Instructional Strategies Used by General Educators and Teachers of Students with Learning Disabilities

Abstract

A survey was conducted to determine the instructional strategies used by special education teachers and general educators in teaching reading and writing, their philosophical approach (direct instruction or whole language), and what influenced teachers in making their philosophical decision. a 21-item questionnaire was completed by 183 elementary teachers of second and fifth grades and teachers of students with learning disabilities. the results indicated that the most important factor influencing respondents' philosophical decisions in teaching reading and writing is their teacher training program emphasis. results also indicated that the majority of respondents believe that a combination approach using both direct instruction and whole language is effective. the most commonly used instructional strategies by respondents include journal writing, writers' workshop, tradebooks, sustained silent reading, individualized reading, guided reading, and thematic units.

The inadequacy of individual educational program (IEP) goals for high school students with word-level reading difficulties

“…Although the extent to which IEP goals and objectives translate to actual practice is not well known, the IEPs contained in this study may reflect common educational practice, and, by extension, special education practice. The study reviewed earlier by Drecktrah and Chiang (1997) is indicative of this trend.…”

“…For example, Drecktrah and Chiang (1997) sampled 300 elementary school teachers in Wisconsin and found that phonics instruction was used considerably more by second grade teachers than by fifth grade teachers, whether taught in separate lessons or embedded in context. In that study, elementary school teachers of learning disabled students in different grades reported higher rates of explicit phonics techniques compared to the regular classroom teachers in the fifth grade, but not in the second grade.…”

Opinions of Special Education Teachers about Teaching Reading and Writing to Mentally Retarded Children

“…Öncelikli amaç, okuma ve yazmanın anlamını öğretme, okuduğunu anlama ve sözcükler arasında anlamsal ilişkiler kurma iken, fonik analiz bu beceriler kazandırıldıktan sonra öğretilir. Fonik analiz becerileri öğretilirken de rastgele ve az yapılandırılmış bir öğretim yapılır (Drecktrah, Chiang, 1997;O'Shea, O'Shea, Algozzine, 1998). Beraber kitap okuma, sessiz okuma, koro halinde okuma ve sesli okumalar yaklaşımın eğitim uygulamalarındandır (Katims, 1996;Mandlebaum, 1988;O'Shea ve diğerleri, 1998).…”

Literature Circles for Students With Learning Disabilities

“…Even though research has demonstrated the effectiveness of literature circles for general education classrooms, teachers of students with learning disabilities have not embraced this strategy with the same enthusiasm as their colleagues have. In fact, when Drecktrah and Chiang (1997) surveyed general educators and special education teachers in reference to instructional strategies used for teaching reading and writing, they found that only 24% of elementary-grade teachers who work with students with learning disabilities had used this strategy, compared with 44% of the second-grade teachers and 48% of fifth-grade teachers in general education. However, teachers of students with disabilities who have implemented this strategy have found promising results (Blum, Lipsett, & Yocum, 2002).…”