Note‐Taking and Secondary Students with Learning Disabilities: Challenges and Solutions

Abstract

As more secondary students with learning disabilities (LD) enroll in advanced content‐area classes and are expected to pass state exams, they are faced with the challenge of mastering difficult concepts and abstract vocabulary while learning content. Once in these classes, students must learn from lectures that move at a quick pace, record accurate and complete notes, and then demonstrate their mastery of the content on tests. This article provides an overview of the challenges faced by students with LD in content‐area classes and discusses the problems that students have learning from lectures and recording notes. Further, the article discusses theory and research related to note‐taking and presents note‐taking interventions that teachers can use to help students improve their note‐taking skills, and ultimately, improve their achievement in these classes.

The Effect of Mobile Technology as an Active Student Response System on the Acquisition of U.S. History Content of Secondary Students with Specific Learning Disabilities

“…Empirical research focused on ASR suggests the strategy supports student learning by: (a) providing repeated opportunities to respond, (b) actively engaging students in learning tasks, and (c) providing corrective feedback (Barbetta et al, 1993, Haydon et al, 2010). An additional strategy that benefits students with learning disabilities is the use of post lesson reviews to rehearse information and study new concepts and vocabulary (Boyle, 2012;Friend & Bursuck, 2012).…”

“…In this study, students with SLD showed learning gains when they studied from Quizlet on the iPad and when they studied using handwritten notes directly after a lesson and right before an assessment. Teachers of students who struggle with content area material should also consider introducing students to a note taking system so that students can learn how to organize new information and concepts in their notebooks (Boyle, 2012;Brower & Lobdell, 1999;Endacott, 2007;Fisher, 2001;Mallozzi & Heilbronner, 2013;Young, 2003).…”

“…Participants 2 and 7 had ascending trends for their last three data points indicating that additional sessions with the interactive notes intervention may have resulted in further learning gains. While literature in the field of education does support implementing note taking strategies for students with SLD and other disabilities (Boyle, 2012;Taylor et al, 2009), there are very few empirical studies that have explored the effectiveness of interactive notebooks. To this author's knowledge, there is only one such study in the literature.…”

“…Friend and Bursuck (2012) recommend implementing a post lesson review because it may help students with learning disabilities rehearse information and clarify confusing information from the lesson. Along these lines, Boyle (2012) suggests that students with learning disabilities benefit from the implementation of a post lesson review because it allows them to study key concepts and new vocabulary. When studying from notes, Boyle suggests that students with learning disabilities review their notes as soon as possible after the end of a lesson.…”

“…Secondary students with and without disabilities have traditionally scored poorly on exams assessing historical knowledge (Boyle, 2012;Patton, Polloway, & Cronin, 1987;Paxton, 2003) Along these lines, the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) also require students to engage in assessment activities that require high levels of literacy and critical thinking in history. In 2010, the National Governor's Association (NGA) initiated the implementation of the CCSS, a nationwide set of learning standards that were designed to be consistent across the United States and its territories.…”