Naturally Acquired Mentoring Relationships and Young Adult Outcomes Among Adolescents with Learning Disabilities

We evaluated whether having a naturally acquired mentor during adolescence was associated with improved adult outcomes among youth with learning disabilities (YLD). Mentored youth were more likely to have graduated from high school, reported a higher level of self‐esteem, and reported a higher overall number of positive outcomes than nonmentored youth. Mentorship by teachers/guidance counselors was associated with larger differences in high school graduation rates and self‐esteem compared to nonmentored youth whereas mentorship by nonteachers was associated with smaller changes in self‐esteem and no differences in high school completion rates. Future research should include more in‐depth, objective assessments of youths’ learning disabilities, consideration of interactions with concurrent risk factors, and efforts to clarify optimal strategies for mentoring support of YLD.     

Social‐Information‐Processing Skills of Kindergarten Children with Developmental Learning Disabilities

The study examined the social‐information‐processing skills of kindergarten children with developmental learning disabilities (LD) utilizing Crick and Dodge's (1994) model of children's social adjustment as a theoretical framework. Participants consisted of 20 kindergarten children with developmental LD who attended three integrated kindergartens and 20 children without developmental LD from the same kindergartens. Participants were assessed on social‐information‐processing skills, feelings of loneliness, sense of coherence, and teachers' ratings of behavioral problems and positive resources. The results indicated that girls with developmental LD performed significantly lower on two information‐processing steps—the response decision and the enactment steps—than did girls without LD. Such differences were not found for boys. The results also showed that the social‐information‐processing skills of children with developmental LD were correlated with teachers' ratings.     

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。     

农村留守儿童歧视知觉、学业求助与学业拖延的关系

为了了解农村留守儿童歧视知觉、学业求助与学业拖延的关系,对370名农村留守儿童进行问卷调查。结果表明,农村留守儿童歧视知觉、执行性求助、回避求助与学业拖延呈显著正相关,工具性求助与学业拖延呈显著负相关;学业求助在歧视知觉影响农村留守儿童学业拖延间起中介作用。     

Second‐Generation Research on Resilience: Social‐Emotional Aspects of Children with Learning Disabilities

The goal of this commentary is to focus attention on the various protective factors examined by the four studies of this special issue, in order to predict resilient functioning. These factors include internal factors (cognitive information processing, affective information processing—the attachment/proximity conceptualization) as well as external factors such as teacher perceptions and classroom ecology. By bringing together major themes from these studies, this commentary aims to explicate core elements of resilience in order to enhance the conceptual clarity of the construct within empowerment models, and to point out major directions for future research. Questions emerging from the results yielded by these studies will also be presented.     

Early Cerebral Constraints on Reading Skills in School‐Age Children: An MRI Study

Reading relies on a left‐lateralized network of brain areas that include the pre‐lexical processing regions of the ventral stream. Specifically, a region in the left lateral occipitotemporal sulcus (OTS) is consistently more activated for visual presentations of words than for other categories of stimuli. This region undergoes dramatic changes at the functional and structural levels when children learn to read, but little is known about the effects of early cerebral constraints on reading skills. Using anatomical magnetic resonance imaging, we investigated whether the sulcal pattern of the lateral OTS—a stable brain feature—was associated with oral reading skills. The sulcal pattern of the left but not the right lateral OTS was associated with the number of words correctly read in 3 min. This study is the first to evidence that reading is affected by early cerebral constraints, such as the sulcal morphology of the left lateral OTS.     

Age of Entry to Kindergarten and Children's Academic Achievement and Socioemotional Development

Research Findings: Data on more than 900 children participating in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care were analyzed to examine the effect of age of entry to kindergarten on children's functioning in early elementary school. Children's academic achievement and socioemotional development were measured repeatedly from the age of 54 months through 3rd grade. With family background factors and experience in child care in the first 54 months of life controlled, hierarchical linear modeling (growth curve) analysis revealed that children who entered kindergarten at younger ages had higher (estimated) scores in kindergarten on the Woodcock—Johnson (W-J) Letter-Word Recognition subtest but received lower ratings from kindergarten teachers on Language and Literacy and Mathematical Thinking scales. Furthermore, children who entered kindergarten at older ages evinced greater increases over time on 4 W-J subtests (i.e., Letter-Word Recognition, Applied Problems, Memory for Sentences, Picture Vocabulary) and outperformed children who started kindergarten at younger ages on 2 W-J subtests in 3rd grade (i.e., Applied Problems, Picture Vocabulary). Age of entry proved unrelated to socioemotional functioning.

Practice: The fact that age-of-entry effects were small in magnitude and dwarfed by other aspects of children's family and child care experiences suggests that age at starting school should not be regarded as a major determinant of children's school achievement, but that it may merit consideration in context with other probably more important factors (e.g., child's behavior and abilities).     

Age of Entry to Kindergarten and Children's Academic Achievement and Socioemotional Development

Research Findings: Data on more than 900 children participating in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care were analyzed to examine the effect of age of entry to kindergarten on children's functioning in early elementary school. Children's academic achievement and socioemotional development were measured repeatedly from the age of 54 months through 3rd grade. With family background factors and experience in child care in the first 54 months of life controlled, hierarchical linear modeling (growth curve) analysis revealed that children who entered kindergarten at younger ages had higher (estimated) scores in kindergarten on the Woodcock—Johnson (W-J) Letter-Word Recognition subtest but received lower ratings from kindergarten teachers on Language and Literacy and Mathematical Thinking scales. Furthermore, children who entered kindergarten at older ages evinced greater increases over time on 4 W-J subtests (i.e., Letter-Word Recognition, Applied Problems, Memory for Sentences, Picture Vocabulary) and outperformed children who started kindergarten at younger ages on 2 W-J subtests in 3rd grade (i.e., Applied Problems, Picture Vocabulary). Age of entry proved unrelated to socioemotional functioning.

Practice: The fact that age-of-entry effects were small in magnitude and dwarfed by other aspects of children's family and child care experiences suggests that age at starting school should not be regarded as a major determinant of children's school achievement, but that it may merit consideration in context with other probably more important factors (e.g., child's behavior and abilities).     

The Educational Attainment Process Among Adolescents with Disabilities And Children of Parents with Disabilities

This article uses data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97) to examine the relationship between disability, parental and youth university expectations in 1997, and youth high school completion and university enrolment by 2003. Results indicate that educational attainment is not equal for young adults with and without disabilities in the United States. Parents—but not adolescents—are likely to reduce their educational expectations when adolescents have a mild or serious disability, net of school performance. These parental—but not adolescent—expectations are significantly associated with high school completion. Finally, even after controlling for educational expectations and school performance, youth with serious disabilities are much less likely to graduate from high school than youth without disabilities. Despite the considerable strides made in the implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, students with disabilities are not achieving educational parity in graded schooling.     

Hope as a Mediator of Loneliness and Academic Self‐efficacy Among Students With and Without Learning Disabilities during the Transition to College

The transition to college often occasions excitement as well as elevated stress for students. The latter may be especially the case for those with learning disabilities (LD), who can encounter problems both socially and academically. This study follows students both with and without LD during the first month of college to explore the relationships between LD status and two outcomes: loneliness/social distress and academic self‐efficacy. In particular, we hypothesized that hope and optimism would mediate the relationship between LD status and these outcomes. The sample consisted of 344 first‐year undergraduates at the beginning of the academic year (Time‐1) and a month later (Time‐2). Results showed that LD status predicted Time‐2 levels of academic self‐efficacy and loneliness only indirectly, demonstrating that relationships between LD and loneliness as well as between LD and academic self‐efficacy are mediated by hope.     

Ensuring Content‐Area Learning by Secondary Students with Learning Disabilities

Three factors tied with secondary student success in content‐area reading are demonstrated: (a) validated teacher‐focused and student‐focused interventions, (b) integrated and comprehensive service delivery systems, and (c) well‐designed, data‐based professional developmental programs. Difficult challenges face secondary students with LD and their teachers with regard to these students’ participation and success in required general education classes. Recently, instructional methods and materials have been developed and validated for promoting these students’ success. Some of them focus on how general education teachers plan and teach their content‐area courses; others focus on giving students the strategies they need to respond independently to the demands of their courses. This article describes these instructional methods, a service‐delivery model for implementing these interventions in secondary schools, and professional‐development mechanisms and administrative support that must be in place for the model to be maintained effectively.     

元认知理论与学习不良儿童研究

元认知理论为人们全面深入理解学习不良问题提供了一个新视角,它对理解学习不良儿童的内部加工问题和发展提高学业成绩的教学方法都具有重要意义。元认知是个体在学习过程中主动控制认知过程的高层次思维,它包括两类成分:一类是静态成分,分为知识和动机信念;另一类是动态成分,主要指元认知监测和控制。与一般儿童相比,学习不良儿童在元认知加工方面存在不同程度的缺陷;在具体学科领域,学习不良儿童静态和动态元认知成分也有不同的表现。对学习不良儿童的研究应以服务教育实践为目的,打破纯实验研究的范式,采用不同方法,从不同角度探讨学习不良儿童的元认知发展规律和作用机制。     

Quality of Life of Children with Learning Disabilities: A Comparison of Self‐Reports and Proxy Reports

This study aimed to explore how children with learning disabilities (LD) perceive their quality of life (QoL) and to compare self‐reports and proxy reports regarding their QoL. Children with LD, their typically developing peers, their parents and teachers responded to the child, parent, and teacher forms of KINDL^R Questionnaire for Measuring Health‐Related Quality of Life (Ravens‐Sieberer & Bullinger, 1998). Findings showed that children with LD reported significantly lower QoL scores than those reported by typically developing peers. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) and t‐test results showed that agreement between child reports and parent‐proxy reports was either low or moderate on each QoL dimension. Findings of the study may be used to raise awareness regarding the social and educational needs of children with LD in Turkey.     

Effects of Cooperative Learning on the Academic Achievement of Students with Learning Disabilities: An Update of Tateyama‐Sniezek’s Review

This article reviews research published from 1990 to 2000 examining effects of cooperative learning strategies on the academic achievement of students with learning disabilities. The literature search is described. Fifteen studies are included in the review and are grouped according to the types of cooperative learning strategies that were examined. Sample characteristics, measures, findings, and effect sizes are reported in a table. Achievement outcomes are mixed. Cooperative learning strategies that incorporate individual accountability and group rewards are more likely to improve achievement of students with disabilities. However, design problems across the studies limit conclusions to be drawn about the efficacy of cooperative learning. More research is needed before it may be viewed as an effective strategy for students with disabilities.     

Academic Self‐Perceptions,Effort, and Strategy Use in Students with Learning Disabilities: Changes Over Time

This study investigated changes in teachers' and students' perceptions of students' effort, strategy use, and academic difficulties when strategy instruction was infused into the classroom curriculum. The sample consisted of 201 students with learning disabilities, 210 average achievers, and 57 teachers from Grades 4–9 in two urban and suburban communities. After six months of classroom‐based strategy instruction, students with learning disabilities reported more consistent use of strategies with their schoolwork and perceived themselves as struggling less in reading, writing, and spelling. Teachers perceived the students with learning disabilities as more strategic and as applying more effort to their schoolwork. Teachers also perceived their students as showing significant improvements in spelling, regardless of whether they had learning disabilities. These findings extended the results of previous investigations and indicated the small, positive impact of classroom‐based strategy instruction. Further investigations are critical to evaluate the generalizability of these findings.     

学习不良儿童言语交际策略的理解与运用

言语交际策略是个体根据特定社会习俗,通过语言表达和理解意图,从而实现交际目标并获得良好社交效果的一种能力。它是言语、社交习俗和元认知三种知识成分的有机结合。以往研究表明,与一般儿童相比,学习不良儿童在言语交际策略的理解与运用上均存在一定程度的缺陷。言语交际策略研究,将为进一步探索学习不良儿童社会技能缺失的原因,以及社会认知发展的内部规律提供新的视角,因而具有理论价值与实践意义。     

学习不良儿童的心理问题及其干预措施

学习不良儿童作为一个异质群体,存在着严重的心理问题。学习不良儿童的心理问题既表现为心理障碍(如抑郁、自杀等),又表现为发展性心理问题(如违纪、焦虑、攻击性、说谎、逃学等)。文章列举了学习不良儿童心理问题的主要表现,并针对这些心理问题提出了干预措施(主要有学校教育干预、家庭干预及心理辅导与治疗等)。     

学习不良者的工作记忆特点

有关学习不良者的工作记忆特点的研究表明,阅读不良者与数学学习不良者都存在语音回路功能缺陷(如语音表征的效率低)以及中央执行器功能缺陷(如对注意控制的能力不足) ,即学习不良与工作记忆缺陷密切相关。今后的研究应进一步探明学习不良者工作记忆缺陷的深层原因。     

学习障碍儿童的家庭环境探析

家庭是儿童接触最早的环境,也是接触最多的环境,父母是孩子人生的第一位老师,因此家庭环境对每个儿童的影响是根深蒂固的。许多研究都发现家庭环境对学习障碍儿童有影响,文章从家庭物质环境和家庭精神环境来论述其对学习障碍儿童的影响及建议。