Current Practice Alerts
The Alerts series is a joint initiative sponsored by
two divisions of the Council for Exceptional Children-the Division for Learning
Disabilities (DLD) and the Division for Research (DR). Alerts provide timely
and informed judgments regarding professional practices in the field. Based
on the adequacy of the current knowledge base and practice experience, each
Alert makes a recommendation of “Go For It” (practices for which
there is solid research evidence of effectiveness), or “Use Caution”
(practices for which the research evidence is incomplete, mixed, or negative).
Members of the Division for Learning Disabilities receive the Alerts series
as a benefit of membership.
Direct Instruction GO
FOR IT
Author: Sara Tarver, University of Wisconsin
Alert no. 2, Summer 1999
Direct Instruction (DI) is an approach to teacher-directed explicit instruction
distinguished from other approaches by its emphasis on both instruction
and curriculum design. The goal of DI is to accelerate student learning
by maximizing efficiency in the design and delivery of instruction. Over
50 specific DI programs have been published for teaching language, reading,
writing, mathematics, and science. Our review of the research on DI indicates
that it is an effective instructional approach and can be reliably implemented
for elementary students with LD. Questions remain regarding the long-term
benefits of DI, as well as its efficacy at the secondary level.
Formative Evaluation
GO FOR IT
Authors: Christine Espin, Jongho Shin, & Todd Busch, University
of Minnesota
Alert no. 3, Spring 2000
Formative evaluation is the ongoing collection of information in order
to evaluate the effectiveness of instructional implementations and to
determine whether adaptations to the instruction are necessary. There
are many specific approaches to Formative Evaluation, including Curriculum
Based Assessment (CBA), Curriculum-Based Measurement (CBM), and Portfolio
and Performance Assessment (PA). Of these approaches, CBA and PA provide
useful information for teachers regarding how to change instruction to
improve student outcomes. However, only CBM has a strong empirical database
regarding its validity.
High-Stakes Assessment USE
CAUTION
Author: Martha Thurlow, University of Minnesota
Alert no. 4, Spring 2001
IDEA 97 requires that all students with disabilities participate in regular
state and district assessments, unless their IEP indicates that they are
unable to participate. Most students with LD are able to participate,
given appropriate testing accommodations. Exercising caution for students
with LD who will be taking high-stakes assessments must involve recognizing
the nature and purpose of the assessments, as well as state and district
policies regarding accommodations. Consideration of intended and unintended
consequences must guide decisions about participation. Unfortunately,
we still do not have uniform guidelines or empirical validation regarding
appropriate testing accommodations.
Mnemonic Instruction
GO FOR IT
Author: Rick Brigham & Michelle Brigham, University of Virginia
Alert no. 5, Summer 2001
Mnemonic instruction combines presentation of unfamiliar information with
explicit strategies for recall. Most mnemonic strategies rely on both
verbal and imagery components to support recall. Prominent examples include
first-letter mnemonics, pegwords, and keywords. Research suggests large
gains from mnemonic instruction on criterion-referenced tests, but evidence
of gains on norm-referenced tests is less clear. More research on generalization
and maintenance of mnemonic instruction is needed.
Co-Teaching
USE CAUTION
Authors: Naomi Zigmond & Kathleen Magiera, University of Pittsburgh
Alert no. 6, Autumn 2001
Co-Teaching is a special education service delivery model in which a general
educator and a special educator share responsibility for planning, delivering,
and evaluating instruction for a diverse group of students. It is intended
to make available a wider range of instructional alternatives, to enhance
the full participation, and to improve the performance outcomes of students
with disabilities. Several models of co-teaching have been developed,
including one teaching/one assisting, station teaching, parallel teaching
and team-teaching. Despite its popularity, only 4 studies could be found
that provided rigorous evaluations of co-teaching. These studies provide
modest support for co-teaching as a means of allowing students with LD
to access the general curriculum, but they provide no evidence that co-teaching
is an improvement relative to traditional special education models.