Story composition skills of middle-grade students with learning disabilities

This study examined the story composition abilities of learning disabled (LD) and normally achieving young adolescents as indicated by measures of writing category, cohesion, and fluency. Findings suggest that although adolescents with learning disabilities have a rudimentary knowledge of story form, this knowledge is less well developed than that of their nondisabled peers. Students with learning disabilities also had greater coherence problems in their writing and were less fluent writers. Several important age trends were noted when results of this investigation were compared with outcomes from a similar investigation involving younger students.     

Study skills and the education of students with learning disabilities

This article discusses an area of education for students with learning disabilities that is often neglected. The topic of study skills education, although not new to education in general, has only recently been emphasized in the literature for students with handicaps. An overview of the study skill proficiency (or lack of it) of students with learning disabilities is provided, followed by the presentation of 15 student study skill strategies designed to assist students in their use of various study skills. These strategies may be employed appropriately and effectively with many students with learning disabilities provided that individual needs and abilities are considered. The article concludes with a discussion about the implementation of a study skills program, including guidelines to follow in this process.     

Social skills of Slovenian primary school students with learning disabilities

Social skills of students with special needs play a very important role in their successful integration into inclusive learning environments. The aim of present empirical research was to establish whether students with learning disabilities (LD) attending grades 7–9 of regular primary school in Slovenia experience difficulties in social skills compared to their peers without LD. The following measuring instruments were used: the Questionnaire about Interpersonal Difficulties for Adolescents, the Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents and the Self-Concept Scale. The basic research findings indicated statistically significant structural differences between the students with LD and their peers. The two groups differ in terms of difficulties in social interaction. Students with LD experience more difficulties. Statistically significant differences between the groups also appeared in tension and inhibition in social contact and social anxiety, as well as in the area of self-concept: students with LD are more anxious and reserved in social contacts.     

Knowledge of derivational suffixes in students with language learning disabilities

Knowledge of derivational suffix meanings was investigated in 10- to 12-year-old students with language learning disabilities and individually matched chronological- and language-age peers. Students produced derived forms from nonce bases in an elicitation task and selected derived forms in a forced choice task. For instance, students produced a word to label the baby of an invented animal called a TEM (TEMlet, TEMette, TEMkin, etc.) and chose an appropriate label from four options (TEMlet, TEMkin, TEMship, TEMhood). Twenty-eight suffixes (e.g., less, y, ize) conveying seven derivational meanings (e.g., “without X,” “approximately X,” “to make X”) were studied. All groups showed higher accuracy on the forced choice task than on the elicitation task. However, elicitation task accuracy of students with language learning disabilities fell substantially below that of typically achieving students. Suffixes for “agent X,” “character of X,” and “to make X” were produced in the elicitation task with higher accuracy than suffixes for “approximately X,” “diminutive X,” and “state of X.” In both tasks, suffix use was associated with productivity (i.e., regularity of suffix attachment). All groups chose highly productive suffixes (e.g., TEMlet) over less productive suffixes (e.g., TEMkin) to convey each meaning.     

Generic skills assessment: A new problem for tertiary students with learning disabilities

Abstract

A simmering controversy has been running in the United States since 1995 over the perceived conflict between the maintenance of academic standards and the rights of disabled university students. Recent developments are set to raise the same issue in Australian universities. The first of these developments is the shift in the emphasis of academic standards with the implementation of the Generic Skills Assessment (GSA) program. The second is the release of draft disability standards for education to streamline enforcement of the Commonwealth's Disability Discrimination Act (DDA).

The DDA protects disabled people against discrimination in education. Amongst the many types of disabled people protected are those who are unable to read, write or communicate effectively because of learning disabilities, and others who are unable to concentrate and pay attention properly because of mental disorders. Hitherto, universities have found ways to comply with the DDA without compromising academic standards by providing these types of disabled students with accommodations that take the form of alternative methods of examination, extra exam time, technological assistance, scribes, readers, etc. However, the GSA has been designed for standardised implementation and doesn't allow for this type of flexibility. Further, generic skills testing specifically discriminates against students with learning disabilities and some mental disorders because it is the inability to master particular types of generic skills that defines these types of disabilities.     

Accessing further education: views and experiences of FE students with learning difficulties and/or disabilities

This study explores the opinions of FE students with learning difficulties and/or disabilities about their learning needs, their evluation of the support they have received and their views and feelings on whether access to FE has met their expectations. The implications of these findings are considered in terms of developing assessment, teaching and learning within colleges and the wider implications of preparation for work and life-long learning.     

The effect of using laptops on the spelling skills of students with learning disabilities

The current study examined the effect of using laptops on the spelling skills of students with learning disabilities (LD). It was conducted as part of the Israeli “Katom” (A Computer for Every Class, Student, and Teacher) Program. Participants included 93 Hebrew-speaking students with LD aged 13–16, who attend 10 special education classes in a regular middle school. We examined whether the experimental group using laptops showed significant differences in the number of their spelling errors as a result of the intervention on their pre- and post-spelling tests. We also investigated whether there would be differences on the number of spelling errors between the experimental and control groups, as measured by their pre- and post-spelling test results. The findings indicated that the participants in the experimental group significantly improved their spelling skills as opposed to the control group. It seems that the use of laptops in special education classes can enhance the spelling skills of students with LD.     

School is fun at recess: informal analyses of written language for students with learning disabilities

The purpose of an informal analysis of written language is to identify what writers can do as well as what they find difficult about writing. This article reviews the varied components of written language, suggests informal means for assessment, and summarizes the cognitive and linguistic factors that influence varied aspects of writing performance. Two informal evaluation scales are presented that stress the interconnection between oral and written language processes.     

University students with learning disabilities: Results of a national survey

Abstract

Despite increasing attention to disadvantaged students in Australian universities, data on students with disabilities is sparse. This paper reports the results of a 1996 national survey on students with learning disabilities (LD) in Australian universities. The data collected from disability support staff indicate that in 1996 they supported approximately 1000 students with LD: this group of students comprised 12% of all supported students with disabilities. The gender ratio of supported students with LD did not differ significantly from that of all university students, but the supported students with LD were more likely to be studying part‐time, less likely to be studying for a higher degree, and less likely to be aged under 20 years.     

Vocational education and students with learning disabilities

This inquiry focuses on the status of nearly 500 students with learning disabilities in 17 state-operated regional vocational-technical schools in a northeastern state. The inquiry addressed four primary concerns: patterns of assessment, career choice, school marks, and attendance. The data indicate that a variety of instruments were used in the assessment process and that the overall grade equivalent levels of attainment ranged between fifth- and seventh-grade levels. Children defined as learning disabled participated in a large number of vocational trade specialties and some 50% or more had school marks indicating that they were passing in these areas. Attendance was high. Many children with learning disabilities successfully perform in competitive vocational education programs designed to produce proficiency at the level of journey person.     

Vocational-technical programs: follow-up of students with learning disabilities

Recent research has examined the role of vocational-technical training in facilitating the transition from school to work of adolescents with learning disabilities. The present study provided 6-, 12-, and 24-month follow-up data on such students who had attended vocational-technical programs. Matched groups of students without disabilities from vocational-technical programs, as well as randomly selected students without disabilities from regular high schools, were also included for comparisons. Results of the study raised several questions about the value and purpose of vocational-technical training for adolescents with learning disabilities.     

Reading comprehension interventions for middle school students with learning disabilities: a synthesis of 30 years of research

The authors conducted a synthesis of studies of reading comprehension interventions for middle school students (Grades 6-8) identified with a learning disability. They identified 12 studies between 1979 and 2009 with treatment and comparison designs and 2 single-participant studies. Findings from the studies indicate large effect sizes for researcher-developed comprehension measures. Few studies (n = 4) reported standardized measures of reading comprehension, which indicated medium effect sizes. The majority of study treatments (n = 13) utilized strategy instruction related to main idea or summarization.