Ms. Carlisi teaches middle school mathematics for students who were retained at least 1 year and who were identified as at risk of failure in mathematics. About half of her class of 14 students has identified learning disabilities and/or emotional and behavioral difficulties. Ms. Carlisi worries constantly that she is not going to be able to help…

The article presents informal assessment techniques for assessing classroom demands, written language, studying and test-taking skills, notetaking, and gaining information from text. The content of the assessment is conceptualized in terms of the University of Kansas learning strategies curriculum. A test down approach to assessment is suggested.…

Described is a diagnostic-prescriptive model for teacher observation of learning disabled students. It is explained that through observation, teachers should be able to answer questions in seven areas, including the existence of a real learning disability; the student's functioning level in reading, arithmetic, and writing; the student's learning…

A special educator reviews approaches for assessing the writing skills of learning disabled students (by both formal and informal methods), describes common problems, lists prerequisites (such as sufficient visual and motor memory), and suggests prewriting activities as well as ways to help specific writing weaknesses. (CL)

Case studies of a third grader, sixth grader, and college student demonstrate differences in literacy problems among the gifted/learning disabled. An informal tool to diagnose writing problems is demonstrated. An instructional approach which considers developmental, remedial, and adaptive student needs is examined along with three sample…

Four informal assessment techniques to detect student mistakes in math, increase motivation, and improve achievement include the following: building models and generating word problems, thinking aloud, building mathematical sentences, and making mathematical sentences to answer questions in word problems. (DB)

Strategies and techniques appropriate for providing vocational education and employment to learning-disabled adolescents and adults at both the secondary and postsecondary levels now exist. The first step involves formal and informal activities to appropriately identify learning disabled students. Formal assessments should be conducted by…