Off-task behavior, correct answering, and participation during beginning reading instruction were recorded for two low-achieving first-grade children during two different rates of teacher presentation. A slow-rate presentation (A) was compared with a fast-rate presentation (B) in an ABABAB design. In slow-rate presentation, there was a delay between the children's response and introduction of the next task. In fast-rate presentation, there was no delay. A new teacher taught during the final AB phases, which allowed for a brief replication. Both teachers were reminded on a fixed-interval 90-sec schedule throughout all phases of the experiment to praise the subjects, thus preventing a confounding of social praise and rate of teacher presentation. Fast-rate presentation was accompanied by a lower per cent occurrence of off-task behavior for both Subjects 1 and 2. For Subject 1, correct answering and participation were more frequent during all three fast-rate phases. For Subject 2, correct answering and participation were more frequent during the fast-rate phases after the first reversal.

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The low achievement level of students with learning disabilities has multiple causes. One is the mismatch between the students' learning characteristics and the design of instructional materials and practices. Design principles better suited to the characteristics of students with learning disabilities are described and illustrated for five areas: (a) big ideas; (b) conspicuous strategies; (c) efficient use of time; (d) clear, explicit instruction on strategies; and (e) appropriate practice and review. Wider application of these design principles, in instructional material and in actual teaching, could contribute to far higher achievement levels in mathematics for students with learning disabilities.

This study compared 2 methods of teaching lowperforming ninth-grade students to comprehend short stories. One method was an interactive comprehension strategy based on schema theory and story grammar. This method focused on identifying the important story grammar elements such as problem/conflict, main character, attempts, resolution, twist, character information, reactions, and theme. The comparison condition, traditional basal instruction, lasted 4 weeks. 32 students, including 6 special education students who met the screening criteria, served as subjects. Students were paired according to pretest scores and handicapping conditions and randomly assigned to 1 of the 2 treatments. Students' performance was analyzed on 4 measures (story grammar questions, basal questions, written retells, and theme questions) drawn from curriculum-referenced tests. The results indicated that students who had story grammar instruction performed significantly better on basal, story grammar, and theme questions, and on written retells, than students who had traditional instruction. Maintenance tests indicated that the effects of the intervention lasted for 2 weeks in all areas.