Exploring the Reading and Listening Skills of Secondary Mildly Handicapped Students

Abstract

Nonreading curricula are being proposed for mildly handicapped students mainstreamed in secondary classrooms. In this study, three probes investigated various conditions for acquiring textbook content through listening and reading utilizing simulated classroom assignments. Statistical analysis showed that reading test scores seemed to have little relationship to performance on the textbook assignments for either reading or listening conditions. The results of the probes indicated that listening to textbook content was generally as effective as or more effective than reading textbook content, but on all probes there was a high degree of variability in performance. The findings seem to suggest that teachers of content courses may need to explore reading and listening performance employing the materials used in class rather than relying on the results of standardized tests to make instructional decisions. Implications for teachers are discussed.