published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

The purpose of this study was to examine the performances of learning disabled and normal children on the children's and adult's versions of the Pitch Pattern Sequence (PPS) Test, the 460 and 230 msec. versions of the Modified Pitch Pattern Sequence (MPPS) Test and the Sound Mimicry (SM) subtest of the Goldman-Fristoe-Woodcock (G-F-W) Test Battery and to examine correlations among these three instruments. In addition, the possibility that learning disabled children demonstrate more reversals than normal children was explored.Thirty eight subjects ranging in age from eight to 15 years who exhibited normal peripheral hearing and I.Q. scores above 80 were tested. Group A consisted of 20 children who did not appear to have learning disabilities. Group B consisted of 18 children who did appear to have learning disabilities.Results indicated that on the average, learning disabled children performed poorer than normal children on the children's and adult's versions of the PPS and the 460 and 2.30 msec. versions of the MPPS to a statistically significant degree. However, because the scores obtained by the two groups largely overlapped, it was concluded that these two instruments should not be used alone to diagnose learning disabilities. Results also indicated that learning disabled children perform poorer than normal children on the SM subtest of the G-F-W Test Battery. Because the scores obtained by the two groups had less overlap, it was concluded that this test offers the most promise as a test for identifying learning disabilities. However, research is indicated in order to further investigate the presently published norms.Correlations were found to be relatively high among the children's and adult's versions of the PPS and the 460 and 230 versions of the MPPS. However, the SM subtest was not strongly correlated with either the PPS or the MPPS.Finally, results indicated that learning disabled children demonstrate more reversals on the pitch pattern tests to a statistically significant degree. However, in view of overlapping scores between the two groups, it was concluded that the number of reversals is not a reliable means for identifying learning disabilities.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the listening comprehension of learning disabled (LD) students was affected by structure applied to a listening task with the variable of locus of control held as a constant. The study was also designed to investigate whether there were differences in locus of control orientation between normal and LD students. The following hypotheses were tested: 1. There will be no significant difference in listening comprehension between the learning disabled external locus of control group receiving the structured task and the learning disabled external locus of control group receiving the unstructured task. 2. There will be no significant difference in listening comprehension between the learning disabled internal locus of control group receiving the structured task and the learning disabled internal locus of control group receiving the unstructured task. 3. There will be no significant difference in listening comprehension between the normal external locus of control group receiving the structured task and the normal external locus of control group receiving the unstructured task. 4. There will be no significant difference in listening comprehension between the normal internal locus of control group receiving the structured task and the normal internal locus of control group receiving the unstructured task. 5. There will be no significant difference in locus of control orientation between the total normal group and the total learning disabled group. The subjects of this study were sixth, seventh, and eighth grade LD and normal students. They were selected from a population in Anderson, Indiana. For the sample, a total of 60 LD students from 11 schools, eight elementary and three secondary were obtained. The 60 normal students were chosen from two schools, one elementary and one secondary. Grade level and ages of the sample were approximately equivalent. Following selection of the sample, all students were administered the Nowicki-Strickland Locus of Control Scale for Children (NSSC). After the NSSC had been administered, 20 LD students, whose scores represented the highest 33.3% on the NSSC, and 20 LD students, whose scores represented the lowest 33.3% on the NSSC, were selected for the remaining portion of the study. The 20 LD students with the highest 33.3% of the scores were designated as external in their locus of control orientation (ELOC) while the 20 LD students whose scores represented the lowest 33.3% were designated as internal in their locus of control orientation (ILOC). The same procedures were followed in selecting the 40 normal students who were also classified as external or internal in their locus of control orientation.The LD and normal students were then administered four listening passages from the Analytical Reading Inventory. Two of the four passages were provided with structured introductions while the remaining two were not. Structured introductions were defined as the oral presentation of prelistening directions given to students in a counterbalanced fashion. They included both general information about the topic and the material to be read, and a preview of the sequence of events in the selection. Five null hypotheses were tested in this study. The first four hypotheses were examined using appropriate t-tests for planned comparisons after two two-way analyses of variance with repeated measures on the last factor were computed. Hypothesis number five was subjected to a t-test for independent groups. Using the .05 level of confidence as the predetermined criterion, only hypotheses number five was rejected. It was determined that LD students were significantly more external in their locus of control orientation than normal students. In the four instances where the hypotheses were not rejected, data indicated, for the LD and normal groups, that there were no significant differences in listening comprehension when the structured and unstructured introductions were administered. The findings of this study indicate, for these particular students, subject to the limitations of this investigation, that the presentation of structured introductions did not significantly improve the listening comprehension of LD subject. It was concluded, however, that LD subjects were operating on a more external locus of control orientation than normal subjects.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between language development and reading ccmprehension found among thirty-three learning disabled students (LD) and thirty-three students in programs supported by Chapter 1 funds. These sixty-six subjects were in grades three through five in eleven elementary schools in Anderson Community Schools, Anderson, Indiana.The relationships between the language features of syntax and semantics, the language systems of listening and speaking and the levels of reading comprehension were assessed with the Test of Language Development - Intermediate (TOLD-I) and the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Tests, Level B Form 1. The .05 level of significance was set for acceptance of sixteen null hypotheses.The multivariate analysis of variance, used to determine if an overall difference existed between the groups on the assessment measure, indicated that such a difference did not exist. The two-way analysis of variance between the dependent variables of reading comprehension extended scaled scores and the TOLD-I quotient scores for the LD and Chapter 1 students did not yield significant differences. The Pearson product-moment correlation yielded statistical significance but low correlation coefficients (below .40) for the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test (comprehension subtest) extended scaled scores and the TOLD-I quotients of Speaking, Semantics, Syntax, and Spoken language. All sixteen null hypothese were not rejected.

There is no abstract available for this dissertation.

The goal of the present research study was to develop, test, and evaluate a unit of study covering the topic of structure and function of living things with special emphasis on the human body. The unit of study was designed for slow learners at the secondary school level. A teacher's guide integrated with student materials was also developed. Relevancy and appropriateness of subject matter and teaching approaches for slow learners were considered in the development of the unit of study. A group-paced teacher-directed approach was selected as the basic method of instruction. The effectiveness of the unit of study was measured, by determining the significance of difference between pretest and posttest scores of the students involved in the testing program. The effectiveness of the unit of study was also assessed by means of student and teacher responses on an evaluation instrument.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1998. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [78]-89).

Thesis--Wisconsin. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 46-48).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1980. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 85-89).

Thesis--Wisconsin. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 65-69).