Edwin S. Ellis

Integrative Strategy Instruction: A Potential Model for Teaching Content Area Subjects to Adolescents with Learning Disabilities

In part because learning strategies are often taught in isolated resource settings outside of the contexts in which students with learning disabilities are expected to apply this knowledge, generalization has been a significant challenge to educators. To address this problem, an instructional model is proposed for integrating cognitive strategy instruction and content area instruction when teaching students in content area classes. Teacher-directed instructional procedures, cooperative learning, and direct explanation and dialectical strategy instruction are integrated into four key instructional processes: orienting, framing, applying, and extending. In this model, teacher-mediated instructional devices and routines used to teach content area subjects serve as a basis for teaching students to self-mediate parallel cognitive strategies and processes. The model is discussed in terms of its theoretical and philosophical orientations as manifested in its knowledge and instructional bases. A scenario is provided that depicts a social studies teacher implementing many of the principles and methods associated with the model.

Generalization and Adaptation of Learning Strategies to Natural Environments Part 2: Research into Practice

This article is the second of a twopart series designed to review the critical features of facilitating generalization and adaptation of learning strategies. In Part 1, a model of generalization was presented along with research supportive of the model and identification of research needs. Essentially, the model views instruction for generalization not as something that comes at the end of an instructional sequence, but rather as consisting of four levels of generalization that transverse instruction—antecedent, concurrent, subsequent, and independent. The purpose of this article is to consolidate a number of studies that describe a unified set of specific instructional techniques that can be used while addressing generalization and to present them as part of an overall instructional approach for learning strategies. Within each level, specific procedures mediated by the special (or remedial) education teacher, regular content teacher, peer, and/or student are illustrated. Each category is followed by a synthesis of related teaching practices. The procedures identified here should not be considered definitive because demonstration of efficacy awaits additional validation; however, they do serve as a basis for planning instruction consistent with what has been learned about generalization to date.

Teaching Rural Students with Learning Disabilities: A Paraphrasing Strategy to Increase Comprehension of Main Ideas.

The study compared the effects of repeated readings versus paraphrasing cognitive strategy instruction. Main idea comprehension skills of rural fifth, sixth, and seventh grade learning disabled students with moderate levels of decoding fluency (100 words per minute), and high levels of decoding accuracy (97%) were used. The study also investigated the relative power of combining the two procedures. Results indicated that paraphrasing instruction was superior to the repeated readings procedures. Pairing repeated readings with the paraphrasing strategy was no more effective than teaching the paraphrasing strategy alone. Instructional implications are discussed.

Teaching Adolescents with Learning Disabilities to Generate and Use Task-Specific Strategies

The effects of an intervention designed to enhance students roles as control agents for strategic functioning were investigated. The goal was to increase the ability of students labeled learning disabled to generate new strategies or adapt existing task-specific strategies for meeting varying demands of the regular classroom. Measures were taken in three areas: (a) metacognitive knowledge related to generating or adapting strategies, (b) ability to generate problem-solving strategies for novel problems, and (c) the effects of the intervention on students regular classroom grades and teachers perceptions of the students self-reliance and work quality. A multiple baseline across subjects design was used. The intervention resulted in dramatic increases in the subjects verbal expression of metacognitive knowledge and ability to generate task-specific strategies. Students regular class grades increased; for those students who did not spontaneously generalize use of the strategy to problems encountered in these classes, providing instruction to target specific classes resulted in improved grades. Teacher perceptions of students self-reliance and work quality did not change, probably because baseline measures were already high in both areas. Implications for instruction and future research are discussed.

The Role of Motivation and Pedagogy on the Generalization of Cognitive Strategy Training

Cognitive and metacognitive strategy training is becoming an increasingly popular trend in the field of Learning Disabilities. Most strategy training is designed to increase students skills in order to enable independent learning and performance in academic and social settings. To be effective, students must generalize the training. Some common teaching practices appear to interfere with goals of independence of action and generalization. This paper examines these teaching practices in relation to theories of motivation, showing how and why they may inadvertently impede trainees strategy generalization. Ways for teachers to counteract such practices as well as implications on research needs are discussed.

Adolescents with Learning Disabilities

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses a perspective in understanding the problems of adolescents with learning disabilities (LDs) that focuses on various setting demands that are faced by them and how well they meet such demands. When considering the characteristics of adolescents with LDs, the natural tendency is to focus on the limitations and problems of these individuals and then view these characteristics as if they were unique to the learning-disabled (LD) condition. The students who are labeled LD tend to be those who are the lowest of the low achievers. Differences between LD and low-achieving students lie mostly in the perceptions of others resulting from their reaction to the label learning-disabled and the way these youth are treated and the services they receive as a function of the label. The problems that individuals experience are basically a function of the interaction between the demands of the environment and the characteristics of the individual. It is, therefore, wrong to assume that their problems reflect merely their innate characteristics. Therefore, a meaningful way to understand LD adolescents is to examine the characteristics of the settings in relation to how those labeled as LD are meeting the expectations of these settings, as well as what can be done to enable these students to function more effectively in these settings.

Watering Up the Curriculum for Adolescents with Learning Disabilities: Goals of the Knowledge Dimension:

Many accommodations, though designed to ensure success of adolescents with learning disabilities in content area classes, water down the curriculum by reducing opportunities to learn and emphasizing memorization of facts. This article explores how watering up the curriculum to create thought-full classrooms can facilitate achievement of learning and development of deep knowledge structures. six basic principles associated with making knowledge construction more meaningful and robust are examined, and examples of specific instructional techniques particularly appropriate for use in inclusive classroom settings are provided. These techniques focus on teaching big ideas, promoting elaboration, relating to real-world contexts, and integrating thinking skills and strategies into the curriculum.

Restructuring of Mainstream Sociometry with Learning Disabled and Nonhandicapped Students.

Sociometric ratings assigned by and to 50 elementary school students with learning disabilities and 50 nonhandicapped elementary school students (in matched pairs) were compared in this study. In addition, traditional sociometric status applied to social impact and social preference was also examined. Results showed that the matched pairs did not differ significantly in assigned status to their peers, but differed significantly in acceptance and rejection received from their shared classmates. Students with learning disabilities and nonhandicapped students differed significantly in social preference, but not in social impact.

BI-DIRECTIONAL AND CROSS-CATEGRICAL SOCIAL STATUS OF LEARNING DISABLED, BEHAVIORALLY DISORDERED, AND NONHANDICAPPED ADOLESCENTS:

Assigned and received social status of mildly learning disabled, mildly behaviorally disordered, and nonhandicapped high school students was examined. Twenty-two subjects in each group were equated on several demographic variables, and a rating scale sociometric instrument was administered in regular physical education classes that enrolled at least 1 exceptional student. Results indicated that the mildly-handicapped and nonhandicapped samples differed from a larger nonhandicapped population in several aspects of bi-directional social status. In cross-categorical comparisons of assigned social status, the diree groups did not differ significantly. With regard to cross-categorical received status, however, the comparison groups varied widely. Findings are discussed with regard to similarities and differences among mildly handicapped individuals, and the need to consider all aspects of their social interrelations.

Watering Up the Curriculum for Adolescents with Learning Disabilities-Part 2 Goals of the Affective Dimension

This article addresses issues associated with common pedagogical practices that impede affective development of adolescents with learning disabilities. It also outlines goals, principles, and techniques for “watering up” curriculum and instruction so that intrinsic motivation, internal locus of control, academic and social self-concept, self-esteem, a sense of competence and confidence, an “attack” attitude about challenging tasks, willingness to take risks, and sense of personal potency are fostered.