Practice Alert
The Alerts series is a joint initiative sponsored by two divisions of the Council for Exceptional Children—the Division for Learning Disabilities (DLD) and the Division for Research (DR).
Each Current Practice Alert provides timely and informed judgments regarding professional practices in the field with a special focus on learning disabilities. Based on the adequacy of the current knowledge base and practice experience, each Alert makes a recommendation of “Go For It” (practices for which there is solid research evidence of effectiveness), or “Use Caution” (practices for which the research evidence is preliminary, incomplete, mixed, or negative).
DLD invites suggestions regarding ways in which we can improve the Alerts series as well as suggestions regarding target practices for future issues. Please contact us with your comments and suggestions.
TLD‘s recommended format for citing Current Practice Alerts is as follows:
Espin, C., Shin, J., & Busch, T. (2000). Formative evaluation. Current Practice Alerts, 3, 1-4.
32 items
Data-Based Individualization
Jessica Toste, The University of Texas at Austin; Marissa Filderman, The University of Texas at Austin; Nathan Clemens, The University of Texas at Austin
Issue 30
Data-based individualization (DBI) is a systematic approach to using student data to determine when and how to modify interventions for students with persistent academic difficulties (Danielson & Rosenquist, 2014; Fuchs, Fuchs, & Vaughn, 2014). This approach was developed by special education researchers, working closely with special education teachers, and led to a process of intensive […]
AssessmentPeer Assisted Learning Strategies
Elizabeth Hughes, The Pennsylvania State University & Emily Solari, University of Virginia
Issue 29
Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies (PALS) refers to a reciprocal peer tutoring routine intended to serve as supplemental instruction to support strong core curriculum. Guided by classroom teachers, PALS systematically incorporates cooperative learning, highly structured peer interactions, reinforcement of academic behaviors, and multiple opportunities to practice.
ReadingHigh-Stakes Assessment
Martha Thurlow, University of Minnesota
Alert Issue 4, Spring 2001
IDEA 97 requires that all students with disabilities participate in regular state and district assessments, unless their IEP indicates that they are unable to participate. Most students with LD are able to participate, given appropriate testing accommodations. Unfortunately, we still do not have uniform guidelines or empirical validation regarding appropriate testing accommodations.
AssessmentCo-Teaching 2018 UPDATE
Sarah Cothren Cook & Kimberly McDuffie-Landrum
Alert Issue 6, Winter 2018
In this Alert update, Sarah Cothren Cook and Kimberly McDuffie-Landrum build on the 2001 analysis of co-teaching by Naomi Zigmond and Kathleen Magiera. Co-Teaching is a special education service delivery model in which a general educator and a special educator share responsibility for planning, delivering, and evaluating instruction for a diverse group of students. Although […]
UncategorizedReading Recovery
Carolyn Denton and Patricia Mathes, Center for Academic and Reading Skills, University of Texas Health Science Center Houston.
Alert Issue 7, Summer 2002
Reading Recovery is an early literacy intervention that provides one-to-one tutoring to children who perform at the lowest levels in their class after one year of school reading instruction (Pinnell, 1989). From the available research, it is evident that Reading Recovery works well for some students, but not all. There are also questions about how […]
ReadingSocial Skills Instruction
James Leffert, Gary N. Siperstein, University of Massachusetts-Boston
Alert Issue 9, Fall 2003
Social skills instruction refers to the systematic application of instructional procedures to teach social skills. Educators sometimes use other terms, such as “violence prevention” and “character education”, to refer to instructional programs that include the teaching of social skills. At present, there is wide variability in the implementation of social skills instruction, making it hard […]
BehaviorCooperative Learning
Kristen McMaster, University of Minnesota, and Doug Fuchs, Vanderbilt University
Alert Issue 11, Spring 2005
Cooperative learning (CL) is an instructional method that makes use of small, heterogeneous groups of students who work together to achieve common learning goals (Johnson & Johnson, 1992). Researchers have reported mixed results for CL in improving the academic achievement of students with disabilities.
Behavior Content AreasLearning Styles
Timothy Landrum and Kimberly McDuffie Landrum, University of Louisville
Alert Issue 21, Winter 2014
Everyone has heard of the concept of learning styles, an idea grounded in the concept that individuals differ in the ways they learn. However, according to this Alert, “few quality empirical studies have examined whether designing and delivering instruction according to an identified learning style improves student outcomes.”
AssessmentBrain-Based Learning
Amy E. Ruhaak
Alert Issue 28, Winter
Brain-based learning is the integration of neuroscience research and theory, education theory, and instructional practice used to address the specific needs of individuals student learning. This alert describes brain-based learning and how it works in addition to reviewing the current research on the topic.
Content AreasThe Alert Series
TeachingLD
Alert Issue 1, Spring 1999
This introduction to the Alert series summarizes the goal of the joint initiative and outlines the format used to examine practices.
UncategorizedDirect Instruction
Sara Tarver, University of Wisconsin
Alert Issue 2, Summer 1999
Direct Instruction (DI) is an approach to teacher-directed explicit instruction distinguished from other approaches by its emphasis on both instruction and curriculum design. The goal of DI is to accelerate student learning by maximizing efficiency in the design and delivery of instruction. Our review of the research on DI indicates that it is an effective […]
Content AreasFormative Evaluation
Christine Espin, Jongho Shin, & Todd Busch, University of Minnesota
Alert Issue 3, Spring 2000
Formative evaluation is the ongoing collection of information in order to evaluate the effectiveness of instructional implementations and to determine whether adaptations to the instruction are necessary. There are many specific approaches to formative evaluation, including Curriculum Based Assessment (CBA), Curriculum-Based Measurement (CBM), and Portfolio and Performance Assessment (PA). Of these approaches, CBA and PA […]
Assessment