Learning Disabilities Research & Practice最新文献

This article is part of a special LDRP research-to-practice series introducing key concepts to enable special education practitioners and other nonresearchers to be more informed research consumers. In the article, we explore how social validity is assessed in special education research and how to interpret social validity assessments. Rather than focusing on measuring intervention effects, social validity involves assessing the social importance of the goals, procedures, and outcomes of interventions and programs. We define social validity, provide questions to consider when examining assessments of social validity in research papers, review approaches commonly used to assess social validity with examples from the research literature, and make recommendations for reconciling findings of positive intervention effects on targeted outcomes but absent or negative findings related to social validity in a study. Our take-home message is that considering social validity assessments helps research consumers interpret study findings and informs how to apply findings in practice.

Academic accommodations for students experiencing disabilities are increasingly available at postsecondary institutions. More studies of the efficacy of accommodations for student success are warranted, however. Given the increased gender gap in university participation, more focus on the unique impact of gender is also needed. Using a sample of students registered with Access and Inclusion Services with learning disabilities (LD), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and combined LD/ADHD at a Canadian undergraduate university (N = 661), we explored the impact of gender on academic performance and accommodation usage. Next, we examined how gender intersected with the impact of academic accommodations on academic performance. Women, on average, demonstrated better academic performance. Academic strategies and assistive technologies were not associated with higher academic performance. However, testing accommodations (extended time and environmental accommodations) were positively associated with academic performance for men with LD or ADHD, but not for the combined group LD/ADHD. For the former two, the more tests accommodated, the higher the academic performance. Furthermore, this gender association was most prominent for students experiencing ADHD. Interpretations and policy recommendations related to these findings are presented.

As students enter the upper elementary grades, word problems become a main component of mathematics instruction, increasing in complexity as students advance through the curriculum. For students identified as emergent bilinguals with mathematics difficulty (MD), the linguistic complexity inherent in word problems may serve as a barrier to word-problem proficiency. The current study investigated the potential relation between academic English proficiency and word-problem outcomes for emergent bilinguals with MD. After analyzing data from 241 third-grade students, results indicated students who participated in an evidence-based word-problem intervention outperformed students who did not receive the intervention. Moreover, students’ academic English-language proficiency scores in the domains of reading and writing positively correlated with higher scores on a measure of word-problem solving.

In recent years, an increasing number of students with specific learning disabilities (SLDs) have enrolled in universities. The present exploratory study examined the frequency of use and appreciation of universal (open to every student) and specific services (offered to students with SLDs) and their relation to age, academic achievement, satisfaction, self-efficacy, and use of self-regulated learning (SRL) strategies. Participants were 147 Italian university students with SLD diagnoses (42 males; mean age: 22.49, SD = 3.29). Results showed that, overall, the frequency of use and appreciation of specific services were positively related to academic satisfaction, self-efficacy, and SRL strategies. Furthermore, frequency of use of compensatory tools and dispensatory measures was positively associated with academic achievement. These findings suggest that universities play an important role in supporting students with SLDs during their academic years by providing them with useful services and accommodations.

This formative study of a multiplicative reasoning (MR) intervention explored the intervention's potential for improving the ability of third-grade struggling students’ ability to reason with multiplicative concepts and procedures. The feasibility of the study was examined in a school setting before a randomized control trial was conducted. Students who scored between the 10th and 35th percentile on a district-administered math screening test received the MR intervention from their teachers. We developed intervention units to build a conceptual foundation in a student-centered approach to Tier 2 instruction that included opportunities for students to engage in critical thinking as they generalized big ideas, participated in classroom discourse, and modeled multiplicative relationships with multiple representations. Preliminary data demonstrate the potential of the intervention to promote students’ MR skills. Instructional implications are discussed in terms of opportunities for these students to engage in grade-level mathematics content.

This quasi-experimental study was designed to investigate the initial efficacy of a fraction-vocabulary intervention for Grade 4 students with mathematics difficulty (MD) and to explore its impact on relevant fraction competencies. Thirty-three students were assigned to either the intervention condition (n = 16) or a business-as-usual comparison condition (n = 17). The intervention occurred 3 sessions per week for 4 weeks, for a total of 11 sessions. Results indicated the main effect of the fraction-vocabulary intervention was significant for fraction-vocabulary posttest and one fraction competency—fraction arithmetic. That is, students with MD can successfully learn fraction vocabulary via a brief intervention, and improved fraction-vocabulary knowledge may positively affect their fraction competencies.

Mixed-methods research can uniquely inform special education practice by combining qualitative and quantitative research approaches. However, its distinct features can also make mixed-methods research difficult to understand and apply. In this article, we provide an introduction to mixed-methods research purposes, designs, and quality considerations to help practitioners critically consume and apply this type of research when working with students with learning disabilities and their families. We describe three sample research studies to illustrate mixed-methods designs and contributions. Our take-home message is that mixed-methods research (a) requires unique research practices to meaningfully combine qualitative and quantitative research approaches in a single study and (b) can be particularly useful for informing special education practice in real-world contexts.

Bayesian latent change score modeling (LCSM) was used to compare models of triannual (fall, winter, spring) change on elementary math computation and concepts/applications curriculum-based measures. Data were collected from elementary students in Grades 2–5, approximately 700 to 850 students in each grade (47%–54% female; 78%–79% White, 10%–11% Black, 2%–4% Hispanic/Latino, 2%–4% Asian, 2–4% Native American or Pacific Islander; 13%–14% English learner; 10%–14% had special education individualized education plans). Results converged with common nonlinear growth patterns from the assessment norms and prior independent findings. However, Bayesian LCSMs captured practically relevant sources of change not observed in prior studies. Practical and methodological implications for screening and data-based decision-making in multitiered systems of support, limitations, and future directions are discussed.