Reading comprehension and strategy use in fourth- and fifth-grade French immersion students

Reading and Writing - Reading comprehension performance is predicted by decoding skill and linguistic comprehension (e.g., Hoover & Gough, 1990; Joshi & Aaron, 2012; Scarborough,...     

Science and schooling for students with LD: a discussion of the symposium

In this summative discussion, we respond to Crockett's proposals about supporting science in the schoolhouse, and we summarize and reflect on the perspectives of the commentators. Overall, they identify discussion points in issues of science in schooling, implementation of scientific practices, teacher training and professional development, and issues in educational administration and leadership. We agree with Crockett and the commentators that intensive efforts in all these areas must be made to strengthen the role of science in the schoolhouse.     

Improving comprehension of expository text in students with LD: a research synthesis

This article summarizes the findings of research studies designed to improve the comprehension of expository text for students with learning disabilities. Twenty-nine studies were located that met the inclusion criteria. Interventions gleaned from the review were categorized as content enhancement (i.e., advance and graphic organizers, visual displays, mnemonic illustrations, and computer-assisted instruction) or cognitive strategy instruction (i.e., text structure, main idea identification, summarization, questioning, cognitive mapping, reciprocal teaching). Treatment outcomes are discussed in relation to the various instructional approaches, student characteristics (e.g., grade, IQ), instructional features (e.g., materials, treatment length), methodological features, strategy maintenance, and generalization components. Implications for classroom practice and future research directions are provided.     

Reading research for students with LD: a meta-analysis of intervention outcomes

The present article provides a meta-analysis of instructional research with samples of children and adolescents with learning disabilities in the domains of word recognition and reading comprehension. The results of the synthesis showed that a prototypical intervention study has an effect size (ES) of .59 for word recognition and .72 for reading comprehension. Four important findings emerged from the synthesis: (a) Effect sizes for measures of comprehension were higher when studies included derivatives of both cognitive and direct instruction, whereas effect sizes were higher for word recognition when studies included direct instruction; (b) effect sizes related to reading comprehension were more susceptible to methodological variation than studies of word recognition; (c) the magnitude of ES for word recognition studies was significantly related to samples defined by cutoff scores (IQ > 85 and reading < 25th percentile), whereas the magnitude of ES for reading comprehension studies was sensitive to discrepancies between IQ and reading when compared to competing definitional criteria; and (d) instructional components related to word segmentation did not enter significantly into a weighted least square hierarchical regression analysis for predicting ES estimates of word recognition beyond an instructional core model, whereas small-group interactive instruction and strategy cuing contributed significant variance beyond a core model to ES estimates of reading comprehension. Implications related to definition and instructional components that optimize the magnitude of outcomes are discussed.     

Assessment moderation: constructing the marks and constructing the students

In this paper the author considers the positivist approaches in mainstream higher education assessment research. She contrasts this to emerging poststructuralist perspectives and goes on to report on a study into the assessment moderation practices in a higher education art department. In this research she explores the ways in which art and design lecturers talk about students’ grades in moderation meetings and reports on the different ways that groups of lecturers co‐construct meaning in relation to the practice of agreeing marks.     

Sources of L2 writing apprehension: a study of Egyptian university students

High levels of apprehension cause students to have writing difficulties. This study attempted to identify the sources of Egyptian university students’ English writing apprehension. The study made use of both quantitative and qualitative data. The scores of 57 students on a writing apprehension scale were compared to their scores on another scale assessing writing self‐efficacy and three linguistic tests measuring English grammar and vocabulary. Additionally, 15 apprehensive students and 16 nonapprehensive students were interviewed about their writing experiences and beliefs. Analysis of the quantitative and qualitative data showed that there are six sources of the students’ English writing apprehension: linguistic knowledge level, perceived language competence, writing performance level, perceived writing competence, instructional practices and fear of criticism. These results indicate the integrative nature of L2 writing ability and emphasise the need for dealing with these sources of apprehension. The study recommends that reducing L2 students’ writing apprehension should start by improving their linguistic knowledge and writing ability; this will result in bringing about a positive change in their language and writing competence self‐perceived beliefs. In addition, the study presents some other recommendations for improving instructional practices of English writing in the Egyptian context.     

The LD label for relatively well-functioning students: a critical analysis

The number of students identified since the mid-1970s as having learning disabilities has produced a corresponding increase in the population of such individuals in postsecondary programs. The Americans with Disabilities Act, along with Section 504 of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1973, provide the basis for civil rights for students in higher education. These laws protect individuals who have a substantial limitation in a major life activity when compared with the general population. A disparity between the legal definition and the clinical definition of learning disabilities, which can encompass those identified on the basis of academic underachievement relative to intellectual potential, has stimulated debate about the fairest, most appropriate standard for declaring a student functionally impaired. Extending services to individuals without significant academic impairment may tax or even deplete scarce resources for others in greater needs, distort the normal processes by which individuals select careers, and diminish the credibility of the diagnosis itself.     

The relation of LD and gender with emotional intelligence in college students

This study examined the relation of learning disabilities (LD) and gender with emotional intelligence in 128 college students. Fifty-four students with LD (32 men and 22 women) and 74 without LD (34 men and 40 women) attending two colleges and one university participated in the study. Emotional intelligence was assessed using the Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i; BarOn,1997), a self-report instrument designed to measure interpersonal and intrapersonal skills, stress management, adaptability, and general mood. A 2-way multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was performed to examine the main effects of LD and gender and the interaction of the two main effects on the five composites of the EQ-i. Students with LD had fewer credits and lower scholastic aptitude test (SAT) scores, high school grade point averages (GPAs), and college GPAs than students without LD; women students were older and had higher college GPAs than men students. Results of the MANOVA indicated significant main effects of both LD and gender; no significant interaction occurred. Post hoc univariate analyses of the five composites revealed significant differences between students with LD and students without LD on stress management and adaptability, significant differences between men and women students on interpersonal skills, and significant differences of the interaction of LD and gender on interpersonal skills.     

Understanding of graphs in social science undergraduate students: selection and interpretation of graphs

How do university students understand the graphs that they read in their textbooks? How does their knowledge regarding the content and their statistical training influence this understanding? Does the kind of task demand also influence this understanding? To answer these questions, we asked a group of psychology students and a group of economics students to choose the most suitable graph for presenting the results of different psychological research studies (reports) (selection task) or to explain in words the results of the same reports shown by means of their graphic representations only (interpretation task). The results showed there were very few differences between groups. Most of the students were able to relate textual information to the adequate graph, but also revealed significant shortcomings and mistakes in their understanding of important syntactic aspects of graphs. They also interpreted the graphs correctly but their interpretation had different levels of complexity, which were not always optimal. We also identified significant differences regarding the difficulty of the reports and the kinds of misinterpretations of graphs. The two tasks thus revealed different pictures of students’ skills in reading and interpreting graphs and, consequently, how the characteristics of task demands influence their performance.     

Source interpretation: teaching students with and without LD to read and write historically

We review domain-specific teaching approaches for students with learning disabilities in social studies, then present De La Paz's 2005 historical reasoning strategy so that readers understand the rationale for and have information on each stage of instruction. Next, we highlight the role of self-regulation for the reasoning process. We then turn to describing the role of each teacher (Morales as the social studies educator and Winston as the special educator), first as they collaborate with De La Paz and each other, then as Morales works alone, 1 year later. Implications are given for changes in teaching. The topic of women's suffrage is used throughout the article to highlight the teaching approach and to present student work.     

Graphic organizers and their effects on the reading comprehension of students with LD: a synthesis of research

Previous research studies examining the effects of graphic organizers on reading comprehension for students with learning disabilities (LD) are reviewed. An extensive search of the professional literature between 1963 and June 2001 yielded a total of 21 group design intervention studies that met the criteria for inclusion in the synthesis. Using graphic organizers (i.e., semantic organizers, framed outlines, cognitive maps with and without a mnemonic) was associated with improved reading comprehension overall for students with LD. Compared to standardized reading measures, researcher-developed comprehension measures were associated with higher effect sizes. Initial gains demonstrated when using graphic organizers were not revealed during later comprehension tasks or on new comprehension tasks.     

Faculty members' provision of instructional accommodations to students with LD

The existing research on the instructional accommodation process of college students with learning disabilities focuses on attitudes and theoretical models without delineating actual practices. To date, the discussion of facilitating factors and barriers to this process has been broad and lacking specificity. Surveys were mailed to 485 faculty members at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, who received an instructional accommodation form from the office of Learning Disabilities Support Services in the fall of 1995. The survey focused on faculty members' reported degree of ease or difficulty in implementing instructional accommodations, their perceptions regarding adequacy of support, and their own beliefs and understandings concerning the need for and benefit of providing instructional accommodations. The results indicate that beliefs about the helpfulness of and need for instructional accommodations were associated with the provision of the accommodations. Also, a perception of support from the University influenced the ease of providing instructional accommodations. A significant difference was found between the behavior of tenure-track faculty and non-tenure-track faculty.     

Teacher competency testing: what teachers of students with LD need to know

In 1964, North Carolina became the first state to enact a testing program for initial certification of teachers. Today, almost all states and the District of Columbia are actively planning or implementing teacher testing programs; six are administering tests in the specific area of learning disabilities. The objectives and content areas of knowledge included in competency testing programs within this specialized area of teacher competence were analyzed, and comparisons were completed across knowledge areas and among states. In general, much similarity exists in what teachers of students with learning disabilities in different states are expected to know. This information represents a strong foundation for planning, implementing, and evaluating training programs for all teachers.     

A meta-analysis of single-subject-design intervention research for students with LD

This article summarizes single-subject-design intervention studies that include students with learning disabilities. Effect sizes of 85 studies were analyzed across instructional domains (e.g., reading, mathematics); sample characteristics (e.g., age, intelligence); intervention parameters (e.g., number of instructional sessions, instructional components); and methodological procedures (e.g., internal validity, treatment integrity, sample representation). The major findings were as follows: (a) All domain areas except handwriting yielded effect sizes at or above Cohen's .80 threshold for a substantial finding; (b) instructional components related to drill-repetition-practice-review, segmentation, small interactive groups, and the implementation of cues to use strategies contributed significant variance (15%) to estimates of effect size; (c) strategy instruction (SI) models better predicted effect size estimates than direct instruction (DI) models when the results were qualified by the reported intellectual and reading levels of the participants; (d) high-IQ discrepancy groups yielded lower effect sizes compared to low-IQ discrepancy groups in the domain of reading, whereas the reverse effect occurred when treatment outcomes were not reading measures; and (e) the low-IQ discrepancy groups yielded higher effect sizes for a Combined DI and SI Model when compared to competing models. The results are supportive of the pervasive influence of cognitive strategy and direct instruction models across treatment domains and of the notion that variations in sample definition moderate treatment outcomes.     

教育机智在“学困生”教育中的作用

教育智能与教育机智,是指教师在不断变化的教育情境中得以随机应变、进退自如的技能和技巧.教育情境是不断变化的,因为教育过程中学生、教师、时间、氛围等都在不停地运动、发展、变化.     

History as narrative: the nature and quality of historical understanding for students with LD

In this study, we examine the nature and quality of students' comprehension of history. Specifically, we explore whether cognitive-psychological theories developed to capture the comprehension of narrative text can be used to capture the comprehension of history. Participants were 36 students with learning disabilities who had taken part in an earlier study designed to investigate the effects of an interactive instructional intervention in history. The results of the original study supported the effectiveness of the intervention in terms of amount recalled. The results of the present study reveal that historical understanding can be characterized as the construction of meaning through the creation of a causal network of events. The study of history within a causal network framework has implications for understanding the nature and quality of students' learning of history, and for potentially identifying sources of failure in learning.