The authors conducted a synthesis of studies of reading comprehension interventions for middle school students (Grades 6-8) identified with a learning disability. They identified 12 studies between 1979 and 2009 with treatment and comparison designs and 2 single-participant studies. Findings from the studies indicate large effect sizes for researcher-developed comprehension measures. Few studies (n = 4) reported standardized measures of reading comprehension, which indicated medium effect sizes. The majority of study treatments (n = 13) utilized strategy instruction related to main idea or summarization.

This observational study examined changes in teachers' instruction and student outcomes in response to a 3‐year‐long professional development collaboration between university researchers and a middle‐school language arts team. Professional development supported teachers in implementing multimedia anchored instruction, a video‐based instructional method shown to be effective for diverse learners. The Integrated Curriculum Project (ICP‐3) used multimedia anchored instruction to promote constructivist reform and infuse technology into an integrated social studies and language arts curriculum to improve literacy and critical thinking skills for at‐risk adolescents, including students with disabilities and those from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Findings revealed that teachers moved toward a more learner‐centered instructional approach and that both teachers and students made significant changes in classroom behaviors, including the quantity and quality of questions and time spent in small‐group discussion. Implications for research and practice regarding sustained, collaborative professional development in technology integration, in this case, using multimedia anchored instruction, are presented. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Given the nature of their responsibilities in field-based settings, university supervisors play an important role in preparing pre-service teachers to become culturally responsive and critically reflective special educators. However, supervisors themselves may not have the experience and training necessary to do so, and limited guidance is available regarding effective mentorship practices to foster implementation of culturally and linguistically responsive pedagogy (CLRP) and critical reflection. This exploratory qualitative study examined how three supervisors engaged in post-observation conferences with their student teachers to promote critical reflection about CLRP using content and discourses analyses. Findings indicated that, although student teachers engaged in discussions about CLRP and were able to critically self-reflect, supervisors were unable to facilitate critical reflection vis-à-vis institutional practices and systemic bias. Theoretical and practical implications for supervision of practicum experiences in pre-service teacher education programs are offered.