Do Special Education Interventions Improve Learning of Secondary Content? A Meta-Analysis

Abstract

The authors describe findings from a research synthesis on content area instruction for students with disabilities. Seventy studies were identified from a comprehensive literature search, examined, and coded for a number of variables, including weighted standardized mean-difference effect sizes. More than 2,400 students were participants in these investigations. Studies included interventions involving content areas, such as science, social studies, and English, and employed a number of different interventions, including study aids, classroom learning strategies, spatial and graphic organizers, mnemonic strategies, hands-on activities, classroom peers, and computer-assisted instruction. The overall effect size was 1.00, indicating an overall large effect across studies. Implications for future research and practice are described.

Teaching Science to Students with Learning and Other Disabilities: A Review of Topics and Subtopics Appearing in Experimental Research 1991-2015

“…Several spatial and graphic organizers (such as concept maps, concept diagrams, visual aids, semantic maps, semantic feature analysis, etc.) have an overall positive effect on learning science, especially for students that encounter difficulties in writing, in understanding the content of science, and in constructing and refining cognitive schemata (See also Scruggs et al, 1998 andScruggs et al, 2010.) The contribution of the graphic organizers to the retaining of information, knowledge and skills compared to the independent or guided study of a text has been also investigated.…”

“…Hands-on activities are generally more effective when they are part of well-structured teaching, which is circumscribed by rules and specific science concepts. Scruggs et al (2010) mention that systematic presentation of rules through examples and repetition, followed by guided practice immediately after the completion of each part of the lesson is beneficial for students in comparison with the ones that gradually get grasp of a rule via exploratory learning and constructivism. Moreover, LD students get a better understanding of science concepts when they are engaged into inquiry-based instruction without activities rather than instruction based on unstructured activities.…”

“…Through this perspective several studies focus on the investigation of a) exploratory learning as opposed to traditional instruction and b) the ability to maintain the acquired knowledge after a certain period of time. It is noteworthy, that although traditional and direct instruction are widely used in everyday practice, researchers are interested in it mainly compared to exploratory learning and inquiry based instruction, (Scruggs et al, 2010). The conclusion is that inquiry based instruction helps students improve their conceptual understanding, including the usage of data and information, retaining of cognitive skills and application of strategies for information processing.…”

“…graphic organizers) reinforce our approach Scruggs et al, 2010;Matkins & Brigham, 1999;Dexter et al 2011;Therrien et al, 2011). The previous reviews focus on summarizing conclusions of the studies as well as acknowledging the best teaching practices.…”

Rasch Modeling to Drive Instruction of Content Area Concepts and Vocabulary: An Example from Secondary Economics Instruction with Special Needs Students

“…The classroom teacher also applied findings from research on teaching secondary school content to students with learning disabilities. A meta-analysis of special education interventions for secondary content area learning (Scruggs, Mastropieri, Berkeley, & Graetz, 2010) found that computer-assisted instruction and hands-on activities were effective in increasing content area knowledge for students with learning disabilities. In a review of empirical studies of evidence-based strategies for instruction of older students with learning disabilities, Roberts, Torgesen, Boardman, and Scammacca (2008) concluded that a lack of motivation adversely affects adolescents' abilities to enhance vocabulary and reading comprehension skills.…”