs. Results indicated that (a) more students with LD than NLD students are involved in transition programs; (b) career goals were established by the majority of both groups; (c) parents provided most of the assistance in making career decisions; and (d) twice as many NLD students as students with LD wanted to go to college, while twice as many students with LD as NLD students wanted to enter the job market. More students with LD than NLD students were aware of vocational rehabilitation (VR) services, but the number was still below 50%. The majority of the information about VR services came from the school.

Effects of Repeated Readings on Instructional- and Mastery-Level Readers

AbstractResearch suggests that repeated readings increase fluency and improve recall for learning-disabled (LD) and nondisabled instructional-level readers. The purpose of this study was to establish the comparability of these effects for instructional- and mastery-level readers. Twenty-five LD students were matched on fluency and comprehension with 25 nondisabled students, as determined by performance on two screening passages. In both groups, 17 students read the screening passages at instructional level and 8 students read them at mastery level. All the subjects read two additional passages, one passage once and one three times. In final readings, measures of fluency and accuracy were obtained, and after each final reading, measures of recall were derived. These data were analyzed in 2 x 2 x 2 ANOVAs. Significant main effects were obtained for number of readings on all three measures, and for level on fluency and accuracy. A significant classification (LD or nondisabled) by readings interaction on accu...

Goal Structure Effects on Social Interaction: Nondisabled and Disabled Elementary Students

This study compared social interaction behavior between nondisabled and disabled students, as a function of the way tasks were structured during a peer integration program. Of the eight pairs of students, four pairs were assigned to an individualistic goal-structured condition; the other four pairs, to a cooperative condition. For nondisabled students, the cooperative condition was associated with more social interaction during activity and free play sessions. For disabled students, the cooperative condition was associated with more social interaction during activity sessions, but not during free play sessions.

Effectiveness of computerized drill and practice games in teaching basic math facts

Abstract This study investigates the effects on learning‐disabled students of embedding a drill and practice task within an arcade game‐like context. We identified 30 learning‐disabled and 30 nondisabled students who had conceptual understanding of addition but had not achieved automaticity in addition facts. We trained students on either a drill‐and‐practice game or an unadorned, straightforward drill (i.e., “plain vanilla) program. We assessed automaticity in three modes of responding—oral, computer keyboard, and written response. There was a significant interaction effect indicating that the learning‐disabled students were relatively disadvantaged by repeated practice in the game format. We infer learning‐disabled students' lower performance is attributed to attentional difficulties, particularly selective attention problems, when potentially distracting elements of a game environment are present.

Units of Analysis of Social Interaction Outcomes in Supported Education

In spite of increased advocacy efforts, demonstrations, and consumer demand for supported education, there is a paucity of empirical research that investigates the predicted outcomes of this model. The rationale for supported education is based largely on increasing social participation, acceptance, and friendships between students with severe disabilities and nondisabled students. This article discusses several issues that underlie the development of measurement systems to evaluate the social effects of supported education. We believe that it is essential to measure the outcomes of supported education (i.e., increased acceptance, social participation, and levels of friendships) as well as the process variables (e.g., specific social interaction skills) that are pivotal in creating the outcomes. An assessment model for outcome and process variables is described. Within this model, social interaction skills, organizational support characteristics, and contextual features are viewed as pivotal events in attaining valued outcomes.

Piagetian cognitive functioning in students with learning disabilities.

This study investigated the cognitive abilities as measured by the Inventory of Piaget's Developmental Tasks (IPDT) (Furth, 1970) of male and female fourth and fifth graders with learning disabilities. In addition, their cognitive abilities were compared to their reading and mathematics achievement, as measured by the Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT) (Dunn & Markwardt, 1970). A two-way analysis of covariance revealed a significant mean difference in cognitive ability between students with learning disabilities and nondisabled students. No significant differences existed in performance between males and females. Multiple regression showed that a linear combination of reading and mathematics achievement yielded a significant positive correlation to cognitive ability.

Learning Disabled and Nondisabled College Students' Use of Structure in Recall of Stories and Text

This study compared LD and average college students' use of expository text structure and story grammar to recall social studies text passages. Students simultaneously read and listened to three passages with different structures: story grammar, comparison, and causation. Results were analyzed for structure use in immediate oral recall. No difference was found between the groups on the use of story grammar and comparison structure. However, the LD students scored significantly lower than their average peers on the causation structure. The results support research showing that LD students use story structure as well as nondisabled students and suggest that structure use is developmental, with use of comparison structures preceding use of causation.

Evidence of Validity for the Diagnostic Achievement Battery

This study examined the concurrent validity of the relatively new Diagnostic Achievement Battery (DAB) in relation to the Woodcock-Johnson Psycho-Educational Battery (WJPB). A second issue was the extent to which the DAB could discriminate between learning-disabled and nondisabled students. Correlation coefficients between pairs of similar subtests were in the moderate range (.34 to .71), which indicates that the DAB assesses much the same content as does the WJPB without a high degree of duplication. The DAB was successful in classifying learning-disabled and nondisabled children; the DAB tended to identify more skill deficits than the WJPB or school diagnoses. That such similar tests can produce somewhat different diagnostic outcomes warrants further study. Despite psychometric adequacy, the practical utility of the DAB, as well as that of the WJPB, seems quite limited for decision making and programming and, therefore, may need to be supplemented with curriculum-based assessment.

Vocabulary requirements for writing activities for the academically mainstreamed student with disabilities

Students with disabilities, who are academically integrated, require sufficient literacy skills to effectively participate in classroom activities. Those with limited spelling skills may need augmentative and alternative communication [AAC] support that provides access to appropriate vocabulary for classroom communication. The purpose of this research project was to document the vocabulary used during selected written assignments by students from second through sixth grade in a regular elementary school. This information was collected to assist the AAC team as they developed an augmented writing system and a remedial writing program for a 12-year-old student with severe dysarthria due to cerebral palsy. The frequency of word occurrence was calculated from letter writing, language arts, and science written assignments completed by the nondisabled students. The integration of the vocabulary use data into the augmented writing system to support this student in her classroom endeavors is discussed.

Comparison of Parental Involvement in Regular and Special Education

The importance of parental participation in the educational process has been recognized in both regular and special education. However, most of what is known about parent involvement in special education has been garnered through studies at the elementary age level and with families of students with mild disabilities. In this study, mothers of students with severe disabilities were compared with mothers of nondisabled students and students with mild to moderate disabilities regarding their perceptions of school involvement. A total of 117 mothers were interviewed. The results indicated that in comparison to the parents of students in regular education, parents of students with disabilities were offered more opportunities to be involved, were more satisfied with their involvement, and felt more able to influence their children's education. This was true over the school age span. No significant differences were related to the severity of the children's disability. Types of activities in which the mothers were involved suggest that some of the parental involvement mechanisms developed in special education might profitably be extended to regular education.

Classwide peer tutoring with mildly handicapped high school students.

Effects of classwide peer tutoring (CWPT) on the academic performance of 14 mildly handicapped and 36 nondisabled students enrolled in three 10th-grade social studies classrooms were examined. Effects were analyzed using a multiple baseline design across settings with a withdrawal of treatment in two classrooms. Analysis of results indicated that the implementation of CWPT produced an average increase of 21 points on weekly tests. With CWPT 60% of all students earned “A” grades, failing grades were virtually eliminated, and no mildly handicapped students received grades below “C”. Anecdotal student and teacher comments were positive. Implications for secondary, mainstreamed students and teachers were discussed.

Social Skills and Family Climate of Behaviorally Disordered Adolescents

The social skills structure of behaviorally disordered adolescents was investigated in relation to their family climate and school competence and adjustment. The sample consisted of 109 male adolescents — 53 behaviorally disordered and 56 nondisabled students. The instruments were the Hebrew adaptations of the Social Skills Checklist, the Family Environment Scale, and the Classroom Behavior Inventory. The comparison between the factorial structure of the behaviorally disordered and the nondisabled responses show that the behaviorally disordered adolescents reported a global social skills concept, whereas their controls revealed a more differential concept. A significant difference was found between the two groups' perceptions of family climate: The behaviorally disordered adolescents viewed their families as more cohesive and organized, more emphasizing of the achievements and independence of the family members, and less enabling the expression of emotions. Teachers' perceptions of their behaviorally disordered students' social skills were also compared with the behaviorally disordered adolescents' self-reports, and significant differences were found. The teachers perceived a differential structure of skills, whereas the adolescents reported a global profile of higher functioning. Aspects of classroom behavior style and family climate were the best predictors of the social skills. Intervention planning should attend to the multivariate nature of social skills.

High Ability/Learning Disabled Students: How Are They Different?

The purpose of the research was to investigate what characteristics distinguish High Ability/LD students from learning disabled students with average cognitive ability and from high ability students. One hundred-twelve high ability or learning disabled students in grades four through six participated in the study: High Ability, High Ability/LD, and LD/Average. A variety of instruments was used to assess and compare cognitive and motivational patterns in the three groups. Discriminant analyses indicated that the three groups are distinguishable. As might be expected, the greatest group difference existed between high ability nondisabled students and both learning disabled populations. A second discriminant function provided information about differences between the two learning disabled populations.

Narrative Abilities of Children with Learning Disabilities and Nondisabled Children

The purpose of the present study was to compare narrative abilities of learning disabled and nondisabled students across four story difficulty levels and across three vocabulary age groups. Independent variables to be studied included story events correct, story structures, propositions, and cohesive devices. Results indicated that the students with learning disabilities were generally able to reconstruct stories as well as nondisabled students. However, significant differences were shown between groups within each level of analysis. Developmental differences in performance were evident on all measures and the use of line drawings appeared to have a negative influence on recall for all subjects. The self-generated story students were told to produce to accompany line drawings appeared less well constructed than the retold stories, except for the Internal Response category. Specific patterns were demonstrated in the retold and self-generated narratives assessment of children with learning disabilities and nondisabled children. Narrative abilities appear to offer useful information regarding language skills beyond the sentence level.

Interaction Between College Students with Physical Disabilities & Their Professors

This study investigated the nature of appropriate and inappropriate interaction behaviors between professors and college students who have physical disabilities. Thirty-eight students with physical disabilities, 74 college and university professors who had taught disabled students, and 17 professors who had not done so rated the frequency and appropriateness of a variety of interaction behaviors by both professors and students. Professors also rated their level of comfort with disabled and with non-disabled students and indicated how interested they were in teaching students with specific disabilities in the future. Results show that a) approximately 75% of professors in Montreal colleges and universities had taught disabled students, b) professors are more comfortable with able-bodied than with disabled students, and c) that professors who had taught disabled students are more comfortable with such students and more interested in teaching them in the future. Appropriate behaviors were found to be more common than inappropriate behaviors and student initiated behaviors were seen as more desirable than professor initiated ones. Nevertheless, disabled students rated most student initiated behaviors, but not professor initiated behaviors, as less appropriate than tile professors believed them to be. The implications of the findings for research and practice are discussed and concrete examples of appropriate behaviors by each group in frequently occurring interaction situations are provided.

Modification of Student Attitudes Toward Disabled Peers

This study set out to determine the effects of two disabled university students on the attitudes of students in a weight training class. University students enrolled in two general weight training classes agreed to participate in this study. They were administered the Attitude Toward Disabled Persons scale at the start and finish of a university quarter (10 weeks). Two physically disabled university students agreed to be integrated into one of the classes. T tests and an analysis of covariance revealed a significant improvement in the attitudes of students who were in the weight training class with the disabled students. Implications for systematic practicum experience for majors in areas that would have future contact with disabled populations was discussed. Peer interaction appears to have a positive significant effect on the attitudes of nondisabled students toward disabled individuals.

Classwide Student Tutoring Teams

The present study examined the effects of a Classwide Student Tutoring Teams (CSTT) program on the academic performance of 28 mildly handicapped (MH) and 63 nondisabled students enrolled in three 9th and 10th grade math classes. Effects were analyzed using multiple baseline designs across settings with a withdrawal of treatment in one classroom. Analyses of group and individual results indicated that the implementation of CSTT resulted in average increases of 20 percentage points on weekly math exams. The percentage of students earning A grades rose abouve 40% while CSTT was in effect, and failing grades were virtually eliminated. No mildly handicapped students received a failing grade on their report cards during CSTT instruction, whereas eight MH students maintained averages about 90%. Anecdotal student and teacher comments indicated that Classwide Student Tutoring Teams was an acceptable classroom intervention. Educational implications for secondary mainstreamed students and teachers are discussed.