SPED 780

Class 2

Historical and Political Context

Judith Mack, MSEd, MSW

Adjunct Lecturer

Department of Special Education

Agenda

• Honor Code article (read & discuss)

• Overview of LD (lecture)

• Political Context/Controversy/Teaching Approaches (jigsaw discussion)

Honor Code

• 73% of students identified as having learning disabilities are male.

• Do you think educators and other school professionals should be held responsible for gender inequity within the learning disability label as part of the referral process?

• If so, how might this be accomplished?

History

• Relatively new field

• Different historical phases

• Variety of theoretical perspectives in each phase

• Changing definitions over time

• Controversy at all stages

Influential Figures in the Field of Learning

DisabilitiesWilliam M. Cruickshank •director of first organized attempt to teach students with learning disabilities in public schoolsSamuel Orton •neurology specialist who believed dyslexia was attributable to brain injuryKatrina de Hirsch•started first language disorder clinic in U.S.Samuel Kirk•produced landmark test: Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic AbilitiesBarbara Bateman•worked with Kirk, focused attention on special education law

Historical Phases

• Clinical (1920-1940) LD differentiated from other disabilities

• Classroom Transition (1940-1960) classroom instruction

• Consolidation (1962-1975) political pressure to consolidate various groups into one field

• Expansion (1975-1988) increase number of children identified as services are ensured

• Retrenchment (1988-2001) lack of adequate definition, increased #s ID and questions about services provided with recommendations for inclusion

• Revitalization (2002) President’s Commission recommend changes

Theories that have influenced the understanding of Learning

Disabilities

• Visual-Perceptual

• Language

• Behavioral

• Metacognition

• Emerging theories:• Constructivism• Multiple Intelligences• Brain-Compatible Learning

First Definition of LD

• Samuel Kirk recognized common element among perceptual and language problems with inability to learn not caused by low intelligence or environmental factors:• A retardation, disorder, or delayed

development in one or more of the processes of speech, language, reading, spelling writing, or arithmetic resulting from a possible cerebral dysfunction and/or emotional or behavioral disturbance and not from mental retardation, sensory deprivation, or cultural or instructional factors. (Kirk, 1962)

Key Points from Kirk’s definition that have been included in many

later definitions• Sub-average achievement or achievement related

behavior

• Intra-individual differences

• Reference to psychological processing problems as causal factors

• Suggestion of cerebral malfunction as a causal factor

• Exclusion of other disabling conditions (like mental retardation) and environmental factors as causal factors

Basic Psychological Processes

• Memory (short and long term)• Auditory, visual discrimination• Sequencing• Attention• Organization• Psychomotor skills/visual motor integration• Conceptualization/reasoning skills• Social perception

Academic Discrepancy Areas

• Oral expression

• Listening comprehension

• Written expression

• Basic reading skills

• Reading comprehension

• Mathematical calculation

• Mathematical reasoning

Discrepancy Between Abilityand Achievement Is Controversial

• Concerns about the concept of discrepancy• Matthew Effect – the idea that the rich get richer while

the poor get poorer

• Concerns about the methods for establishing a discrepancy• Comparing IQ tests to standardized achievement tests• Comparing standard scores

• Consensus about discrepancy• Researchers appear to have reservations about the

usefulness of discrepancy

What are two methods by which students with specific learning disabilities are/have been identified for special education services?

Discrepancy method

Response to intervention

Turn & Talk

• What are your thoughts about determining a learning disability based on discrepancy between ability and achievement?

• How do you think students should be assessed for learning disabilities or considered eligible for services?

Criteria Used to Determine Eligibility

for Special Education• The majority of states use a definition based on the

U.S. federal definition.

• Teachers usually attempt to solve learning problems prior to recommending a formal evaluation for eligibility.

• When this instruction fails, schools often use more formal ways of addressing the situation.

Components of LD Definitions

• Achievement deficits

• Intra-individual differences

• Psychological processing problems

• Neurological deficits

• Exclusion

• Life-span problems

• Social relations problems

• Comorbidity

Specific learning disability means a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, that may manifest itself in the imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or to do mathematical calculations, including conditions such as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia.

What is the Federal Definition of Specific Learning Disabilities?

Federal definition for specific learning disability

Disorders not included. Specific learning disability does not include learning problems that are primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor disabilities, of mental retardation, of emotional disturbance, or of environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage.

Responsiveness to Intervention

• Behavioral Consultation1) Identify struggling students

2) Provide different degrees of specialized instruction

3) Monitor their progress before and after they receive specialized instruction

• Standardized Protocol• Operates from more of a preventative stance• Emphasizes early reading performance

Eligibility in Practice• Procedures to decide whether an individual is eligible

for special education vary and are sometimes inconsistent with rules and regulations.

• The question arises if defining learning disabilities is as important as the criteria used to determine eligibility.

• Inconsistencies in definitions of learning disabilities often stem from the fact that researchers and practitioners have different purposes in defining the phenomenon.

Learning Disability as a Construct

• Critics question whether learning disability is a real phenomenon or whether it is socially constructed.

• Most experts agree that the problems we call learning disabilities are to some degree a function of a social context.

• Some see learning disabilities as an “imaginary disease.”

How Many People HaveLearning Disabilities?

• Nearly three million students in the U.S. ages 6–21 are identified by public schools.

• Since 1976–1977, this number has tripled.• Some suspect misdiagnosis is the main cause

of the growth.• Others say the growth is accurate and that

socio-cultural changes since 1968 have heightened children’s vulnerability to learning disabilities.

Demographics of Peoplewith Learning Disabilities

• Ethnicity – There is no conclusive evidence of a disproportional representation of ethnic groups.

• Gender – Traditionally, there has been a disproportionate number of boys identified with learning disabilities.

• Association with Other Disabilities – It is possible to have a combination of disabilities and special talents.• This is known as a comorbid condition.

Can Learning Disabilities Be Overcome?

• Learning disabilities are most vulnerable to the oft-mistaken assumption that they can be cured.

• There is a critical need for effective teaching that provides strategies for persons with learning disabilities that greatly diminish the negative impact of their disabilities.

• Despite the persisting myth that most children will grow out of them, learning disabilities are life-span problems.

Effective Instructional Practices

• Cognitive training (self-monitoring or self-instruction)

• Mneumonics (key words and other ways to assist memory)

• Direct Instruction

• Metacomprehension training (strategies for thinking about and remembering the major points in lecture/reading)

• Scaffolded instruction

FrostigSchool

Success Attributes

• Based on 20 years of research tracing the lives of individuals with LD in an attempt to identify factors that predict successful life outcomes

• Include:• Self awareness• Proactivity• Perseverance• Goal-setting• Presence and use of support systems• Emotional stability and coping strategies

Raskind, M.H., Goldberg, R.J., Higgins, E.L., & Herman, K.L. (1999). Patterns of change and predictors of success in individuals with learning disabilities: Results from a twenty-year longitudinal study. Learning Disability Research & Practice, 14, 35-49.

Discussion of Readings: Jigsaw

• Find a group of three to work with. Make sure each one of you has read each of the articles.

• Plan to spend about 15 minutes per article.

• Summarize the main points of your article.

• With your group discuss the major themes as they apply to teaching:• Race, class, culture • Politics• How LD is defined and students classified• Different approaches to working with students with LD• Do these themes intersect or overlap in any way? How?

For Tomorrow

Choose a topic with your group.

Reading:

•Dyson

•Joseph, Nobel, & Eden (2001)

Recommended:

•Pratt

•Brantlinger