The review describes the advance organizer technique and reviews the empirical evidence on the effectiveness of advance organizers with both normal students and students classified as handicapped. Examples of advance organizers include the expository advance organizer, the comparative advance organizer, the graphic advance organizer, and principles as advance organizers. The review concludes that analysis of well-designed studies offers tentative support for the advance organizer technique if the material to be learned is not well-organized to begin with and if students have limited prior knowledge of the subject. The lack of research using advance organizers with students with disabilities is noted. Suggestions are then offered for use of the technique with learning disabled students; suggestions include understanding the distinction between advance organizers and overviews, not using them if the material is already well organized, the greater usefulness of advance organizers when material is presented verbally, and the value of writing the organizer on the blackboard if used with a verbal presentation. It is suggested that advance organizers may help learning disabled students learn to organize information for themselves. (Author/DB)