Diane M. Browder

Research on Reading Instruction for Individuals with Significant Cognitive Disabilities

This article presents the results of a comprehensive review of 128 studies on teaching reading to individuals with significant cognitive disabilities. The review compared these studies against the National Reading Panels components of reading; although it revealed an inadequate consideration of the components of reading, it found strong evidence for teaching sight words using systematic prompting and fading. The reviewers considered not only the number of studies, but also indicators proposed for evidence-based practice and effect size. This study identified some high quality studies with strong effect size for comprehension and fluency, but only one phonics study was strong in both quality and effects. Additional research is needed to promote broader skills in literacy for this population.

A Meta-Analysis on Teaching Mathematics to Students with Significant Cognitive Disabilities

This article reports on a comprehensive literature review and meta-analysis of 68 experiments on teaching mathematics to individuals with significant cognitive disabilities. Most of the studies in the review addressed numbers and computation or measurement. Within the computation studies identified, most focused on counting, calculation, or number matching. For the measurement studies, nearly all focused on money skills. Of the 54 single subject design studies, 19 were classified as having all quality indicators for research design (13 representing the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Measurement standard and 6 representing the Numbers and Operations standard). These studies offer strong evidence for using systematic instruction to teach mathematics skills and for using in vivo settings.

Using Time Delay to Teach Literacy to Students with Severe Developmental Disabilities

A review of the literature was conducted for articles published between 1975 and 2007 on the application of time delay as an instructional procedure to teach word and picture recognition to students with severe developmental disabilities in an effort to evaluate time delay as an evidence-based practice. A total of 30 experiments were analyzed using quality indicators for single-subject design research. In general, we found that time delay was an evidence-based practice for teaching picture and sight word recognition supported by standards for evidence-based practice proposed by Horner et al. (2005). We discuss lessons learned in summarizing a body of literature to define an evidence-based practice and suggestions for better defining the practice.

Training Teachers to Follow a Task Analysis to Engage Middle School Students With Moderate and Severe Developmental Disabilities in Grade-Appropriate Literature

The purpose of this study Was to train teachers to folloW a task analysis to teach a story-based literacy lesson using adapted, grade-appropriate middle school literature to students With moderate and severe developmental disabilities. A multiple-probe-across-participants design Was used to examine the effects of training teachers to folloW a literacy lesson plan task analysis on the number of steps completed by teachers on the literacy lesson plan template and changes made by students in response to teachers use of the literacy lesson plan. Results indicated a functional relationship betWeen teacher training and the number of lesson plan steps folloWed, With a corresponding student increase in both overall and independent correct responses. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.

Evaluation of the Effectiveness of an Early Literacy Program for Students with Significant Developmental Disabilities

This study evaluated the impact of a curriculum called the Early Literacy Skills Builder on the language and early literacy skills of students with significant developmental disabilities. Students in the control group received the ongoing sight word and picture instruction prescribed by their individualized education programs. Results indicate statistically significant interaction effects for the treatment group for two research team-designed measures of early literacy (the Nonverbal Literacy Assessment and a pretest/posttest for the experimental curriculum). Significant interaction effects were also found for two standardized measures (Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test III and Memory for Sentences of the Woodcock Language Proficiency Battery). Implications and future research needs are provided.

Effects of Training in Universal Design for Learning on Lesson Plan Development

The effects of training in Universal Design for Learning (UDL) on lesson plan development of special and general educators in a college classroom environment were investigated. A true experimental group design with a control group was used for this study. A one-hour teacher training session introduced UDL to the experimental group; the control group received the intervention later. A three-factor analysis of variance with repeated measures was completed for each of the dependent variables (i.e., UDL lesson plan). Differences were found between pretest and posttest measures for both treatment groups for special education and general education teachers. The results suggest that a simple introduction to UDL can help teachers to design a lesson plan accessible for all students.

Aligning Instruction with Academic Content Standards: Finding the Link:

For students to have full access to the general curriculum, they need the opportunity to learn academic content that links closely to the standards for their grade level. In this article, we synthesize what we have learned through our research on aligning instruction for students with significant cognitive disabilities with states academic content standards. In finding these links between state content standards and instruction for students with significant cognitive disabilities, we have discovered that it is important to understand (a) the implications of current federal policy; (b) the evidence for academic learning by this population; (c) the nature of national and state standards; (d) the importance of starting with universal design and general education collaboration; and (e) the concept of alignment.

Creating Access to the General Curriculum With Links to Grade-Level Content for Students With Significant Cognitive Disabilities: An Explication of the Concept

Current federal policy requires that students with disabilities participate in large-scale assessments and be included in schools scores for adequate yearly progress. Students with significant cognitive disabilities may participate in an alternate assessment with alternate achievement standards, but these standards must be linked to grade-level content and promote access to the general curriculum. Because most research with this population has focused on nonacademic life skills, few guidelines exist for teaching and assessing skills that are linked to grade-level content. One challenge to developing research and practice in grade-linked academic content for students with significant cognitive disabilities is the absence of a clear conceptual framework. This article—developed by a team of special education, curriculum content, and measurement experts—proposes a conceptual definition and criteria for linking instruction and assessment to grade-level academic content.

Literacy for Students With Severe Developmental Disabilities What Should We Teach and What Should We Hope to Achieve

The purpose of this article is to propose a conceptual foundation for early literacy instruction for students with severe developmental disabilities. The two primary outcomes in the conceptual model are (a) enhanced quality of life through shared literature and (b) increased independence as a reader. Guidelines are offered for promoting shared literature by increasing opportunities for accessing literature and teaching access skills to students. For increasing students’ independence as readers, recommendations are provided on teaching the components of reading outlined by the National Reading Panel. The proposed model will help develop guidance on the strategies for literacy instruction for students with severe developmental disabilities.

Teaching Mathematics and Science Standards to Students With Moderate and Severe Developmental Disabilities

This study evaluated strategies to teach secondary math and science content to students with moderate and severe developmental disabilities in a quasiexperimental group design with special education teachers randomly assigned to either the math or the science treatment group. Teachers in the math group implemented four math units representing four of the five national math standards. The science teachers implemented four science units representing three of eight national science content standards. A fourth standard, science as inquiry, was embedded within each of the units. Results showed students made gains in respective content areas. Students who received instruction in math scored higher than students who received instruction in science on the posttest of math skills. Likewise, students who received instruction in science scored higher than students who received instruction in math on the posttest of science vocabulary skills. Limitations and suggestions for future research and practice are discussed.