Learning Disability Quarterly

Twenty-four empirical investigations of tutoring interventions were evaluated. Although all authors favored their use, equivocal results were reported. Particularly weak were substantiated reports of social benefits to tutors or tutees. Methodological problems associated with such research in field settings are discussed, and implications for future research are given.

This study examined learning disabled students' spelling performance in response to strategy training and variations in study conditions. After training in the use of a five-step study strategy, subjects studied spelling words under one of three conditions: (a) directed study; (b) student-controlled; and (c) teacher-monitored. Students assigned to a control group studied words in any manner they chose. Results indicated that students who were taught the five-step study strategy recalled the correct spelling of more words than controls who devised their own study method. However, the spelling performance of students who received strategy training was not differentially affected by variations in study conditions. Results were interpreted to suggest that learning disabled students' spelling difficulties are associated with problems in self-regulation of organized, strategic behavior.

Positive social behaviors and peer acceptance of 100 mainstreamed learning disabled and 100 nonhandicapped children were compared. Highly significant differences between the two groups were found in peer acceptance as well as the social skill domains of task-related, interpersonal, environmentally and self-related behaviors. Deficits were evident in both school and home settings and were consistent across teacher, parent, and peer judges. Implications of the findings are discussed in terms of behavioral repertoires expected by teachers, the low priority assigned to social skills by teachers, and the conceptualization of behavioral ratings as mediators between actual behavior and important social outcomes for learning disabled children.

Of the 26,147 twelfth-graders on whom survey data from the national High School and Beyond study were complete, 439 (1.7%) identified themselves as having specific learning disabilities. Comparisons between the data on these students and those on their nonimpaired peers showed that the learning disabled group (a) was older, (b) included a disproportionately high number of minority members, and (c) reported significantly more other handicapping conditions. Likewise, the learning disabled students scored significantly lower on all measures of academic achievement tested and on most indices of self-esteem and motivation. They also reported more serious trouble with the law. Parity was only uncovered on such variables as amount of television viewing and school-based extracurricular activities. Implications of the findings are discussed.

Teachers completed rating scales on learning disabled male and female students ranging in age from 6 to 18 years. Responses were factor-analyzed to identify characteristic behavior problems of the learning disabled. While replicating findings from previous studies, the results revealed some important differences, that is, problems found to be characteristic of the learning disabled students differed according to sex and age level. These findings have implications for understanding the nature of learning disabilities and for designing appropriate educational programs for learning disabled students.

The regular classroom sociometric status of learning disabled (LD) and nonhandicapped (NH) high-school students was examined. Forty-six LD students who attended regular classes for portions of the school day were matched with an equal number of NH students in 6 schools. A sociometric rating scale, the Ohio Social Acceptance Scale (OSAS), was administered in 32 physical education classes enrolling LD students. LD and NH students were found not to differ significantly in regular classroom sociometric status. In addition, LD pupils were as well known as their matched peers and rated fellow LD students in the same classes higher than did NH raters. The findings are inconsistent with those of previous studies involving younger students by suggesting that regular classrooms can be socially rewarding for LD adolescents.

The regular classroom behaviors of learning disabled and average fourth-and fifth-grade males were observed for an average of 80 minutes per student. Multiple-regression and discriminant-analysis procedures were used to ascertain which behaviors best discriminated among the two subject groups. A multiple regression revealed 11 behaviors, accounting for 71% of the variance. Separate discriminant analyses were run on child behaviors, teacher behaviors, and child and teacher behaviors combined. Only the teacher behaviors and the combination of child and teacher behaviors produced significant results. No child behaviors were found to discriminate between the two groups. Implications are drawn for assessment of learning disabled students.

Thirty-two LD and 32 average elementary students, matched by grade, read under three conditions: a classroom group condition, an individual (child and examiner) condition, and an individual restatement condition, requiring subjects to summarize, or restate, the contents of each paragraph during passage reading. Overall results of comprehension tests failed to confirm predicted differential effects of conditions on attentional control. The performance pattern across conditions was the same for both reader groups, although LD students' comprehension was considerably lower than that of their average peers. The condition requiring restatements resulted in superior performance for both reader groups suggesting that average as well as LD readers did not always process the texts actively under the group and individual reading conditions.

Teacher interactions with handicapped and nonhandicapped students in 38 mainstreamed classrooms were observed using an interval time-sampling procedure and behavioral categories derived from the Brophy-Good Teacher-Child Dyadic Interaction System. Six aspects of teacher-student interactions were considered: Academic Questions, Extended Feedback, Praise, Criticism, Work Interactions, and Total Amount of Interactions. Results of discriminant analysis indicated that handicapped students received fewer questions and were provided with less teacher feedback than their nonhandicapped peers. It was concluded, therefore, that mainstreamed handicapped students were less involved in academic exchanges than the nonhandicapped subjects.

The performance instability of learning disabled (LD), emotionally handicapped (EH), and nonhandicapped (NH) children was compared. Employing two contrasting strategies of repeated measurement, we administered three third-grade reading passages to 50 LD, 37 EH, and 40 NH children. First, subjects were tested on a different reading passage once a week for 3 consecutive weeks; second, pupils were tested on three passages in one sitting. Analyses of covariance were run on a stability index calculated on the number of words read correctly during each administration. On both sets of measurements, LD and EH pupils demonstrated similar instability. On the first repeated measures, the NH pupils' performance instability was greater than that of the handicapped students; on the second repeated measures, however, no difference was found between NH and handicapped children's variability. Implications for the diagnosis and treatment of LD and other exceptional children are discussed.

Spelling accuracy and error patterns were assessed to determine the consistency of learning disabled subjects' spelling performance on varying forms of word presentations. A dictated word list assessment and a dictated paragraph assessment were administered to 20 learning disabled students in third through sixth grade. A detailed error analysis, based on phonetic principles and predictable generalizations, was performed on all misspelled words. Results indicated that the learning disabled subjects' spelling accuracy was consistent across the two dictation formats. This consistency did not vary greatly between good and poor spellers. Comparisons of the two forms of dictated presentations revealed that the specific types of spelling errors demonstrated also were quite consistent. Such error-pattern consistency indicates that the learning disabled subjects utilized systematic approaches to spelling dictated words. Hence, the findings support the use of diagnostic error-analysis techniques with learning disabled students, as well as a structured approach to the teaching of spelling related to orthography patterns.