Teaching Reading to Learning Disabled Students: A Review of Research-Supported Procedures

Abstract

According to a model presented by Graham (1985), several factors can jointly or independently affect students' pursuits during learning. The most important of these is the student's entry behavior. The knowledge, skills, motivation, and so forth that students bring to the task can have a powerful impact on learning. A student's classroom peers also can have a direct influence (either positive or negative) on pupil pursuits. In co'operative learning situations, for example, peers can affect a student's pursuits through encouragement or by offering assistance. The student's teacher represents a third and powerful factor that can directly affect a pupil's pursuits. Teachers can (a) direct and support the actions of students through the external provisions of the lesson; (b) attempt to change the student's entry behaviors into more preferred ones; and (c) develop arrangements that promote mutual assistance among students during learning. Although Graham's model only briefly mentioned the role of the family, the actions of a child's parents or guardians also can have a strong impact on student learning.This article focuses primarily on the effects of teacher behaviors and activities. First, it examines research-based teacher-directed activities administered before, during, or after the lesson (or any combination of these). Next, it presents procedures that teachers can use to change students_' entry behaviors (both reading skills and strategic behaviors). Finally, it discusses teachers' arrangement of peers and the impact of the student's family. TEACHER ARRANGEMENT OF THE READING LESSON Selecting Reading MaterialOne of the most important tasks in. designing an effective lesson is to select or construct materials that are attractive, well organized, and at the appropriate level (Graham, 1985). In reading, teachers and researchers commonly classify materials as being at the student's independent (easy to read), or instructional (difficult enough to require teacher Steve Graham is an Associate Professor and LeAnn Johnson is a Doctoral Candidate, both in the Special Education Department at the University of Maryland. Most of the studies included in this review were conducted with students in elementary or secondary schools who had been identified as LO by the researchers or the participating school system. A few studies were included that examined the effects of specific teaching procedures with disabled readers of average intelligence; these students had not been identified as LO. Not included in this review were studies examining the effects of available commercial programs (e.g., Distar), summer school instruction, or modality/learning style adaptations. Also not included were studies investigating the effects of indirect training (e.g., problem-solving training) on reading performance. The instructional procedures reviewed were presented within the framework of a model of the teaching-learning process proposed by Graham (1985). The central tenet of this model is that academic learning is a direct result of students'...

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