Introduction to Special Issue: Null Effects and Publication Bias in Learning Disabilities Research

The importance of publishing studies with null findings to the scientific enterprise is garnering attention in social science at large and education in particular. In this article, we first define null findings and publication bias as they relate to group and single‐subject instructional intervention research. We then explore the prevalence of instructional intervention studies that report null findings in the learning disabilities literature. Overall, we found that few studies have been published in learning disability journals that reported all null results. However, a significant number of group studies reported mixed findings (i.e., at least one, but not all, outcome measures were not statistically significant). Next, we summarize the experimental studies that comprise this special issue on null findings. Last, we speculate regarding strategies that might be enacted to increase the publication of studies with null findings in the learning disabilities field.     

针对学习障碍学生的各种特殊教育观

针对学习障碍学生的特殊教育,从最初鉴别学生学习过程中的缺陷并进行矫正,到现在针对学生学习需要而进行的阶梯教育模式,经历了其自身发展的过程。     

Social Skills Learning for Students with Learning Disabilities and Students with Behaviour Disorders

This study examined the effects of a computer‐assisted social skills intervention on the social competence and behaviour adjustment of students with special needs. The sample consisted of 114 male students, divided into two groups: 52 students with learning disabilities (LD) (mean age = 12.23; SD = 1.12) and 62 students with behaviour disorders (BD) (mean age = 12.53; SD = 1.34). The students were trained with the “I Found a Solution” computer‐assisted social skill package. The intervention consisted of the computer‐assisted program and teacher‐guided work. Each student was assessed, before and after the training, on: teacher‐rated self‐control and maladjusted behaviours, peer‐rated social acceptance and self‐rated loneliness. Through conceptualisation based on the students’ loneliness and externalising maladjustment, four subgroups were identified: (a) relatively adjusted students; (b) externalising and not‐lonely students; (c) lonely and non‐externalising students; and (d) lonely and externalising students. The analyses included subgroups b, c and d, excluding the relatively adjusted subgroup, adding up to a sample of 83 students (35 students with learning disabilities and 48 students with behaviour disorders). A series of two‐way ANOVAs with repeated measures (grouping by subgrouping, with pre‐/post‐training scores as the repeated measures) revealed that following training, students in both groups felt less lonely and were more accepted by peers. Teachers rated them as demonstrating higher levels of self‐control and decreased externalising and internalising maladjustment. The differential impact of the training between groups (LD/BD) and among subgroups (b/c/d) highlighted the significance of the subtyping approach for understanding the children's social learning profiles and for directing effective social skill programming.     

Translating Research Findings in Genetics of Learning Disabilities to Special Education Instruction

Given a shift in the role of genetics in the context of special education, this commentary outlines advances in our understanding of genetic influences on learning disabilities. In particular, it focuses on advances that have implications for instruction and interventions conducted by special educators, and calls for broadening of the scope of professional preparation of special educators to include research findings in genetic underpinnings of learning disabilities.     

Team‐Based Learning for Students with High‐Incidence Disabilities in High School Social Studies Classrooms

We examined the effectiveness of implementing team‐based learning (TBL) practices on content acquisition for 11th grade students with high‐incidence disabilities enrolled in general education social studies courses. TBL components focus on collaborative discourse within heterogeneous teams. TBL, which requires critical thinking and the application of content knowledge for problem‐solving, was implemented for three units of instruction. Results indicated no statistically significant differences between groups on a measure of content knowledge, although a moderate effect size was noted (ES = 0.50). Significant and large effects (ES = 1.01) favoring the TBL treatment were noted for items related to content‐area vocabulary. There were no significant differences on items measuring comprehension of historical events, facts, and issues (ES = 0.38). Practical implications for content‐area instruction are discussed.     

浅论学习不良儿童积极自我概念的建立

学习不良儿童一直以来是教育者们关注的一个特殊群体.研究表明其自我概念整体水平低于一般儿童,学习不良儿童的自我概念与心理健康呈较高正相关.家庭、教师、同伴群体和社会文化对儿童自我概念的形成发展产生着重要影响,教育者应努力发挥自身作用促进学习不良儿童积极自我概念的建立.     

Teaching Multiplication with Regrouping to Students with Learning Disabilities

The Common Core Standards require demonstration of conceptual knowledge of numbers, operations, and relations between mathematical concepts. Supplemental instruction should explicitly guide students with specific learning disabilities (SLD) in these skills. In this article, we illustrate implementation of the concrete‐representational‐abstract (CRA) sequence and the Strategic Instruction Model (SIM) for teaching multiplication with regrouping to students with SLD. CRA combined with SIM has been shown to be effective in teaching computation for students with SLD, specifically for developing conceptual understanding. Four elementary students with SLD participated in this study. The researchers used a multiple‐probe design to show a functional relation. Students demonstrated increases in computational fluency; skills were maintained and generalized.     

Evaluating a Systematic Keyboarding Strategy with Learning Disabilities

No abstract available for this article.     

Introduction to the Special Issue: Effective Practices for Children and Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorders

This article focuses on the development and use of alternative reading measures that are performance based (authentic and direct), technically adequate, and help teachers make instructional decisions. Although performance assessments are promulgated as better than many traditional, published measures of achievement, few studies on technical adequacy have been conducted. We present 2 studies that focus on concurrent criterion validity and instructional decision making; the studies are framed as examples of reading measurement within the debate on whole language programs. The first study focuses on the relation of the performance measure of oral reading with several other reading measures; the second study focuses on teacher decision making, using quantitative and qualitative outcomes reflecting individual student change in performance (in reading fluency and prosody) over time. In this article, both studies are described briefly, and the emphasis of discussion is placed on appropriately evaluating programs so that the measures match the interventions (are systemically valid) and support their effec- tiveness for use with individual students.     

Social and Emotional Functioning of Children with Learning Disabilities: Does Special Education Placement Make a Difference?

Children with learning disabilities in four types of special education settings were compared in terms of social acceptance, number of friends, quality of relationship with best friends, self‐concept, loneliness, depression, social skills, and problem behaviors. Two of the placements (In‐Class Support and Resource Room) were for children with mild to moderate learning disabilities and involved between 30 and 90 minutes of special education per school day. The other two placements (Inclusion Class and Self‐Contained Special Education Class) were designated for children with severe learning disabilities and involved at least a half‐day of special education. Children in the more inclusive placements had more positive social and emotional functioning. Children receiving In‐Class Support were more accepted by peers, had higher self‐perceptions of mathematics competence, and fewer problem behaviors than children receiving Resource Room Support. Children in Inclusion Classes had more satisfying relationships with their best school friends, were less lonely, and had fewer problem behaviors than children in Self‐Contained Special Education Classes.     

学习不良儿童的情绪问题

情绪对人们的生活具有重要的影响,但是,学习不良儿童的情绪研究却被忽视了。实际上。学习不良儿童比一般儿童具有更多的情绪问题。文章介绍了有关学习不良儿童焦虑与抑郁情绪的研究。揭示了学习不良与情绪困扰之间的关系,并提出了改善学习不良儿童情绪问题的有效措施。