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This observational study examined changes in teachers' instruction and student outcomes in response to a 3-year-long professional development collaboration between university researchers and a middle-school language arts team. Professional development supported teachers in implementing multimedia anchored instruction, a video-based instructional method shown to be effective for diverse learners. The Integrated Curriculum Project (ICP-3) used multimedia anchored instruction to promote constructivist reform and infuse technology into an integrated social studies and language arts curriculum to improve literacy and critical thinking skills for at-risk adolescents, including students with disabilities and those from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Findings revealed that teachers moved toward a more learner-centered instructional approach and that both teachers and students made significant changes in classroom behaviors, including the quantity and quality of questions and time spent in small-group discussion. Implications for research and practice regarding sustained, collaborative professional development in technology integration, in this case, using multimedia anchored instruction, are presented. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

More than 20 years have passed since the Cognition and Technology Group at Vanderbilt University first conceptualized and began to explore how to effectively operationalize cognitive learning theory in applied instructional settings, innovatively infusing their model with emerging technologies. Yet, to date a comprehensive review of findings on the multimedia anchored instruction (MAI) model has not been conducted. This synthesis of the literature isolates a small segment of that literature: intervention studies in which MAI was implemented with preservice teachers to increase knowledge, support revisions of beliefs discordant with effective teaching practice, develop skills, and foster transfer. Findings revealed that MAI is an effective service delivery model for meeting these preservice teacher education goals.

This study employed classroom observations and teacher and student interviews to examine the impact of anchored instruction on student and teacher behaviors in two inclusive ninth-grade language arts classes. Specifically, the investigators examined the effect of anchored instruction on (a) the length (long or short) and level (factual or interpretive) of questions asked by, and responses to student questions by, the classroom teacher; (b) the length and level of questions asked by, and responses made by, ninth-grade students; and (c) student participation in classroom instructional activities. Overall, the results of this study supported the use of anchored instruction as a promising intervention for high school students with high-incidence disabilities. The results indicated that as teachers increased the level and length of their questions, students reciprocated by providing higher level and longer responses to questions and asked longer and higher level questions. Students were observed to be more actively involved in classroom instructional activities, and they increased their school attendance. The data collected in this study support the idea that technology combined with effective instruction can yield positive results for students and teachers. However, although the data are promising, they are preliminary. They underscore the importance of conducting additional research examining the impact of anchored instruction and its component parts on the academic outcomes attained by middle and high school students with high-incidence disabilities.

The Analysis of Technology Assistance for Children (ATAC) project was undertaken in recognition of the severe limit in information on current practices in field applications of assistive technology. Specifically, the ATAC project focused on investigating three problem areas: (1) the status of assistive technology in educational and related settings with school-age children with disabilities; (2) the benefits and barriers associated with using assistive technology for these youngsters; and (3) the effects of assistive technology use. A major aspect of the project involved a general survey of assistive technology use in special education classrooms across three states: Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee. This article presents the results of this effort, and discusses the implications in regard to improving practices in the field.

To increase the information available about the efficacy of strategies to train special education teachers to use technology, a study was conducted to describe the changes in teacher and student behavior that accompanied: (a) the placement of a computer in special education classrooms and (b) the completion of a 4-month practicum to integrate the computer into instructional programs. This research was conducted in concert with a master's degree program designed to train teachers of students with mild handicaps to effectively integrate technology into their instructional programs. This study employed a within-subjects (Intervention phase x Subjects) design to examine changes in individual classroom environments, and teacher's perceptions and beliefs across phases of intervention. This design allowed the statistical analysis of changes in classroom, student, and teacher variables across two intervention phases as measured by a computer-use attitudinal survey and a structured interview. The most striking change found across the three phases of this study was the teachers' perception of the computer's role in their instructional program. Initially, teachers viewed the computer as a motivational and reinforcement device that had some utility in providing drill on content previously presented by the teacher. After completing the computer integration practicum course, the teachers maintained their initial perception of the computer as a powerful tool for motivating and reinforcing students and providing drill and practice, but began to view the computer as a useful tool for themselves and for their students.

This study investigated the effects of four different goal structures on mathematics achievement among students assigned to work with partners on a computer-assisted instruction (CAI) arithmetic task. Forty-six mildly handicapped junior high school students were paired and assigned to cooperative, competitive, individualistic, and no goal control conditions. Dyads worked ten minutes per day, three days per week, over a four-week period on a mathematics game designed to increase single-digit computation fluency. Students practiced with their partners, recorded and graphed daily computer scores, and received points for backup reinforcers according to the goal condition under which they worked. Two-way analyses of variance for repeated measures on paper-and-pencil and computer-based achievement scores indicated that students improved their rates of correct responding over time, regardless of goal condition. A discussion of findings and implications for future research are included.

The purpose of this study was to examine the implementation and utilization of microcomputers in secondary special education programs. Twenty-two high school special education teachers, 24 mildly handicapped adolescents, and 8 administrators from six high schools in an urban school district were interviewed. Results indicated that, despite the district's considerable investment in hardware, software, and technical assistance, almost half of the teachers were not using microcomputers. Teachers who had at least one computer in their classroom were significantly more likely to use computers and to have positive attitudes toward computers. However, the predominant uses of microcomputers were limited to mathematics, drill-and-practice, and games. Special educators, administrators, and students did not view microcomputers as having a significant impact on instructional practices and programs. Lack of access to microcomputers and dissatisfaction with existing software were cited as major barriers to more extensive and varied microcomputer use.

This study was designed to describe the instructional ecology of secondary school resource room programs for mildly handicapped students. The data and implications for teacher preparation programs are discussed. The data indicate that teachers were required to teach a broad spectrum of curriculum areas, which suggests that preparation programs should provide training in a series of instructional content areas. Student engagement rates were high, though the instructional ecology observed in this study was less than optimal. Teachers provided much of the instruction, but depended substantially upon individual seatwork activities, with minimal teacher monitoring or feedback given to students. The instructional approaches seem to be more attuned to instructional approaches commonly associated with regular high school classrooms. Instructional practices associated with high achievement in other studies were not typically employed by special education teachers in this study. Other research suggests, however, that though teachers can learn to employ these practices, training programs must specifically prepare teachers to use them.

A microcomputer spelling program that shows promise as a tool to ameliorate spelling problems of LD students

Four studies compared different means of presenting spelling words to students. The dependent variable for all studies was the youngsters’ scores on weekly review tests. Experiments I, II, and HI demonstrated that students did better on the weekly review tests when they received a portion of the words each day and were tested daily, than when they received alt words at the beginning of the week and did not have daily tests. Experiment IV indicated that receiving a portion of the words each day without daily testing, was inferior to receiving a portion of the words each day with daily testing, but better than receiving all words at the beginning of the week without daily testing.

Computers are being used increasingly to educate handicapped children, yet despite their instructional potential they are being used relatively infrequently to train preservice teachers. Recently faculty and staff at Indiana University have developed a Special Teacher Education and Evaluation Laboratory (STEEL) to use technology as an integral part of the undergraduate and graduate training program in special aducation to enhance the quality of instruction, keep up-to-date records of student progress, record and analyze student teaching behavior, and develop computer applications coursework. Detailed descriptions of the STEEL's goals, objectives, and applications are provided, and the preliminary plan of evaluation is presented.

Although many articles recommending procedures for evaluating microcomputer software can be found in the literature, few studies have described the software preferences of young handicapped students. This article describes and summarizes an exploratory study of preschool mildly-moderately handicapped children's computer use during free-cholce periods in a special education classroom. It examines the children's software selections, the average amount of time they spent using the computer, how often they chose the computer as an activity, and the amount of assistance they needed to operate the software. Implications for software development and evaluation are discussed.

Learning disability research has been the subject of much controversy in recent years. The research concern addressed in this paper relates to the equivalence of selected samples of learning disabled and normal children on measures of intelligence. LD and normal children often differ on measures of intelligence, as normal children score higher; intelligence test scores also are not similarly correlated with achievement measures for LD and normal children. This difference often is controlled in research investigations using analysis of covariance. When this procedure is used with LD children, assumptions underlying analysis of covariance frequently are violated. To illustrate this point, an empirical example is reviewed, with an interpretation of results when using analysis of covariance and an alternative procedure. Although specific procedures may be used with given samples of LD children to control for the IQ score difference, more research is needed to further clarify the nature of this difference.

While there are conceptual and procedural variations in behavioral approaches, the common denominator is the systematic focus on the behavioral manifestations of the phenomenon being studied. Indeed, for many behaviorists the behavior is the “condition.” For other persons, hyperactivity is considered to be an expression of something that is wrong or malfunctioning within the child. Brain damage, maturational lag, or serious psychological disturbance are some of the frequently suspected internal causes of hyperactive behavior. But the behaviorally oriented person is more likely to view the hyperactive behavior as the problem in itself, and to consider the cause and maintenance of the behavior as a function of the reinforcement the behavior is receiving.

This study assessed the effects of assigned versus self-selected goals and contingent versus noncontingent gameplay conditions, delivered during computer-assisted math computation drill-and-practice sessions. Participants were 20 high school pupils with learning disabilities who had active Individualized Education Plan (IEP) goals that targeted the improvement of computational skills. Students were assigned randomly to goal conditions and, within goal conditions, to contingency groups. Math computation performance was measured pre-, mid-, and posttreatment. Analyses of variance indicated that students who selected their goals performed better than pupils with assigned goals. No differences existed between the contingency groups. Implications for practice are discussed.