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For students with disabilities (SWD), note taking during content area classes can be a puzzling process. Students often are not certain about what specific content to record, how many details to record, and how to write fast enough to keep up with the teacher. Smartpens are an underutilized type of technology that can help students to become better note takers by storing verbal information during lectures and syncing it up later when students amend their notes. This article provides an overview of different types of smartpens and information for teachers about how to use smartpens in the classroom.

Students with disabilities (SWD; e.g., learning disabilities) often struggle with slower processing speed and poor working memory skills, which reduce the quality of their notes. This study evaluated the effects of a note-taking intervention using the researcher-created smartpen strategy in conjunction with the assistive technology of the Livescribe™ Smartpen to assess the effects of students' overall notes and lecture comprehension. Both SWD and without disabilities in ninth-grade English Language Arts classes participated in this study. The note-taking intervention was designed to assist SWD to take notes using the smartpen assistive technology, aid students in identifying key vocabulary content, amend their notes for errors or missed information, and establish a summary of the lecture. Results from the data analysis found that SWD in the experimental group recorded more words in their notes, as well as an increase in word count on the immediate free recall assessment.

For students with learning disabilities (LD), note taking during lectures and discussions is a difficult task. Many students have difficulties with listening comprehension and written expression, two important skills vital for successful note taking during teacher lectures. Note taking is a cognitively demanding task whereby students must temporarily hold/rehearse incoming verbal lecture information, quickly construct representations into meaningful bits of information that can be recorded, and then transcribe the bits of meaningful information onto paper before the information is lost and before processing any new incoming information. Despite the difficulty of this task, smartpen technology can aid students during note taking by storing verbal lecture information and then syncing it up when students amend their partial notes. This article provides an overview of a smartpen strategy and a guide for teachers to implement this assistive technology in their classroom and improve the note taking of students with LD.

Students with learning disabilities have been reported to have difficulty in a number of different executive function processes that affect their academic performance (Singer & Bashir, 1999). Executive function difficulties for students with learning disabilities have been implicated as the reason why these students struggle with complex academic tasks such as reading, writing, and note-taking (Denckla, 2007). This mixed-methods study explored the extent to which a strategic note-taking intervention encouraged more efficient employment of executive function in middle school students with learning disabilities. This paper draws on interviews, students' notes, and pre- and post-intervention assessments to present case studies of three student participants. Results indicate that the strategic note-taking intervention served as a scaffold, opening up new pathways for struggling students to access executive functions and flexibly deploy cognitive strategies. Importantly, "how" each student did so and "what" each student learned about her/himself as a learner in the process were dependent on the specific challenges presented by her/his learning disability. These cases shed light on the potential for cognitive scaffolding to help students actively improve their own executive functioning in complex tasks such as note-taking

For high school students with disabilities, one major component of learning in inclusive content area classes, such as English/language arts (ELA), involves listening to verbal information and recording notes. Learning how to record verbal information in notes is a critical skill for students to succeed in these classes. Therefore, this study randomized 54 students with and without disabilities into experimental and control groups and asked them to record notes in inclusive ELA classes. Students in the experimental group, who were taught the smartpen intervention, scored significantly higher on notes and an achievement measure than control group students. The limitations of the research, implications for future research, and recommendations for teachers are discussed.

The purpose of this article is to describe how to teach students to use smartpens to record notes in their classes. Notetaking is a complex cognitive process that requires students to listen, process, organize, and record notes, while dealing with the temporal demands of trying to record notes fast enough to keep up with the teacher. Fortunately for students with disabilities, smartpens can help them compensate for slow writing and processing speed by allowing them to record partial notes and then easily amend them after the lecture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This mixed-methods study analysed over 200 interviews from 20 seventh-grade students with learning disabilities (LD). Students were instructed how to use a note-taking intervention during science lectures. The interview analyses were supported by pre- and post-intervention quantitative data. Data suggest that the intervention helped students identify important information; systematised the process of listening to, interpreting and using that information; and offered students a means by which to organise the information they were hearing. A discussion about metacognition and attention explores how these processes altered students' awareness of their own learning, as well as how they equipped students with a new strategy for holding onto and translating information from their science lectures into a useful set of notes. These findings have implications for how theorists conceptualise the relationship between metacognition and attention and how teachers use scaffolding to support the learning of students with LD.

As high-stakes testing, Common Core, and state standards become the new norms in schools, teachers are tasked with helping all students meet specific benchmarks. In conjunction with the influx of more students with disabilities being included in inclusive and general education classrooms where lectures with note-taking comprise a majority of instruction, teachers must find ways to assist all students in their classes, especially students with disabilities. For these students to learn efficiently, note-taking becomes a critical skill for their success. This article addresses the demands placed on students during class lectures, difficulties they experience with note-taking, specific accommodations for students with disabilities, and practical ways in which teachers can help students successfully record notes in content area classes.

The purpose of this exploratory study was to develop and test a strategy to support middle grade students' persuasive writing skills. The sample included 52 eighth-grade students who were either proficient or struggling writers. The students were randomly assigned to either receive training on a graphic organizer designed to scaffold effective persuasive writing (experimental group) or receive training on a strategy to scaffold reading comprehension (control group). Students were posttested on relevant writing and reading skills. Results indicated that, regardless of initial writing skill level, students who were trained in the persuasive writing strategy were able to implement the steps with fidelity and constructed higher quality written essays than students in the control group. Implications and application to middle school language arts classes are discussed.

This article provides a synthesis of note-taking research among students with learning disabilities or other high-incidence disabilities. A search of the professional literature between 1980 and 2010 yielded nine intervention studies, which were evaluated either in terms of effect size or percentage of nonoverlapping data. The studies examined three different note-taking techniques used by students during lectures and included 125 students of varying disabilities. Findings revealed that students who used note-taking techniques were effective at increasing scores on measures of achievement and the quality and quantity of notes recorded. Limitations and implications of note-taking techniques for content-area classrooms are discussed. (Contains 2 tables and 2 notes.)

As more secondary students with learning disabilities (LD) enroll in advanced content-area classes and are expected to pass state exams, they are faced with the challenge of mastering difficult concepts and abstract vocabulary while learning content. Once in these classes, students must learn from lectures that move at a quick pace, record accurate and complete notes, and then demonstrate their mastery of the content on tests. This article provides an overview of the challenges faced by students with LD in content-area classes and discusses the problems that students have learning from lectures and recording notes. Further, the article discusses theory and research related to note-taking and presents note-taking interventions that teachers can use to help students improve their note-taking skills, and ultimately, improve their achievement in these classes.

Although teachers today use a variety of teaching methods in content-area classrooms, lecture learning and note-taking still comprise a considerable portion of time in these classes. Unfortunately, most students are poor note-takers, typically recording only about one quarter of lecture notes. Strategic note-taking was developed to assist students during lecture learning and note-taking. In this study, 76 middle school students were assigned to an experimental or control group to assess the effects of strategic note-taking on notes recorded, a delayed recall measure, and a test. The results of multivariate analyses indicated that students who used strategic note-taking recorded significantly more notes and performed better on achievement measures than students in the control group. Limitations and implication for practice are discussed.

For middle school students with learning disabilities (LD), one major component of learning in content area classes, such as science, involves listening to lectures and recording notes. Lecture learning and note-taking are critical skills for students to succeed in these classes. Despite the importance of note-taking skills, no research has been reported on the problems that school-age students with LD encounter when recording notes during science lectures. Using a sample size of 90 middle school students, the performance of students with LD was compared to students with no learning disabilities (NLD). Results found that students with LD performed significantly worse than students with NLD in terms of the type and amount of notes recorded and test performance. (Contains 2 tables and 1 figure.)

While today's teachers use a variety of teaching methods in middle-school science classes, lectures and note-taking still comprise a major portion of students' class time. To be successful in these classes, middle-school students need effective listening and note-taking skills. Students with learning disabilities (LD) are poor note-takers, which negatively impacts their academic performance. This investigation sought to examine the effects of strategic note-taking on the recall and comprehension of middle-school students with LD. Forty students with LD were randomly assigned to either an experimental or a control group. Using strategic note-taking, students in the experimental group were taught to record notes independently while viewing a videotaped science lecture. Students who were taught strategic note-taking scored significantly higher on measures of immediate free recall, long term free recall, comprehension, and number of lecture points and words recorded in their notes than students in a control group who used conventional note-taking. The limitations of the research and implications of this technique for classroom application are discussed. (Contains 3 tables and 2 figures.)

Teaching children with mild disabilities to read can be a challenging task for even the most seasoned teacher. In order to be successful, teachers need to be knowledgeable about the big five of reading: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension (National Reading Panel, 2000). While the ultimate goal of reading is comprehension, several of the aforementioned skills must be in place to meet this goal (Tolman, 2005). Despite knowledge of the big five, other skills such as syllabication and structural analysis, subsumed under phonics and vocabulary instruction, are needed in order for children to progress from word-callers to becoming fluent readers who can efficiently comprehend text. (Contains 2 tables and 2 figures.)

Students with mild disabilities have a difficult time recording notes from lectures. Accurate note taking is important because it helps students understand the content from lectures and notes serve as a document for later review. In this article, the author describes what teachers can do before, during, and after the lecture to help students become better note takers.

Students with learning disabilities lack effective note-taking skills for a variety of reasons. Despite the important role that notes play in helping students to understand lecture content information and serving as documents for later review, many students with learning disabilities are simply not effective note-takers. Many of these students record incomplete notes and record fewer notes when compared to nondisabled students. This article will familiarize the reader with research-based note-taking techniques that students can use to improve their learning during lectures.

A study examined the effects of strategic notetaking on the recall and comprehension of 26 high school students with learning disabilities or mild mental retardation. Students scored significantly higher on measures of immediate free recall, long-term free recall, comprehension, and number of notes recorded than controls. (Contains references.) (Author/CR)

A study examined the effects of Venn diagram strategy on the literal, inferential, and relational reading comprehension of 26 high school students with mild disabilities who exhibited poor reading comprehension. Students who were taught the Venn diagram strategy demonstrated gains in both literal and relational comprehension measures. (Contains extensive references.) (Author/CR)

Thirty-nine high school students with mild disabilities and poor reading comprehension were trained to use either student-generated or expert-generated cognitive organizers to improve literal and inferential reading comprehension. Following training, both groups exceeded the reading comprehension performance of a control group, and students using student-generated organizers had significantly higher scores than those using expert-generated organizers. (Author/DB)

This study evaluated the effectiveness of a four-step phonological awareness strategy on the reading skills of nine third-grade students with learning disabilities or educable mental retardation. Results indicated students made substantial improvement on measures of blending and segmenting sounds, pronouncing words, auditory discrimination, and phonetic analysis. (DB)

Discusses using cognitive frameworks to help students who have mild disabilities or are at risk transfer and retain information. Explains development of study guides, story/critical thinking maps, and cognitive organizers and addresses teaching students how to use cognitive frameworks. Provides illustrations of study guides and cognitive maps. (CR)

This study assessed whether self-monitoring of on-task behavior would increase time on task and rates of prevocational task production for 3 students (ages 10, 10, and 9), with moderate mental retardation in a school setting. Results showed overall improvements on both variables. (Author/DB)

For students with learning disabilities (SWLD), note-taking during lectures and discussions is a cognitively demanding task. The multitasking elements of recording verbal information and the temporal nature of a verbal lecture make it difficult for SWLD to record notes effectively. Smartpens are new technology that can help students to become better note takers by storing verbal lecture information and syncing it up later when students amend their notes. This article provides an overview of the research on smartpens, including two smartpen strategies that improved the note taking of SWLD, and tips for teachers about how to use these strategies in the classroom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dr. Vern Jones shares his reflections on a career that focused on providing avenues for encouragement for youth and teachers who daily face challenges. His career is marked by an unflagging work ethic regardless of the role in which he was placed. Vern's work in enhancing the field of classroom management has resulted in approaches that have improved the daily classroom experiences for numerous teachers and students. Vern shares his reflection on his past experiences and his perspective on where the field is headed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effective professional development (PD) for teachers should be directly and intricately linked to their teaching practice. One way to link PD to practice is for administrators or coaches to provide performance feedback based on classroom observations, accompanied by reflection and coaching. This type of PD can be time-consuming and difficult to manage in practice, but technology offers ways to facilitate performance feedback. This article highlights a multimedia observation tool capable of documenting teachers' instructional moves in real time with the intent of providing a teacher with unbiased, descriptive data used to fuel coaching conversations. Additional multimedia options are provided for observing instruction and providing critical performance feedback with the intent of improving student learning outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) often struggle with behavior and can display academically challenging behavior in the classroom. Therefore, teachers should consider implementing evidence-based strategies that promote desirable behavioral and academic outcomes. This article focuses on how general and special educators can use technology to deliver two evidence-based classroom management practices: (a) opportunities to respond and (b) behavior-specific praise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Classrooms are increasingly more diverse, and student success can be enhanced through family engagement, especially for culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students with disabilities. Too often teachers are stymied by how to engage CLD families of children with disabilities. Common practices of parent involvement are ineffective and fail to appreciate families as members of the educational team. Family engagement seeks to establish and maintain authentic family-school partnerships based on mutual respect and shared agency for student academic and social success. This column provides specific family engagement strategies that teachers and schools can implement in an effort to provide reciprocal collaboration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many students with learning disabilities (LD) and emotional/behavioral disorders (EBD) struggle with the writing process. Technology has shown to be effective in supporting prewriting, drafting, revising, proofreading, and publishing of written products. This article explains the use of one technology-based graphic organizer with embedded self-regulated learning strategies as well as universal design for learning (UDL) features that can be used to enhance the writing process for students with LD and EBD. Such technology categories as technology-based graphic organizers, word prediction, speech recognition, talking word processors, as well as multimedia and digital storytelling programs are discussed. All these technologies can improve the quantity and/or quality of student writing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teachers' use of video modeling has been established as an evidence-based practice for teaching students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Augmented reality (AR) applications can be used as tools to provide trigger-based, video-modeled instructional supports to students with ASD. The use of AR in this way may help teachers implement evidence-based reading skills practice such as video modeling and provide more independent practice opportunities. It also provides more options for student engagement and concept representation. This article describes ideas for how to use a particular AR application to (a) teach phonics and word identification, (b) support reading fluency, (c) embed videos into texts as cues for reading comprehension, (d) teach content area vocabulary words, and (e) use video models during transition planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Students with severe and persistent academic or behavioral challenges may benefit from data-based individualization (DBI). Starting with an evidence-based standard protocol and systematic progress monitoring, teachers can evaluate growth and implement individualized interventions to meet students' needs. Specifically, this article addresses the systematic use of student data to determine content and pacing for intensive reading instruction. Insights from implementing this approach with struggling first grade readers in Tier 3 of an RTI framework are provided. Evidence-based standard protocols, strategic data collection and management, and team collaboration are crucial elements for successful implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Finally, this same study also found that 45% of high school SWD completed a "below standard" curriculum* compared to 25% of SWND based on a review of transcripts of high school courses. Learning Disabilities: A Multidisciplinary Journal vii 2021, Volume 26, Number 1 Strategies and Techniques for Teaching Secondary Students with Learning Disabilities in Inclusive Classrooms Introduction to the Special Issue Over the past two decades, there has been a steady increase in the number of students with disabilities (SWD) being included in general education and inclusive classes. Often diploma requirements or those students wishing to pursue post-secondary education drives SWLD to take many credit-bearing courses (e.g., science, mathematics, foreign language) in high school. [Extracted from the article]