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

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

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

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

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

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

Many schools now screen students for dyslexia in early grades. However, there are valid concerns that these screeners may be biased or ineffective at screening students who are not yet proficient in English (i.e., English Learners; ELs). The present study examined the performance of 54 first graders on a dyslexia screener. Results showed that students who were ELs performed similarly to their peers

This study examined the influence of addition and subtraction practice embedded within a word-problem intervention for Grade 3 students experiencing word-problem difficulty. Students (N = 448) were randomly assigned to one of two variants of a word-problem intervention or a business-as-usual comparison condition. Within the word-problem interventions, students participated in targeted addition and

Single-case research designs are useful for learning disability researchers interested in refining novel interventions (e.g., new mathematics intervention) before scaling, small n populations (e.g., students with comorbid learning and emotional and behavioral disabilities), and testing unique conditions (e.g., remote locales). Much attention has been devoted to developing research quality standards

This study was designed to determine how special education teachers (SETs) in Saudi Arabia perceive their self-efficacy in implementing social–emotional learning (SEL) practices to support students with learning disabilities (LD). The data were collected by surveying 109 SETs of students with LD who teach at elementary and middle schools in Riyadh. The findings demonstrate that SETs had low to moderate

This study examined the emotional costs and well-being of postsecondary students with learning disabilities (LD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) who faced a sudden shift to emergency remote teaching (ERT) during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study was conducted with 237 postsecondary students in Israel from June to July 2020. With regard to online learning, the LD/ADHD subjects reported

This meta-analysis synthesized 97 effect sizes extracted from 37 intervention studies for students with reading difficulties (RDs) in Grades 6 to 12 published between 1982 and 2021 to identify the overall impact of reading interventions and the moderating effects of intervention characteristics and study design characteristics. Random-effects robust variance estimation (RVE) was used to account for

This study examined incremental change for several reading component skills while adolescents were actively learning a word-level intervention and measured pre-/postintervention change in skills. Six ninth graders in two different classes participated during the 2019–2020 academic year. Primary analysis was based on an A-B single-case design across behaviors and participants to observe change in skills

Progress monitoring using curriculum-based measures administered to a student at multiple points in time is common in educational settings. Recent research has demonstrated that common approaches to identifying individuals in need of special services, such as the trend line or median techniques, can be negatively impacted by the nonlinear change in scores over time. The purpose of this study was to

Middle school students with learning disabilities often struggle with reading and literacy skills, including vocabulary, and require support in content-area classes such as mathematics where weak vocabulary knowledge can negatively affect learning, achievement, and deep understanding. However, in general, middle school mathematics teachers do not receive training in literacy instruction, much less

This exploratory, qualitative study investigated the perceptions of Saudi Arabian parents of elementary school-aged children with learning disabilities with regard to their involvement in their children's education. Guided by results of previous research conducted primarily with Western samples, and using a semistructured interview methodology followed by thematic phenomenological analyses, specific

Higher education students with specific learning disorders (SLD) often experience difficulties in basic learning skills, including typing on computers, which has become the most common writing mode for academic purposes. This may affect their academic performance. We compared the typing performance, product, and technique (screen gaze, finger use) of 35 SLD and 30 typically developing (TD) students

Comprehensive schoolwide initiatives like integrated multitiered systems of support (I-MTSS) and universal design for learning (UDL) present opportunities for large-scale impact on improving teacher instructional practices and, therefore, student outcomes. Specifically, implementing I-MTSS and UDL concurrently presents an opportunity to enhance and improve universal instruction for all students. This

Rubrics can be used to give students targeted feedback on their writing and, therefore, teachers should be able to use them as a type of formative assessment to guide writing instruction. This article describes an exploratory study of how three teachers provided instruction for fourth, fifth, and seventh graders with learning disabilities and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in using a technology-based

Increased expectations for writing performance have created a need for formative writing assessments that will help middle school teachers better understand adolescents’ grade-appropriate writing skills and monitor the progress of students with or at risk for writing disabilities. In this practice piece, we first explain research-based recommendations for high-quality writing prompts that are interesting

Assessing implementation allows for a better understanding of an intervention's effects and the mechanisms that influence its impact. Two main areas of implementation are (a) the quality with which an intervention is delivered and (b) instructors’ adherence to the programmed intervention. The current study used data from a kindergarten mathematics intervention program to (a) examine if and how treatment

This study investigated the effects of a place value intervention with third-grade students with learning disabilities. The intervention added content to a research-based intervention using the concrete-representational-abstract (CRA) sequence. The added content reflected current mathematics standards for third grade. Students’ place value understanding was measured using probes in which students had

This investigation examined the impact of preintervention word-reading ability on reading comprehension outcomes for ninth graders with learning disabilities, reading difficulties, and English learners in treatment and comparison conditions. Secondary data analyses were conducted for two separate but related experimental studies of intensive reading interventions. Both studies provided yearlong intensive

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

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

The purpose of this article is to describe a 40+ year journey during which researchers have endeavored to design and evaluate an integrated, empirically based reading intervention for secondary students and to chronicle the lessons learned as well as suggest future directions for this type of work. Initial development of the intervention began in the 1980s with individual studies, each focused on one

Using a cross-sectional design, this study examined the relationships between parental guilt, shame, need frustration, and homework stress in students with learning disabilities (LD) and typically developing students (TD) and their parents. One hundred and eight parent-child dyads (54 LD, 54 TD) completed questionnaires to assess homework stress, parental need frustration, guilt, and shame. Parents

This study examined the extent to which cognitive ability index scores predicted multidisciplinary teams’ (MDT) SLD identification within a response-to-intervention (RtI) method after accounting for RtI slope and norm-referenced achievement scores. Results showed that four achievement composite scores (i.e., basic reading, reading comprehension, math computation, and math problem solving) and two cognitive

This study meta-analyzed the last four decades (1980–2020) of reading intervention research focused on improving reading outcomes for English language (EL) students in Grades K–5 with or at risk for word reading difficulties. Experimental and quasi-experimental group design and single-case experimental design (SCED) studies were included; 10 group design and 7 SCED studies met inclusion criteria (m

Studying the oral language growth of Spanish-speaking preschoolers in the United States is increasingly important given the critical role early language development plays in reading outcomes. In this article, we report on the Spanish and English growth trajectories observed in 124 bilingual preschoolers collected over 2 years in 36 classrooms across 5 states and the associations of growth in each language

This review and case example describes the key components of elementary reading instruction and intervention within multitiered systems of supports (MTSS) and ways to enhance and scaffold reading instruction and intervention for language as a means of supporting the learning of students who are emergent multilingual (EM) learners. First, we provide an overview of elementary reading comprehension skills

Meeting the needs of English learners (ELs) effectively must be an individualized, purposeful, and data-driven process. Progress monitoring can help practitioners to target their EL students’ most significant academic and linguistic needs and, subsequently, develop and deliver instructional programming that may help students develop to their fullest potential with regards to language acquisition as

Eliciting student thinking during mathematics instruction allows teachers to choose tasks with high cognitive demand while also engaging students to use productive struggle to solve mathematical problems, thus increasing their conceptual understanding. Often, students who require intensive intervention in mathematics, in particular, students who are English learners, are not able to participate in

This exploratory study determined the relationship between math instructional activities in Wave (year) 1 and English language learner (ELL) children's math problem-solving performance in Wave (year) 2. The math performance of ELL children (N = 291) in Grades 1, 2, and 3 was tested in two testing waves. Two major findings emerged. First, strategy instruction, peer interaction, and explicit instruction

Reading nonfiction texts with understanding is important to school success, yet many students struggle to do so. This randomized controlled trial extends previous research by contrasting an earlier iteration of a comprehension tutoring program (Comp) against a variant with strategies for transferring learning (Comp+Transfer). Participants were 189 fourth and fifth graders with weak reading comprehension

For some students, online learning, particularly as it relates to the COVID-19 pandemic, can have negative implications for self-efficacy, fatigue, and burnout. One way to combat these negative outcomes is for institutions to support students’ basic psychological needs (BPNs) of autonomy, relatedness, and competence. However, online learning may also frustrate students’ BPNs, particularly if they have

The first purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence of risk for comorbid reading and mathematics disabilities (RMD) at start of first grade, when measured in a representative sample of 3,062 students with first-grade fluency measures (word reading; computation). The second purpose was to examine the utility of these measures for predicting RMD status within a sample of 577 students when RMD

This study examined the co-occurrence of word reading difficulty in Chinese (L1) and English as a second language (L2) and tested language and executive functioning (EF) skills as correlates. Thirty-nine poor readers in Chinese (PC), 39 poor readers in English (PE), and 26 poor readers of both languages (PB) were compared to 39 average readers who served as controls (C). The co-occurrence rate of L1–L2

The purpose of the systematic review of mathematics intervention syntheses was to identify patterns and gaps in content areas, instructional strategies, effect sizes, and definitions of learning disabilities (LD), mathematics LD (MLD), and mathematics difficulty (MD). Using rigorous inclusion criteria, we evaluated 36 syntheses that included 836 studies with 32,495 participants. Although each synthesis

Word-problem features such as text complexity, charts and graphs, position of the unknown, calculation complexity, irrelevant information, and schemas impact word-problem performance. We compared the word-problem performance of typically achieving (TA) students and students with mathematics difficulty (MD). First, we measured the word-problem performance of all students for schemas and position of

This article explains how teams of special educators, science teachers, literacy consultants, and administrators can use the Disciplinary Literacy Observation Tool (DLOT) and accompanying planning tool to improve disciplinary literacy instruction in inclusive secondary science classrooms. The DLOT was developed in partnership with practitioners as a tool for professional development and coaching. First

Qualitative research methods are used within special education research to provide insights about how and why phenomena occur. They can, however, be misunderstood and applied inappropriately. Our aim in this article is to provide an overview of qualitative methods, including their purpose, contributions to research involving students with learning disabilities, limitations, and quality indicators for

In this synthesis, we examined and assessed the impact of self-regulated instructional components on the motivation of students with or at risk for learning disabilities (LD) in reading, writing, or mathematics intervention studies. Elements such as goal setting, self-monitoring for task completion, self-monitoring for emotions, self-talk for task completion, self-talk for emotions, and self-talk for

Effective early mathematics instruction is critical to support long-term mathematics achievement. Given that student response to typical instruction varies, a range of mathematics interventions have been developed to support foundational mathematics development. However, not all students respond to these interventions. To better understand factors associated with intervention response, the current

In this systematic review, we explored mathematics interventions for middle school (Grades 6, 7, and 8) implemented with students who experienced difficulty in the area of mathematics, including students with an identified learning disability in mathematics. A total of 72 single-subject and group comparison studies met inclusion criteria, with 59 studies demonstrating positive effects on student-level

Fluent production of a variety of grammatically correct sentences is essential to overall writing quality across genres. Sentence-production skills become increasingly important as students prepare to transition from the elementary grades to middle-school. Many students in the upper-elementary grades, however, struggle with sentence production skills—especially writers with a learning disability. This

This study investigated the relationship between parental cognitions, coping styles, and stress in parents of children with learning disabilities. More specifically, parental beliefs about self-efficacy and satisfaction in the parenting role were examined in relation to parenting stress. Furthermore, the relationship between parenting stress and problem-focused and emotion-focused coping styles was

Self-regulated strategy development (SRSD) is an instructional framework considered to be an evidence-based practice in writing. In this article, SRSD's foundations and structure is briefly described. Then, the authors provide a summary of studies of SRSD applied across content areas, including writing, reading, mathematics, science, and social studies along with an introduction to the special issue

Students with mathematics difficulties often struggle with conceptual and procedural understanding of fractions. Self-regulated strategy development (SRSD) is an evidence-based framework for teaching a variety of academic skills, including mathematics. The purpose of this study was to extend preliminary work using SRSD Fractions to support the fraction performance of fourth-grade students with mathematics

This article will discuss ways to use self-regulated strategy development for argumentative writing across content areas. The goal of self-regulated strategy development is for students to generalize the use of the strategy across settings, allowing them to become fluent and proficient writers in all areas. In addition, the generalization of the strategy across settings increases maintenance of skills

This article is the first part of a two-part article focusing on the 35-year journey of a team of researchers as they navigated the research-to-practice road related to the development of the Content Enhancement Routines, instructional routines to be used during inclusive subject-area instruction. Part I tells the story of the first half of that journey and highlights the original validation research

This article is the second part of a two-part article focusing on research that has been conducted on Content Enhancement Routines, instructional routines developed to be used during inclusive subject-area instruction. Part I of this article (Schumaker and Fisher, 2021) reviews the original validation studies that were conducted on four Content Enhancement Routines. This second part of the article

Since its inception, a premise of special education has been to provide students with disabilities with an appropriate education. The interpretation of appropriate has evolved across eras of special education. For students with learning disabilities, emphases on inclusion and high-stakes achievement have eroded the intention of FAPE. It is time for a re-envisioning of FAPE. A new vision should not

Writing is an essential academic skill that proves challenging for many learners both with and without diagnosed learning disabilities. In this multiple probe across participants study, a fifth-grade special educator in an inclusive setting implemented Self-regulated Strategy Development for the informational genre. Eight Black students participated—five had IEPs, three were referred by teachers. Research

This study investigated the effect of the self-regulated strategy development (SRSD) instructional approach on the reading comprehension of systems-involved youth served in a secure juvenile justice setting. Using a cluster randomized controlled trial (CRT) pretest/posttest design, youth in the treatment group were taught the TRAP mnemonic (Think before reading, Read the paragraph, Ask yourself what

Specially designed instruction (SDI) is at the heart of special education. The broad legal definition of SDI allows special educators to customize it for students, but could lead to role ambiguity, particularly in inclusive classes where most students with learning disabilities receive services. To examine interpretations of SDI, we conducted a systematic literature review. We identified 73 relevant

We examined the relationships of two aspects of reading motivation with reading fluency performance in 79 third- to sixth-grade Hebrew-speaking students with reading disabilities. Reading fluency tests were administered, in addition to a reading motivation questionnaire (MRP-R), all of which examined students' self-concept as readers, as well as the value they attach to reading. Correlations were found

Single-case research designs (SCRDs) are rigorous methods used to investigate the effects of interventions on socially important outcomes. A hallmark of SCRDs is repeated measurement of observable behavior presented in time-series graphs. The construction of time-series graphs can inflate Type I or Type II errors made via visual analysis. In the current investigation, we included all SCRDs published

We quantitatively synthesized findings of quasi-experimental and randomized control studies of interventions designed to improve the mathematics achievement of secondary school students with mathematics difficulties (MD). We identified 45 studies (49 interventions) published between 1978 and 2020 and classified interventions into five categories: technology-based interventions (TBI), schema-based interventions