Comparison of visual-spatial performance strategy training in children with Turner syndrome and learning disabilities.

This study examined the effects of a verbal mediation strategy on three groups of subjects who had visual-spatial deficits. Thirteen females with Turner syndrome, 13 females with nonverbal learning disabilities, and 14 males with nonverbal learning disabilities, who ranged in age from 7 to 14 years, were taught via a cognitive behavioral modification approach to verbally mediate a spatial matching task. Pretest and posttest performance differences on parallel forms of a visual-spatial orientation task were examined. All three groups showed significant improvement in visual-spatial task performance after the training. There were no significant differences in the degree of improvement among the three groups. The results suggest that children with Turner syndrome may benefit from problem-solving strategy training in a manner similar to children with nonverbal learning disabilities.     

Math learning disability and math LD subtypes: evidence from studies of Turner syndrome, fragile X syndrome, and neurofibromatosis type 1

The present study examined whether indicators of math learning disability are observed in 5- and 6-year-olds with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) and in 5- to 6-year-old girls with Turner syndrome or fragile X syndrome. Data from 14 girls with Turner syndrome, 9 girls with fragile X syndrome, and 11 children with NF1 were compared to data from control participants matched on age, sex, IQ score, and grade level. The results indicate that girls with fragile X syndrome or Turner syndrome are significantly more likely to have specific math difficulties relative to their control group, with a larger effect size demonstrated by the group with Turner syndrome. Young children with NF1 had a heterogeneous profile not suggestive of specific math disability. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for understanding math disability subtypes and the identification of math difficulty in the early school years.     

Mathematics education and learning disabilities in Spain

In the first part of this article, we describe the basic objectives of the math curriculum in Spain as well as the basic contents, teacher resources, and obstacles perceived in mathematics instruction. Second, we briefly describe the concept of learning disabilities (LD) as they are currently defined in Spain. As stated in the recent educational reform, a student with LD is any student with special educational needs. The emphasis is placed on the educational resources that these students need in order to achieve the curricular objectives that correspond to their age group or grade. Third, we comment specifically on the educational services model and the evaluation and instructional procedures for students with math learning disabilities. Finally, we describe some lines of research that have appeared in the last few years in Spain that have led to the development of new evaluation and intervention procedures for students with LD in computation and problem solving.     

Social competence and problem behavior of adolescent girls with learning disabilities

Estimates of social competence and problem behavior were obtained using the Child Behavior Checklist (Achenbach & Edelbrock, 1983) for a sample of 51 adolescent girls with learning disabilities. Results identified poor social competence and elevated problem behaviors, in comparison to a normative group of nonhandicapped adolescents. Implications for both diagnosis and research are addressed.     

小学语文课堂教学发散性思维训练

培养和发展小学生的创造力是我国当前基础教育改革的重点,也是我国经济发展、社会发展的迫切需要。在相关的理论指导和实践探索的过程中,我们总结出了将学生的发散性思维培养与语文日常课堂教学相结合的训练模式,大大促进了学生创造力的发展,取得了较好的教育效果。     

Empowering personalized learning with an interactive e-book learning system for elementary school students

Today various types of tablet computers are used, including iPad and Android Tablets. These individual portable digital devices can be used as e-book readers to support mobile personalized learning. Though many studies have investigated e-books by targeting undergraduate students, yet less attention has been paid to children. Therefore, an Interactive E-book Learning System (IELS) was developed for elementary school students in this study. The interactive principles in multimedia learning were adopted to empower students?? personalized learning experiences with e-books. Meanwhile, in order to meet student??s learning needs, a group of in-service teachers were consulted for acquiring their domain expertise. Personalized learning functions, such as e-annotation and bookmarks, content searching, and learning process tracking, were designed to reinforce student learning. Two investigations were conducted for evaluation of the developed system. The first investigation was conducted with 166 elementary school students to evaluate the usability and functionality of the developed system and the feedback from the students. It was found that the usability and functionality of the developed system were well-suited for most of the students. The second investigation was to evaluate the learning effect of the developed system. The results showed that using an e-book or printed book made no significant difference to the students?? reading accuracy; however, the learning process tracking technique of IELS can provide detailed logs about the actual learning processes which can be used by the system to provide further assistance to individual learner. This study concludes that such a tailor-made e-book learning system could achieve a better personalized learning experience for elementary school students.     

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.     

小学数学实践活动的特点

实践活动课程以综合、开放、灵活多变的教学内容与形式,改变了传统教学中重学科知识而轻综合应用、重抽象思维而轻实践技能等不良倾向,有利于学生主体性的发挥。《数学课程标准》(实验稿)明确地将“实践与综合应用”作为与“数与代数”、“空间与图形”、“统计与概率”相并列的学习领域,其目的是增强学生应用数学的意识,提高学生的实践能力,为今后更有效地进行高水平的实践活动打好基础。本文着重谈谈小学数学实践活动的特点。数学实践活动是学生在教师引导下,在已有知识体验的基础上,从所熟悉的现实生活中发现、选择和确定问题,主动应用知…     

小学数字实践活动的特点

实践活动课程以综合、开放、灵活多变的教学内容与形式。改变了传统教学中重学科知识而轻综合应用、重抽象思维而轻实践技能等不良倾向，有利于学生主体性的发挥。     

Teacher perceptions of differences among elementary students with and without learning disabilities in referred samples

Current referral and identification procedures for students with learning disabilities (LD) have been criticized on conceptual and procedural dimensions, including difficulties in operationalizing the definition and in making eligibility decisions that are data based. Recognizing these difficulties, the Texas Education Agency appointed a task force to examine various issues associated with the identification, assessment, and programming of students with LD. Task force members recognized the need to identify classroom behaviors that differentiate students with LD from their non-disabled peers. Two scales of 83 items each were devised and piloted in 70 school districts. Five significant factors or subscales were identified through discriminant factor analyses. Two subscales and 18 individual items discriminate students later classified as LD and those referred but not subsequently classified as LD. Results are discussed, with implications for further investigation of behaviors that distinguish students with and without LD.     

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.     

Skills, standards, and disabilities: How youth with learning disabilities fare in high school and beyond

Learning disabled youth in the Child and Young Adult samples of the NLSY79 are more likely to graduate from high school than peers with the same measured cognitive ability, a difference that cannot be explained by differences in noncognitive skills, families, or school resources. Instead, I find that learning disabled students graduate from high school at higher rates than youth with the same cognitive abilities because of high school graduation policies that make it easier for learning disabled youth to obtain a high school diploma. The effects of these graduation policies are even more remarkable given that I find evidence that learning disabled youth have less unmeasured human capital than observationally equivalent youth as after high school they are less likely to be employed or continue on to college and earn less than their observationally equivalent non-learning disabled peers.     

如何培养小学生数学学习的情感

情感是人的需要是否得到满足产生的一种内心体验，是人对接触到的客观事务的态度的体验。情感伴随着学生学习的全过程，直接影响学生的学习动机、兴趣和效果。教师要用真挚的感情创设一种宽松和谐的学习氛围；活用教材，启迪学生的情感；巧用教材，调动学生的情感；还要采用小组合作、同伴互助的教学形式，激发学生的情感。     

Story grammar: effective literature instruction for high school students with learning disabilities

This study examined the effectiveness of an instructional strategy for teaching comprehension of literature to 8 high school students with learning disabilities. The strategy integrated recent advances in cognitive psychology with empirically derived principles of effective instruction. The texts included short stories from middle school and high school literature anthologies. A modified multiple baseline design was utilized. Results indicated improvements in the students' ability to answer questions based on the stories read.     

Social preference choices in late elementary school: Within and across group nominations

This study examined the social preference nominations (i.e., “liked most” and “liked least”) in relation to peer group and classroom social dynamics in a sample of 622 fifth graders from 11 schools in a southeastern state. Liked most and liked least nominations were given to a small concentration of students within classrooms. The top five nominees for liked most and liked least tended to be in peer groups and associated with at least one classmate who shared their position as a top nominee. The majority of liked most nominations in a classroom were made toward members inside the nominator's group, whereas the majority of liked least nominations were made toward peers outside one's group. Students in the same peer group were more likely to nominate the same peers as liked most than were students who did not affiliate together. In contrast, the concordance for liked least nominations was moderate at both the peer‐group and classroom level. Implications for school‐based social interventions are discussed. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

A synthesis of research on effective interventions for building reading fluency with elementary students with learning disabilities

Fluent reading, often defined as speed and accuracy, is an important skill for all readers to develop. Students with learning disabilities (LD) often struggle to read fluently, leading to difficulties in reading comprehension. Despite recent attention to reading fluency and ways to improve fluency, it is not clear which features of interventions that are designed to enhance fluency are beneficial for the most struggling readers. The purpose of this study is to synthesize research on interventions that are designed primarily to build reading fluency for students with LD. The search yielded 24 published and unpublished studies that reported findings on intervention features, including repeated reading with and without a model, sustained reading, number of repetitions, text difficulty, and specific improvement criteria. Our findings suggest that effective interventions for building fluency include an explicit model of fluent reading, multiple opportunities to repeatedly read familiar text independently and with corrective feedback, and established performance criteria for increasing text difficulty.