Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2002. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 151-180). Also available on the Internet.

This experimental study was conducted to examine the relative effectiveness of a Repeated Reading (RR) and Wide Reading (WR) intervention when compared to typical instruction on secondary struggling readers' comprehension, fluency, and word reading. The sample consisted of a total of 96 students (9th through 12th grade) ranging in age from 13-17 in special education reading and English classrooms. Participants included students with learning disabilities (LD), dyslexia, or students selected as students with significant reading difficulties. The investigator paired students on variables of interest (i.e., reading level) within classes and then randomly assigned pairs to one of three groups: repeated reading (N=33), wide reading (N=34), or typical instruction (N=29). Tutors, trained by the investigator, monitored students as they worked in pairs in each treatment condition. Intervention was provided daily for approximately 15-20 minutes for 10 weeks. Treatment effects for each outcome measure were estimated using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). Results indicate no overall statistically significant differences for any condition. Effects ranged from -.81 to .28 usually hovering around no effect or favoring the C condition over the treatment conditions or favoring the RR condition over the WR condition. Five separate ANCOVAs were conducted using the following dependent variables with each pretest score used as a covariate: (1) Woodcock Johnson Tests of Achievement III (WJIII) Passage Comprehension subtest (RR vs. C = -.10; WR vs. C = -.20; RR vs. WR= .10); (2) Test of Silent Reading Fluency (TOSRE) (RR vs. C =.-31; WR vs. C = -.81; RR vs. WR= .10); (3) Woodcock Johnson Tests of Achievement III (WJIII) Letter-Word Identification subtest (RR vs. C = -.05; WR vs. C = -.11; RR vs. WR = .06); (4) AIMSWeb Oral Reading Fluency System (RR vs. C = -.08; WR vs. C = -.26; RR vs. WR= .18); and (5) Test of Silent Contextual Reading Fluency (RR vs. C =.28; WR vs. C = -.01; RR vs. WR= .28). Results indicate that neither RR nor WR should be implemented for secondary readers with significant reading difficulties and more research into ways to make fluency instruction more explicit and instructional for these students is warranted.

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published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

Coping behaviour, perceived control, and the self concept of elementary school children with learning disabilities educated in regular and special education classrooms was examined using a comparative design. In addition, the influence of teachers' classroom management orientation on children's self-perceptions and coping behaviour was investigated. Children attending a special school for students with learning disabilities were found to be more adaptive copers than children in special education classes in regular schools, children receiving resource room assistance, and children mainstreamed in regular classes. Children with learning disabilities were found to have positive perceptions of their global self-worth regardless of the type of class they were in, although they indicated less confidence in their academic abilities compared to their self-perceptions of physical appearance and athletic competence. In general, most children believed that they were responsible for their academic successes and at the same time perceived academic failure as unavoidable. The students who coped most effectively demonstrated the most realistic appraisals of their academic situation. They recognized that they could not control academic failure, however, they believed that the best way to succeed in school was by continuing to exert effort. Additionally, successful copers held high expectations for future academic success and believed that they possessed the capacities needed to achieve this success. Children who coped most effectively strongly endorsed beliefs in their capacity to have a positive relationship with their teachers. Children who were rated as effective copers had teachers whose instructional orientation promoted autonomous functioning in their students.

No description available.

Students with learning disabilities (LD) have been found to exhibit social difficulties compared to those without LD (Wong, 2004). Recognition, expression, and understanding of facial expressions of emotions have been shown to be important for social functioning (Custrini & Feldman, 1989; Philippot & Feldman, 1990). LD subtypes have been studied (Rourke, 1999) and children with nonverbal learning disabilities (NVLD) have been observed to be worse at recognizing facial expressions compared to children with verbal learning disabilities (VLD), no learning disability (NLD; Dimitrovsky, Spector, Levy-Shiff, & Vakil, 1998; Dimitrovsky, Spector, & Levy-Shiff, 2000), and those with psychiatric difficulties without LD controls (Petti, Voelker, Shore, & Hyman-Abello, 2003). However, little has been done in this area with adolescents with NVLD. Recognition, expression and understanding facial expressions of emotion, as well as general social functioning have yet to be studied simultaneously among adolescents with NVLD, NLD, and general learning disabilities (GLD). The purpose of this study was to examine abilities of adolescents with NVLD, GLD, and without LD to recognize, express, and understand facial expressions of emotion, in addition to their general social functioning. / Adolescents aged 12 to 15 were screened for LD and NLD using the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children---Third Edition (WISC-III; Weschler, 1991) and the Wide Range Achievement Test---Third Edition (WRAT3; Wilkinson, 1993) and subtyped into NVLD and GLD groups based on the WRAT3. The NVLD ( n = 23), matched NLD (n = 23), and a comparable GLD (n = 23) group completed attention, mood, and neuropsychological measures. The adolescent's ability to recognize (Pictures of Facial Affect; Ekman & Friesen, 1976), express, and understand facial expressions of emotion, and their general social functioning was assessed. Results indicated that the GLD group was significantly less accurate at recognizing and understanding facial expressions of emotion compared to the NVLD and NLD groups, who did not differ from each other. No differences emerged between the NVLD, NLD, and GLD groups on the expression or social functioning tasks. The neuropsychological measures did not account for a significant portion of the variance on the emotion tasks. Implications regarding severity of LD are discussed.

The purpose of this study is to illuminate the lived experiences of children with specific learning disability in an attempt to move beyond the deficit and reductionist models of theorizing learning disabilities that currently inform our understanding. A paradigm shift is proposed, a shift in focus towards a holistic or comprehensive view of the person with learning disability. By viewing the phenomenon from the inside, as it were, I shift my focus from “what it is” to “how it is experienced” (Hall, 1998). It is suggested that a change in focus from the deficit to the whole child in his context will better inform practice This research follows the empirical phenomenological tradition, a qualitative analysis of everyday accounts of living with LD. Justification is given for using life history methodology in order to garner insights into the experiences of a child with learning disability. Five informants between the ages of 12 and 14 years were selected to participate in this study. A multi-method approach to data collection was used. Data were collected from a number of sources, including audio journals kept by participants, guided conversations typical of life history research and visual representations such as collages or life maps submitted by the participants. Data, interpreted on multiple levels, are represented in narrative form. Findings challenge current thinking around inclusive education by suggesting that learners with LD experience exclusion in a system meant to create a sense of inclusion. It is in the mainstream that the “identity as LD” is constructed because of the comparison to the performance of peers who do not have LD. However in a specialised educational environment where peers all presented with the same learning differences, difficulties and styles, instead of comparison there is a sameness. I suggest that this leads to the development of an “identity as capable.” Finally there is much we can learn about pedagogical intervention or management from these informants’ experience of LD. / Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.

The questions investigated concerned the social problem solving skills of 41 learning disabled (LD) students compared to 41 typical students in grades 10, 11, and 12. Since (a) LD students are generally described as impulsive, lacking in social judgment, and unaware of consequences; since (b) these social problems have been described as some of the most devastating for LD students as they interfere with their everyday adaptation to living; since (c) social decision making has been found to be somewhat correlated with mental and emotional health and the self-concept; since (d) studies have indicated a range of from 26% to 73% of the criminal population have a Learning Disability - indicating a difficulty in adapting to society; it appears very important that we find ways to improve the social adaptation of LD persons. This study was a beginning of research with this goal in mind.The questions investigated were: 1) are LD students as good as Non-LD in social problem solving, as measured by the number of solutions they can spontaneously generate to presented social situations; 2) do LD students tend to select the same categories of response to social conflicts as non-LD students, as measured by their choices from a group of predetermined solutions to the same presented social conflict situations; are LD student's self evaluations of their problem solving ability as accurate as the self evaluations of non-LD student's as measured by their responses on a revised version of the Problem Solving Inventory and their ability to generate solutions to problem situations. First, the social situations, revisions of situations from the MeansEnds Problem Solving test, were read by the tester while the student followed along with a printed copy of the text. The student was informed as to what he preferred to do and what he was expected to do. After hearing the social conflict, he was then instructed, "In one minute, tell me as many ways as you can that you would deal with this this situation." Thus, no inappropriate behaviors were suggested. Second, the student was presented the same social situations in the same manner. He was then presented eight choices. He was told, "From the following choices, circle the letters next to the four choices you would most likely use to deal with this situation". The goal of the experiment was to determine if the LD person would choose the same types of strategies for adapting as the typical student. As there were no pre and post tests, the names of the individuals were not required, only whether or not they were LD and possibly their grade level. This would guarantee confidentiality. Tests were administered individually for generating solutions and in small groups where answers could be written.Next, the experiment attempted to determine if there is a relationship between one's ability to generate solutions and their self-rating as problem solvers. A modified version of Heppner's Problem Solving Inventory was prepared. It was believed that a statistical analysis of the two factors using LD and Non-LD students would give an indication of this relationship.The documents used in the test were: 1. the revision of the Means-Ends Problem Solving Test and 2. the revision of the Problem Solving Inventory. These are attached to this document in the appendices.The results of the study indicated that there is no statistically significant difference between the LD and the Non-LD students ability to generate solutions to the problem solving situations. There was no statistically significant difference in the self-evaluated problem solving ability of the two groups. There was a statistically very significant difference in the type of response category selected by the LD students when compared with non-LD students. / Department of Special Education

The present study was an attempt to look at the empirical classification of children's learning disabilities based on neuropsychological variables at differing IQ levels. Subjects were divided into four groups based upon Full Scale IQ (i.e., 70-79, 8089, 90-99, 100-110). Subsequent clustering of the test data within each group suggested that while the students in the 70-79 IQ range were represented by a single impaired cluster, each of the other IQ groups had both a moderately impaired cluster and a non-impaired cluster. The study attempted to respond to criticisms of previous research by using a large sample of subjects (N = 928), utilizing a broad range of subjects with a representative sample of abilities, and applying an interpretable structure to the cluster analysis (i.e., neuropsychological variables within IQ levels). The present research further offered a perspective on programming by way of neuropsychological functioning. As such, the results argued for placement procedures for learning disabled children that are apart from those formulas relative to achievement and intelligence. / Department of Educational Psychology